In Nigeria, Sports betting is part of lottery and it falls under the orbit of the National Lottery Regulatory Commission. To operate the business of sports betting in Nigeria you must meet certain requirements stipulated by the National Lottery Regulatory Commission (NLRC) and obtain the necessary license/permit in order to legalize your operations.
According the provisions of the NLRC, an applicant for the license/permit to operate sports betting in Nigeria must first provide the following:
- A proposal to NLRC, attached with a duly completed NLRC application form; an application letter stating the intent and objective for making the application and a non refundable application fee of N2,000,000.00 (Two million naira).
- A general information on the proposed business; incorporation documents for the company (Memorandum & Article of Association, Form CAC2 and CAC7), which must have a minimum share capital of N30,000,000.00 (Thirty million naira); the evidence of an up to date filing of annual returns with Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC); the profile of the Company (trade name, logo & colors), its Directors, Company Secretary and key management; address and location of all administrative offices within the country. Evidence of registration with Ministry of Trade and Investments; relevant gaming industry experience of key personnel of the company and copy of proposed organizational structure of the business.
- Operational Information on the business; details of planned game events and comprehensive modalities for each of the game events. Proposed distribution channels (retail, web-based, SMS, mobile app or other channels), details of operations, marketing and distribution strategy, showing expansion plans across the country. Betting modalities and the Terms & Conditions of participation, the game rules and other operational information that might be required.
- Financial Information which will comprise of proposed investment in the sports betting scheme, source of funding and financial plans for the business (equity, foreign investment, loans and applicable terms of investment), evidence of financial capacity, 2-5 year financial projection for the business and other financial information that may be required. Also details of the payment solution provider and proposed integration plan with such provider (s).
- Technical Information which will contain details of technical service provider (s) partners, telecommunication provider (s) if applicable and suppliers. Details of other providers like, Odds, Virtual, hosting database/back up service providers (if applicable) and manufacturers of hardware like servers, decoders & terminals. Also details of the contact person (s) for the service providers, proposed SLA, any partnership or joint venture Agreements with providers.
All 3rd party Agreements/contracts will be subject to NLRC approval. Details of operating system and database application specification, security system (servers, cloud, firewalls, routers, security features and redundancy implementation (if applicable), documentation on processes and system quality assurance, Architectural representation of technical operation flow for the proposed sports betting scheme and Software Certification from approved and recognized testing labs.
PROVISIONAL APPROVAL
The application review process usually takes 10 business days (can be extended at the discretion of NLRC). An applicant after this initial process will be required to make a presentation to the NLRC on the proposed business venture, after which the NLRC team will inspect the proposed technical and operational facilities including administrative offices and any data centers.
After wards, successful applicants will be granted a Provisional Approval subject to demonstration of operational capacity, part payment of the permit fees of N50,000,000.00 (Fifty Million Naira) which will be in the form of a bank guaranty of at least N25,000,000.00 (Twenty Five Million Naira), provision of website advert materials in hard and soft copy including a picture frame with trade name and logo (size 16/12), and connection to the NLRC monitoring system.
Non-fulfilment of the above conditions within the stipulated 90 days period will void your application for sports betting Permit. A Substantive Permit will be issued at the expiration of the provisional approval period.
FOREIGN OWNED COMPANIES
Companies with foreign ownership and Directors will be required to also provide their business quota, residence/work permit issued by Nigerian Immigration Service, Investment Certificate from Nigerian Investment Promotions Commission (NIPC), Terms & Conditions of operation of Sports betting game, copies of duly executed SLA with any third party providers, signed undertaking from all technical providers.
POST-LICENSING
Permit holders are required to pay 3% Gross on monthly sales turnover to the National Lottery Regulatory Commission and the National Lottery Trust Fund not later than the 10th day of the succeeding month.
The Permit holder must submit a comprehensive operations report (a detailed presentation on the management & operation of sports betting activity) to NLRC on a monthly basis.
The report must be signed by a reporting officer appointed by the sports betting Permit holder and submitted in hard and soft copy in the approved format on or before the 10th day of the succeeding month.
The hard copy is to be sent to the office of the Director General NLRC while the soft copy should be sent to dgnlrc@gmail.com. NLRC will conduct a system audit and a stakeholders interactive meeting on a quarterly basis.
The Sports betting licensing fee is N50,000,000.00 (Fifty Million Naira) for a period of 5 (Five) Years.
