South Africa’s Tote Betting System Is Shrinking Fast

In FY2023/24, bookmakers captured 89.3% of all horse racing gross gambling revenue (GGR) in South Africa, leaving the totalisator, also known as the Tote, with just 10.7%. It is the most lopsided split on record, and it has worsened every year since 2018. This shift has direct consequences for prize money, pool sizes, and the viability of South African racing's flagship events.

In FY2018/19, totalisator horse racing GGR stood at R942 million. By FY2023/24, it had fallen to R377 million, a nominal decline of 60% ^[1]. In real, inflation-adjusted terms, the contraction is larger still.

Over the same period, bookmaker horse racing GGR grew from R1.67 billion to R3.13 billion, an increase of 88%.

The Tote's share halved from 36.1% to 10.7% in six years. The most dramatic single-year fall occurred in FY2020/21, when COVID-19 racecourse closures shut down on-course Tote operations while bookmakers, already operating digitally, continued largely uninterrupted. 

Following the pandemic, the Tote never recovered. Between FY2021/22 and FY2023/24, with racing fully resumed, Tote horse racing GGR still fell a further 10%.

The Six Years of Continuous Decline

Bookies Are Increasing While Totalisators Are Fading

At the end of FY2022/23, there were 299 operational totalisator outlets nationally, down from 306 the previous year. While the number of licensed bookmaker operators jumped from 264 to 326, a 23.5% increase in a single year. 

The three principal totalisator operators, including Gold Circle (KwaZulu-Natal), 4Racing (six provinces), and Kenilworth Racing (Western Cape), operate a contracting physical network whose revenue model is tied to pari-mutuel mechanics, while bookmakers have expanded aggressively through digital and mobile platforms. ^[2]

Horse Racing Is Losing Ground to Other Sports

Horse Racing Is Losing Ground to Other Sports

The Tote's decline isn’t the only story. Horse racing is also losing market share inside the total betting economy to other sports. 

In FY2018/19, horse racing represented approximately 36% of total betting GGR. By FY2023/24, that figure had collapsed to 9.8%. Meanwhile, bookmaker sports betting GGR, driven by football, rugby, cricket, basketball, tennis, and darts, grew from R4.3 billion to R32.1 billion, which is a 644% increase over six years. 

The Tote is doubly exposed here. Totalisator licences in South Africa are principally around horse racing pari-mutuel operations, so the Tote is on the outside looking in at sports betting boom taking place. ^[3]

Why Pool Sizes at the Durban July and Cape Met Are at Risk

Pari-mutuel pools, the mechanism underpinning Tote wagering, are self-reinforcing, as larger pools attract more bettors, which generates larger dividends, which attract more bettors. 

Shrinking Tote participation compresses pool sizes. At flagship events like the Hollywoodbets Durban July and the Sun Met, the appeal of exotic multi-leg bets like the Jackpot, Quartet, and Place Accumulator relies on pool depth. ^[4]

Thin pools result in smaller dividends. As Tote volumes contract, the pari-mutuel wagering that has historically distinguished South African racing is being hollowed out and may no longer be viable in the future.