Super Group Makes Play for Three Licences in New Zealand

Key Points

• Super Group saw second-quarter revenues of $684 million, up 18% on the prior-year quarter, with profit changing from a loss of $3 million to $123 million over the same time.
• Chief Financial Officer Alinda van Wyk confirmed that the group will probably apply for “three licences” in the New Zealand licensing process, which saw the market grow 14% without increasing marketing spend.
• CEO Neal Menashe said the UK’s Remote Gaming Duty hike has opened market share for Betway, with van Wyk adding that M&A in the UK is something she “100% believes” will happen further down the line.

Super Group Targets Three New Zealand Licences After Record $684m Quarter

The earnings call of Super Group ended in Q2 2026 with two different narratives running parallel. The first one was a financial narrative. The Betway parent recorded its highest-ever revenue of $684 million, an increase of 18% from last year’s figure. It also had a profit of $123 million compared to a loss of $3 million in Q2 2025. The second narrative was a strategic narrative as the group stated that it intends to go for a maximum of three licenses to be made available in New Zealand’s forthcoming online gambling auction.

A New Zealand Market That Is Already Working

New Zealand’s re-regulation process has been moving slowly, but the commercial moment has now arrived. In July 2026, the Department of Internal Affairs opened its expression of interest window, inviting operators to apply for up to 15 online gambling licences ahead of a market launch planned for 2027. Each operator is capped at three licences, and applicants must demonstrate access to a minimum of NZ$7.5 million in capital — a threshold that effectively limits competition to well-capitalised, established players.

Super Group has operated its Betway brand in New Zealand for several years, and Q2 revenue in the market grew 14% year-on-year despite the group deliberately holding back on marketing spend. CFO Alinda van Wyk explained the logic to iGB after the Wednesday results call. “We’ve been operating in New Zealand for many years and it already has quite a significant tax regime,” she said. “At the time of the re-regulation there was a lot of noise around marketing, we didn’t market there because you don’t want to fall into the trap of a bad actor.” She confirmed the group would “probably apply for three licences.”

Growing revenue without marketing spend in a regulated market is not a common outcome. It points to an existing customer base with genuine retention, which matters considerably when a licensing bid is being assessed.

Entain, which currently holds the TAB monopoly on online racing and sports betting in New Zealand, confirmed in February 2026 that it would also seek three licences. Both operators are now publicly committed to the permitted maximum. With 15 slots in total, and at least two large operators targeting three each, the auction is shaping up as a contest between established international names rather than a wide-open field.

UK: Remote Gaming Duty Opens a Gap

The UK is a very different story, but the dynamic has some similarities. However, the rise in the Remote Gaming Duty rate, which came into effect in April 2026, made the operators re-evaluate the cost of their operations in the market. The smaller operators started questioning the profitability of their operations whereas Super Group realised that the gap had widened.

Revenue from Europe was $132 million in Q2, up 19% from the year before. The UK contributed to that growth, and CEO Neal Menashe was direct about what was happening. “The whole market has now reassessed the UK market and the cost of acquisitions,” he told analysts. “We’re definitely seeing that play. Remember, we’re not a major player in the UK. There’s a lot of market share we are getting.”

Van Wyk expanded on the mechanics. “Our marketing is really returning to what we’re spending at the moment, which is really a good strategy and we’re happy with that performance,” she said. “By optimising marketing to become efficient in the way we operate in that market, would just deliver better margin in that jurisdiction.” In short, Super Group is taking share without raising its own spend, because rivals are cutting theirs under tax pressure.

The Manchester United partnership, finalised during the quarter, feeds into this. Menashe explained that the group amortises major sponsorship costs across all its markets rather than attributing the full expense to any single country. Betway is now the exclusive global betting partner for Arsenal, Manchester City, and Manchester United — the top three finishers in last season’s Premier League — meaning the UK gets significant brand presence as part of a broader international investment rather than a dedicated UK budget line.

M&A: Watching Competitors Carry Debt

When analysts pressed the group on acquisitions, van Wyk did not hedge. Asked whether Super Group might buy in the UK as smaller operators reconsider their positions, she said: “Somewhere down the line, I 100% believe that there would also be some operators, [which we could] plug market share into our business. We’re quite excited.”

Menashe set out the competitive advantage plainly. The group closed Q2 with $548 million in cash after returning $25 million to shareholders during the quarter, and carries minimal debt. Several competitors expanded aggressively in recent years and now service substantial debt obligations. “We’ll see better pricing over the coming months and years based on where some of our competitors are, who’ve been very acquisitive in the past, but now have this huge debt pile that they have to service,” he said. “We are disciplined.”

Betway’s UK casino product has also been upgraded as part of the group’s broader tech centralisation project. World Cup casino cross-sell reached 50% of new customers during Q2, compared with 23% for the equivalent 2022 World Cup cohort — a shift that reflects both the product improvements and a deliberate push to keep new sports customers within the ecosystem.

Financials: Every Major Metric at a Record

Adjusted EBITDA rose to $204 million for the quarter, up by 30% from $157 million reported in the second quarter of 2025 and the first time in history that margins have surpassed 30%. The continent of Africa was the biggest performer with its segment revenue rising by 36% to $310 million and adjusted EBITDA by 47% to $133 million. The monthly active customer base grew 13% to 6.2 million.

Revenue forecasts for 2026 were increased to above $2.6 billion, having previously been forecasted at above $2.55 billion. Guidance for adjusted EBITDA for the year was revised to be above $710 million, an increase from the earlier level of above $680 million. Van Wyk explained that the improvement in the margin is down to operating leverage – revenue outpacing cost, with efficiency gains on all fronts.

Namibia is confirmed for a Q4 2026 launch as the group’s next African market entry. Van Wyk noted that African launches are structurally cheaper than international ones, given the strength of the Betway brand across the continent. The group aims to enter one to three new African markets per year, provided the financial conditions justify it.

Expert Analysis

Super Group’s New Zealand move is a case of a well-prepared operator entering a licensing process on its own terms. Revenue was already growing at 14% without advertising, the customer base was established, and the capital requirement that filters out weaker competitors is not a constraint for a group sitting on $548 million in cash. The real question in New Zealand is not whether Super Group qualifies, but how many of the 15 licences end up with the four or five largest international operators, and how much room that leaves for anyone else. In the UK, the Remote Gaming Duty created a redistribution of market share that Super Group appears to be capturing quietly, while also building optionality for acquisitions from a debt-free position. That combination, organic gains in existing markets, a clean balance sheet, and explicit M&A intent, is a more compelling position than most of its publicly listed peers currently occupy.