SportPesa CEO Ronald Karauri has revealed hitherto unknown details of his multi-billion empire.
In a rare interview with a local daily, Karauri explained that contrary to some of the claims that have been made on the blogosphere, the company was built through hard work and is owned by genuine investors in the country.
Karauri, who is a former pilot with the Kenya Airways, revealed the hardship he had to endure when he founded SportPesa in 2014.
He had quit his job as a pilot at a time when the sports betting scene was very grey.
As he sought to get his friends to invest in his business idea, many dismissed him as illusionary.
“I remember asking some guys, ‘do you have some cash to put into this thing…’ They would tell me ‘Boss, what the hell is this? You’re talking about gambling. It can’t work’, Karauri recalled.
Three years later, the company is now the official betting partners with Arsenal Football Club and last year announced a three-year sponsorship deal with Hull City- the first Kenyan brand to appear in the UK Premier League.
Despite the hard work he and his team put in building the SportPesa brand, Karauri revealed that the company had also fallen victim to malicious bloggers and politicians who make wild claims on its ownership as well as its earnings.
“It is ridiculous what people think. I’ve seen calculations in the press where people say, one million people place bets at Sh100 per day making us earn Sh3 billion a month. Ridiculous. Sports betting is unlike lottery, which has fixed figures,” the 38-year executive explained.
Asked on the perception that betting will create a social problem in Kenya, Karauri explained that betting a recreation that needs control, adding that nowhere in the world will you find betting being a big social ill.
“Sports betting is a business like any other, so the issues about control are the same where we can talk about responsible drinking, responsible betting, responsible gambling,” the ex-pilot explained.
