1xBet

1xBet needed to acquire active sports bettors across four African markets efficiently, competing against established regional sportsbooks with strong local brand recognition.

Three obstacles defined what that required:

• Platform restrictions: Google and Meta restrict gambling advertising across Nigerian, Kenyan, Ghanaian, and South African markets, blocking standard acquisition channels.
• Audience precision: African sports betting audiences skew heavily mobile and require localised payment options to convert. Generic targeting produces low deposit rates.
• Regional competition: Established local sportsbooks hold strong brand recognition in these markets. New player acquisition required culturally relevant messaging and regional sports coverage to compete.

Standard paid acquisition was unavailable. Google and Meta restrict gambling advertising across 1xBet's four target African markets. 1xBet needed a network with sports betting and iGaming publisher inventory and the targeting depth to reach active bettors across Nigeria, Kenya, Ghana, and South Africa.

Blockchain-Ads provided the audience infrastructure and regional inventory to reach high-intent betting audiences at scale through four capabilities:

• Sports bettor and casino player targeting: Campaigns reached verified sports bettors and high-value casino players with demonstrated gambling activity.
• Mobile gamer segment access: The platform identified mobile-first users aligned with African smartphone penetration patterns.
• Regional iGaming inventory: Native and display formats covered the sports, entertainment, and betting platforms where African bettors spend time.
• CPA-based optimisation: Campaigns optimised toward verified new player registrations and first-time deposits from day one.

• Players acquired: 20,043 at $48 CPA
• First-time deposits: $3,264,092 generated across the new player cohort
• ROAS: 3.4x return on $960,000 spend
• Impressions: 62M+ delivered across Nigerian, Kenyan, Ghanaian, and South African inventory
• CTR: 0.17% blended across all phases
• CPC: $8.89 blended across all phases

92% of acquired players engaged with the platform via mobile. 87% of the cohort placed bets on African football leagues within the first 30 days, confirming the regional sports angle attracted genuinely engaged bettors rather than passive sign-ups.

The objective was to establish baseline performance across all four African markets. Native and display formats launched simultaneously across sports, entertainment, and iGaming publisher inventory. Native ads led with a localised football angle emphasising CAF tournament coverage and regional league betting markets. Display ran a direct registration angle highlighting mobile money deposit support including M-Pesa integration. Early data identified Nigeria and Kenya as the highest-converting markets.

Targeting narrowed toward Nigeria and Kenya while Ghana and South Africa remained active at reduced spend. The football coverage angle continued to outperform on registrations. A second creative angle emphasising localised payment options and instant withdrawal support was tested against high-value casino player segments. Budget shifted toward native format as it consistently outperformed display on cost per registration across all four markets.

Budget consolidated into native format across Nigeria and Kenya with retargeting layers added for users who had clicked but not yet deposited. The CAF football coverage creative scaled as the primary acquisition angle. Display was retained at reduced spend for broad reach across Ghana and South Africa. The campaign closed with 20,043 verified player accounts acquired at $48 CPA and $3,264,092 in first-time deposits generated across the cohort.