Managing Director for BetKing Ghana, Ryan Moore, has stated in an interview that Ghana has a very good potential for the progress of Sports betting in Africa.
According to him, there is high passion for sports in Ghana, especially in this season where the Ghana Black Stars will be participating in the upcoming World Cup.
He explained that BetKing is poised to set up strong synergies in Ghana by expanding their reach, creating more jobs and providing good betting stakes for Ghanaians.
Mr. Moore indicated that the company’s presence in Ghana will create both direct and indirect jobs by “giving out shops in communities or in areas that wouldn’t otherwise have access to sports entertainment or DStv”.
He elaborated that: “The opening of a sports viewing centre so we can watch sports on the weekend is one of the many ways we are creating jobs through our presence in the different countries we find ourselves in. And so if they choose to bet, they can go ahead; and even if they don’t, they’ve got the entrance or viewing fee and they can make money from that too. So, that element I think extends the growth opportunity and another source of income for the worker.”
Ryan Moore has been working with BetKing since 2019 across three African countries including Nigeria, Kenya & Ethiopia. Ghana is the fourth entry for the company to provide innovative and engaging digital sports entertainment platform, primarily in sports betting.
He said BetKing is not only limited to sports betting, but will soon introduce other products such as SuperPicks, particularly focused on sports development, sports entertainment and sports information in and out of the game sector.
“Another primary focus of ours is impacting communities. We invest a lot in positively impacting communities from a CSR, entrepreneurship and sports development perspective. An example is the 20,000 shops in Nigeria. We only own two. The remaining 19,998 are owned by entrepreneurs, who then employ an average of three to eight people per shop. In Ethiopia, we’ve invested in helping and collaborating with Super Sports, who is one of our shareholders, to put Ethiopian football, Premier League, and Division One to the international limelight. It’s never been on TV before. We’ve also invested for the next five years in developing the teams and their sports kits, their fields, and giving them the ability to have sponsorship with another company so that they can generate additional income to further develop their sports and attract competitive athletes”, Mr. Moore revealed.
He assured that BetKing is confident in delivering an effective product to Ghana, and invest in communities in a way that would have impact on the country. He added that sports connects people and this allows BetKing to stay true to their vision of expanding the growth of Bluebloods in Africa. “Our goal as an organisation in Ghana is not just to become the country’s leading sports entertainment platform, but also bring joy and happiness by improving the conditions of the society where we operate”, he said.
Again, Mr. Moore revealed that boxing and basketball are sports areas that the company is closely monitoring to venture into. He said: “Boxing and basketball are sports we feel haven’t got the attention in Ghana that they could have. And we’re looking at it very closely, and going to small gyms in these outlined areas I’ve been to, to understand what are the potential of athletes there and how can we help them get to a National League level. And if they’ve got skills, what are they missing? Initiatives like these are a big interest to us. I’ve been to matches like Dan Suman vs. Medina or two different communities in a local football club, playing against each other. These sorts of things are always of interest to us, and we keep looking for ways to improve sports in societies where we operate.”
He was quick to add that Betking will be taking two loyal customers to participate in the World Cup in Qatar alongside sports journalists. “Our goal is to start driving the World Cup excitement from September. We just officially launched. So by then, we would have a wider audience that have heard about our offering. We are very excited to bring in these sorts of elements like fan packs and exclusive viewing centres here in Ghana, and the chance to go to Qatar with our team,” he added.
