Online betting pushes gambling operator to offload casino
· The South African
Tsogo Sun quietly announced it would sell its Welkom casino as it lowers its earnings forecast. The news came in its consolidated annual financial statements (AFS) for the year ending 31 March 2026. This marks the first casualty in a new gambling landscape dominated by online betting.
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Online betting Makes it Tough to Operate Small Casinos
The Goldfields Casino in the Free State is arguably the smallest in Tsogo Sun‘s stable, with only 250 slot machines and a handful of table games. This could explain why the announcement that Tsogo had sold the casino first appears in paragraph 30.2 of the AFS. In it, the company reveals the board of directors had decided to sell its shares in Goldfields Casino and Entertainment Centre Proprietary Limited (Goldfields).
The group announced the board had “committed to a plan to dispose of the group’s interest in Goldfields” during the financial year. However, the sale hadn’t been completed before 31 March 2026. Therefore, the sale would meet the criteria for “classification as held for sale.”
In the report, the Free State casino, listed under “Impairment of non-current assets,” was valued at R2 million in 2026, a 93% drop from its R31 million value in 2025.
It appears Goldfields is worth more to Tsogo when sold for parts.
Under paragraph 30.2, the company lists Goldfields’ assets at R81 million. Most of that value stems from a R69 million valuation for the casino’s property, plant and equipment.
Large casinos are also under pressure
Despite 2025 being the year for gambling revenue in South Africa, most of the revenue came from online sports betting. This shift has placed smaller operators under pressure.
According to the National Gambling Board, of the R74.4 billion revenue generated from gambling in financial year 2024-2025, only 22% (R16.6 billion) came from casinos. A staggering 69.8% (R51.9 billion) was generated from betting, which includes online operators.
Compare that to figures from 2019, when betting only accounted for 23.5% (R17.2 billion) of the gross gambling revenue (GGR) pie. Casinos generated 60.5% (R18.6 billion) of the R30.7 billion in revenue from the 2018-2019 financial year.
The numbers show that casino revenue has dropped 11% in 7 years, despite GGR growing 140% over the same period.
Even larger operators are struggling to maintain their income.
Sun International’s GrandWest Casino in Cape Town, one of the only casinos in the metro, is diversifying its portfolio. The casino will expand its precinct to include a 22 000m² mall. The mall is set to open in 2027. Its anchor tenants will be a Checkers FreshX and SuperSpar.
Other casinos may have to follow suit in this new age of online gambling.