---
title: "Sun International and the high-stakes trend defining our time"
description: "While the lure of online gambling is emblematic of our steady move from the physical world to the virtual, a resurgent events industry and Sun City’s revenue growth are signs that there is still a hunger for actually being somewhere."
type: "NewsArticle"
publisher: "Daily Maverick"
site: "https://www.dailymaverick.co.za"
section: "AFTER THE BELL"
author: "Stephen Grootes"
author_url: "https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/author/stephengrootes/"
canonical_url: "https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2026-09-08-sun-international-and-the-high-stakes-trend-defining-our-time/"
published: "2026-09-08T21:08:27"
lang: "en-ZA"
word_count: 877
---

# Sun International and the high-stakes trend defining our time

> While the lure of online gambling is emblematic of our steady move from the physical world to the virtual, a resurgent events industry and Sun City’s revenue growth are signs that there is still a hunger for actually being somewhere.

By Stephen Grootes · Published 8 September 2026, 23:08 SAST

## Key points
- Sun International’s interim results expose the shift: group revenue +7% but Sunbet online bets surged 35.5% — even as the group considers ~300 casino retrenchments.
- The piece flags the darker side of the migration online: gambling is easier to access, harder to police (age checks, addiction) and more socially damaging when it happens behind a screen.
- Still, the physical endures — Sun City’s revenue rose 10% and post‑pandemic events and hospitality continue to draw huge crowds craving real‑world connection.
- Concern lingers that younger generations may increasingly live in virtual spaces, shrinking their physical horizons and reshaping social life — a megatrend with winners and losers.

## Content

Among all the books and headlines and learned articles talking about the “megatrends” shaping our world, I suspect nothing comes close to our move from the physical world to the virtual one.

It is the one thing that seems unstoppable.

If your day is anything like mine, you’ve probably looked at your phone before emptying your bladder in the morning.

Every time you look at a screen you are no longer with us in the real world. You are somewhere else, on a WhatsApp group or something. But your brain, the part of you that really matters, is no longer with the world immediately around you.

![Using a cellphone while driving can have fatal consequences. (Photo: Melissa Mjoen / Unsplash)](https://cdn.dailymaverick.co.za/i/iHIFppxWdRzE4_PlmI7Xu6rWRBU=/200x100/smart/filters:strip_exif\(\)/file/dailymaverick/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/melissa-mjoen-mfRgIB3st4I-unsplash.jpg)

*Every time you look at a screen you are no longer with us in the real world. You are somewhere else, on a WhatsApp group or something. (Photo: Melissa Mjoen / Unsplash)*

This is something that so many drivers in Joburg seem to miss right now. The realisation that when you are looking at your phone you are no longer concentrating on the pothole in front of you.

The biggest financial illustration of this move came from Sun International’s results yesterday.

In the six months to the end of June their revenue was up by just more than 7%.

But revenue from their online gambling arm, Sunbet, was up by 35.5%.

![Mdudusi-Covid-Gambling](https://cdn.dailymaverick.co.za/i/65Pzxl81K5BOsoCoyIsA1yMVUaE=/200x100/smart/filters:strip_exif\(\)/file/attachments/orphans/iStock-874911434_937484.jpg)

*The biggest financial illustration of this move came from Sun International’s results yesterday. Revenue from their online gambling arm, Sunbet, was up by 35.5%. (Photo: Unsplash)*

The group has also said it is looking at [retrenching about 300 workers](https://www.news24.com/business/companies/more-than-300-workers-at-sun-casinos-may-lose-their-jobs-20260907-0973) at casinos around the country.

The obvious point is that we are spending less in the physical realm and more in the virtual one (it is a little more complicated than that; Sun International is a big group with many moving parts).

Like most big “megatrends” there is much to celebrate and much to fear.

We should celebrate that the virtual world might well lead to a much more level playing field. That, with a bit of luck, it will be much easier to win through ideas and argument, rather than who has the best transport or communications network (not that the recent history of social media gives me much reason for optimism!).

Certainly, people with the best commercial ideas should be able to make money from those ideas without having to spend money on an office first.

But there is so much to worry about.

![Mdudusi-Covid-Gambling](https://cdn.dailymaverick.co.za/i/4qQGRIOyfm8-7y7tIzzk3OjotMI=/200x100/smart/filters:strip_exif\(\)/file/attachments/orphans/GettyImages-1282623487_717707.jpg)

*(Photo: Denise Truscello / Getty Images for Circa Resort & Casino)*

In the past, casinos could monitor who was going in to gamble and make sure people who were under age did not get in.

While they try to do the same thing in the virtual world, it’s much harder.

The other problem, of course, is that if we can accept that gambling is bad for societies (I look forward to the email from whoever tries to explain to me that it’s a social good) it is much easier to do it online, before you empty your bladder.

However, while this might be the “defining megatrend” of our era, all is not lost for the physical world.

Sun International also confirmed that Sun City, that strange tribute to the homelands system, had grown its revenue by 10%.

![The Palace of the Lost City. (Photo: Melinda Ferguson)](https://cdn.dailymaverick.co.za/i/mDrUcEZEAIOW-F0xverG1h0WmLo=/200x100/smart/filters:strip_exif\(\)/file/dailymaverick/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/IMG_4536.jpg)

*The Palace of the Lost City at Sun City. (Photo: Melinda Ferguson)*

The company’s CEO, Ulrik Bengtsson, told me on [The Money Show](https://omny.fm/shows/the-money-show/sun-international-profit-rises-as-casinos-drive-growth-sa-farm-exports-grow-with-africa-taking-40?in_playlist=podcast) last night that Sun City doesn’t have much pull on his memory because he didn’t grow up here. But after working in hospitality pretty much around the world, it was absolutely unique in his experience.

Clearly, that uniqueness is working.

I think that speaks to the hunger so many of us have for the physical world.

In the years since the pandemic the events industry seems to have had a boost.

Events – from outdoor concerts, to mountain bike races – seem to be drawing huge crowds, as people have a hunger for the sense of connection that a only a mass event can bring.

It’s part of the same dynamic that drew me to take my family with me to FNB Stadium [over the weekend](https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2026-09-07-springboks-shoprite-ceo-understand-the-power-of-making-supporters-feel-part-of-the-team/). It’s one thing to take part in something text-by-text on a WhatsApp group, but nothing beats actually being there.

This is all good and well. But I worry that it only applies to my generation.

That children growing up now are, perhaps, not spending nearly as much time outside and out of their homes as we did at their age.

Our homes are probably a lot more comfortable than they were one (or two!) generations ago. And, you can do so much more at home than you could then.

For many people there is nothing to do with their work that they cannot do from home.

Our TVs are massive and the microwave popcorn is top class (and much cheaper than anything you get at a cinema).

Now, as you edge your way through childhood and the tweenage years, you may not spend nearly as much time in new physical geography.

This might be one of the real secrets to Sun City’s success – that you can leave your teenager to their own devices, knowing that they will be safe while you attend to urgent poolside business. **DM**