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Botswana’s regulated betting market has expanded quickly following the Gambling Authority’s 2023 process to license bookmaker and totalisator operators, including online betting subject to regulatory approval.
In January 2024, before locally licensed online operators were active, the Authority said it had recorded about 510,000 monthly cases of Botswanans participating in illegal online gambling.
Sunbet Botswana launched its online sports-betting platform in February 2025 and reported a 4,700% increase in sign-ups during its first month. As this was an operator-reported figure, the company did not publicly disclose the comparison baseline or absolute number of registrations.
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“If we just sold the data to Kalshi in order to list the markets but no one was coming in and placing liquidity, there’s no point in them listing the markets,” Monk said. “We also need to supply the data to the market makers to inform their models.”
Catalist initially received a list of fewer than 10 potential market makers from Kalshi. It has since completed agreements with close to 20 and is engaging with approximately another 20.
That growth reflects the expanding number and variety of sports contracts. ITF tennis is particularly dependent on official data because its more than 60,000 annual matches are not generally televised. Unofficially monitoring a tour moving between locations such as Bogotá and Bali would be difficult, Monk noted.
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Despite the revenue growth, land-based gross profit dipped 0.7% to R2 billion, largely due to the heightened investment in marketing.
“Looking ahead, as land-based gaming evolves into a more digital and experience-led environment, these initiatives, together with the implementation of a low-cost operating model, are expected to improve performance, increase market share, profitability and generate stronger returns over the medium term,” the company said.
Alongside gaming, hospitality revenue rose 2.8% to R1.29 billion despite an impact of around R20 million from war-related cancellations.