Familiar territory: Hollywoodbets' Devin Heffer on the gains down in Africa

As igaming continues to explode across much of Africa, one operator is making a bigger name for itself, not just on the continent but around the world. Turn on any Brentford football match and you will see the Hollywoodbets brand emblazoned across the West London side’s shirts. But there is more to the firm than just sponsoring a Premier League club.

Offering multiple verticals including live sports and horseracing, Hollywoodbets is becoming a force to be reckoned with in the industry. Starting in 1986 under the name Winning Form, publishing and distributing horseracing race cards, the introduction to gambling came 14 years later in 2000 when the company launched a retail branch in Durban, South Africa.

Calling it Hollywoodbets, in 2006 the firm expanded into digital and three years later established its first mobile sports offering. Currently operating in countries such as South Africa, Mozambique, as well as the UK and Ireland, the firm now has its own software company, allowing the operator to not only embed but alter games when required.

With his mother and father, Leslie and Owen, as joint founders of the company, Devin Heffer is the public face of the operator as well as its brand and communications manager – though the role wasn’t handed to him.

Heffer worked his way up the business, starting off as a betting support analyst in 2009 before taking on the role of social media manager in 2011. Having held his current role since 2019, Heffer speaks to EGR about the operator’s plans for the untapped opportunity of sub-Saharan Africa as numerous operators venture into this part of the world.

EGR: What would you say were some of the highlights and growth areas for Hollywoodbets in 2023?

Devin Heffer (DH): Last year was a stellar year in terms of our growth. Hollywoodbets is really growing in South Africa. We’ve obviously got the business in Mozambique and the UK and Ireland as well. UK and Ireland has been quite a tough terrain for us. It’s a very competitive market.

Coming in, there’s a hell of a lot of companies that you’re competing against, especially when you’re up against the top 10 brands, so we’re learning a lot of hard lessons. But the business has been showing really good improvement over the last 12 months.

In South Africa, where our core business is, it’s been absolutely superb. I think the advent of crash games there has been massive, especially for SPRIBE’s Aviator. We also have another partner in JetX and quite a few other options.

We were one of the first to grab market share in South Africa when it came to having those crash games, and it gave us a head start as we started taking on more and more customers. 

EGR: South Africa and Mozambique are Hollywoodbets’ key markets at the moment. What do you attribute success to in those countries?

DH: It’s been quite an experience. Looking at Mozambique, we were lucky in the sense that we were able to start from a retail branch there and really learn through the people on the ground. That allowed us to launch our mobile and web platforms. I must say, we’ve ventured into other countries where we’ve just gone from a mobile base and it’s been quite difficult with the amount of competitors out there.

You have to build a brand and a brand doesn’t just happen over overnight, especially in a new country. It’s about understanding the markets, understanding the way people play, the way they deposit, the way they withdraw, the access to data, and the list goes on.      

EGR: How does Hollywoodbets overcome tech and connectivity issues in Africa given the lack of 5G and hardware compared to Europe?

DH: We have really good mobile networks and it’s quite competitive. Things are very different compared to a couple of years ago, with a lot more people having access.

In the last year or two, we launched our own data-free app. Not necessarily for casino, but more for sports betting and lotto betting. That’s been a big change. You have to try and look at all the different avenues to make your product accessible. We were probably one of the leaders in terms of internet and mobile betting and had to learn quite a few hard lessons in terms of website structure and setup.

Our goal has always been to use less data, be as quick and efficient as possible. It has a knock-on effect onto everything else we do. We pride ourselves on not just having the quickest deposit options but also the quickest withdrawal options in South Africa. That goes against the grain as most bookies would want to be holding on to player funds. Whereas for us, it’s a goal to get it back into their wallet as quickly as possible.      

EGR: So, how much of your tech is produced in-house?

DH: We have our own software company called Bet Software, which has been around for the last 11 years. It’s really built up where we work off our own back office and our embedding system, which has been an incredible advantage for us in terms of being in control of the software, being able to integrate when we need to, how we need to and make changes when we have to.

It’s been amazing. The team just works non-stop. We’re looking at our contingency in South Africa. We’re growing our team massively, with over 380 people already and that’s just on the software side of the business. We’re able to open up more offices now and hopefully we can expand further.

EGR: Could you tell us about the strategy behind your expansion into the UK and Ireland? Are there further plans to penetrate other European markets?

DH: Ireland is a different market and it’s about trying to adapt to that. Combating bonus hunters has been a big thing as everyone is looking for the best deal.

In terms of Europe, I wouldn’t say that’s our goal at the moment. If anything, it’s more Africa, as we feel there’s this huge untapped potential here. We’ve definitely been exploring other countries. We have ventured into some places where we’ve tested the waters. We are probably focusing more on expansion into those countries, just north of South Africa, and taking it from there.

EGR: Can you point to any key differences in player behaviours in South Africa compared to the UK and Ireland?

DH: As WiFi is becoming a lot more accessible in South Africa, data is becoming cheaper and streaming more popular. A lot of the broadcasters, mainly the major one DSTV, are pushing their streaming products.

That is also going into our live in-play products. We’re offering a lot more options for customers to watch live sports while betting with us. In that sense, live in-play is growing. However, it’s still very small when you compare it to the UK and Ireland.

Following our own book in the UK and Ireland, pre-match is not as big as it is here in South Africa. Everything’s more focused on in-play betting, following the game and taking things as it comes from there. 

EGR: What’s in the pipeline for Hollywoodbets in 2024?

DH: I think the biggest thing is growing in the UK and Ireland; getting more of a foothold in the industry. We’ve learnt a lot of hard lessons on how to approach our business. It’s starting to grow more as we become more recognisable in the countries in which we are present. And then just from a South African point of view, the competitors coming in here are keeping us on our toes.

It’s about continuing to offer the best possible solutions and offering as many different games as possible, especially when it comes to casino and crash games. That’s probably where a lot of our focus is at the moment. We need to spend a lot more money in terms of marketing, digital and affiliates.