South African Women v Men: How Does iGaming Look Amongst the Female and Male Populations?
The popularity of iGaming is growing worldwide, and South Africa has its share of fans. While you might assume there’s a divide along gender lines in terms of participation levels, the reality could surprise you. Men and women across the country are making iGaming part of how they spend their free time, and technology is the driving force behind this trend.
A Mobile Milestone
Internet access underpins iGaming, as you’d expect, and mobile play is particularly common in this country, despite smartphone ownership specifically only accounting for around 44% of the population. Crucially, because there’s not a significant gender gulf between ownership trends for web-enabled devices, being able to play in any context that’s convenient is consistent for women and men alike.
Similarly, high-speed 4G and 5G mobile networking is being rolled out in more and more places, again providing South Africans of all backgrounds with better internet access. It’s this quantity and quality that’s necessary to make activities like iGaming viable.
A Question of Variety
Another reason that iGaming has managed to capture the attention of women and men in South Africa is that the array of options available guarantees that there’s something for everyone to enjoy. People who want to play classic games can do so. People who want a powerball prediction for today are covered as well. People who want the latest and greatest that iGaming has to offer are similarly well served.
Such variety is helping to break down long-held misconceptions about the market and its target audience. And it’s this design for universal appeal that’s helping the market grow so quickly.
The Banking Angle
The transactional side of iGaming is obviously important, but it’s not often discussed in terms of how it impacts male and female players. What’s noteworthy at the moment is that further accessibility improvements have been borne out of the fact that many of the top platforms now support an array of payment methods for deposits and withdrawals. And with more support comes accessibility for a wider audience, a consistent theme so far.
In particular, compatibility with voucher schemes like Blu Voucher, which crucially do not rely on customers having a traditional bank account, means almost anyone can get into iGaming. As more and more barriers are removed, the audience will only get more diverse, and participation across every demographic will increase further.
Small Differences
While women and men might be almost even in terms of their representation in the South African iGaming scene, how they participate is not exactly the same. Specifically, male players have a greater willingness to take risks and put more on the line, whereas women usually prefer a more responsible approach in terms of what’s being wagered, but will participate in these short, low-risk sessions on a more regular basis as a result.
So, iGaming looks set to increase its influence over South Africa’s population, regardless of gender. And while players of different backgrounds might engage with it differently from their peers, it’s the equality of participation that’s most notable about the market at the moment.
