Affiliate Industry

Affiliates in the US Sports Betting Market – Has The Game Gone Cold?

Published

4 months ago

March 24, 2025

affiliates-in-the-us-sports-betting-market-–-has-the-game-gone-cold?

A lot has changed since the US Supreme Court struck down PASPA (The Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act of 1992) as being unconstitutional, effectively ending Nevada’s near-monopoly on sports betting in the country. With every US state now free to legalize and launch its own sports betting market, in-person, online, and mobile sports betting grew at a neck-breaking pace.

This explosive growth saw the emergence of ‘affiliate companies’ – marketing agencies specializing in performance marketing and promoting licensed sports betting operators. However, as the market entered a new phase and growth slowed, some affiliates have been seeing mixed results in the past year.

We sat down for a chat with Shmulik Segal, Founder and CEO of Media Troopers, an advertising agency specializing in sports betting and iGaming in North America, to hear his views on the gambling marketplace and what the future holds for affiliates. Segal takes a realistic approach and acknowledges the days of insatiable growth are gone, but he still sees great potential in the market.

European Gaming Congress 2024 (Warsaw, Poland)

Looking at the bigger picture, how bad were things for affiliates in the past year?

Segal: “I won’t tell you the past year hasn’t been challenging for marketing agencies like ourselves. Looking at 2024 earning reports of publicly traded marketing agencies in the gambling industry, the results are a mixed bag, Segal says. “While some of the largest players in the space saw their US revenues drop by over a third compared to 2023, the earnings of others just flatlined.”

What causes you to be optimistic then?

“But on the flip side of the coin, there were also companies that saw double-digit growth in earnings,” Segal compares. “So what does that mixed bag of results tell us? Although the days of explosive growth are over, the market is certainly not on a one-way street. I still see tons of opportunities for companies that are adjusting and doing the right things.”

So what are the main challenges the affiliate market is facing?

“I can divide the challenges into two main categories: objective and subjective. Objective categories would be anything that’s ‘man-made’, such as legislation (new states that open up), increased regulation (restrictions on advertising, increased taxation), the evolution of technology (Artificial Intelligence and further mobile personalization), competition (both operators and other marketing channels and companies), and all other factors that are created by governments, companies, and individuals,” he explains.

“The subjective factors are more geographical or permanent. Let’s take sports betting as an example. According to the American Gaming Association’s state tracker, Out of 51 potential jurisdictions across the country (50 states + Washington DC), 38 have legalized sports betting. However, only seven states have legalized iGaming.”

So, how do you treat these challenges differently?

“As an affiliate, you understand the fundamental difference between the two types of challenges: your level of control. While you can mitigate objective challenges, you must adapt to subjective ones.”

How do you stay relevant as an affiliate amidst these challenges?

“The first thing we must always keep in mind is that we make a living out of providing our customers with additional value, i.e. unique knowledge and expertise that the operator doesn’t have and fits perfectly into its marketing mix. We must provide our customers with a competitive, cutting edge.”

“Case in point: we constantly strive to be ahead of the curve in everything we do. Our technology platform constantly adapts and upgrades to include more powerful AI tools for segmentation, targeting, and personalization. A huge part of our media teams’ job is to look for the ‘next big thing’ be it a fresh marketing channel or a new source that will enable us to expand our reach and tap into new markets.

Our commercial teams work closely with existing and potential operators to find new ways to bring value to players, be it new games, news, or promotions. And it goes without saying that our compliance team takes great care of ensuring we adhere to the highest standards of safe advertising and responsible gaming.”

“But no less important,“ he concludes, “is the operations team that ties all the pieces together and executes everything. That’s one of the biggest challenges, given operations can be slow-moving, we constantly need to improve our execution to keep up with the changes the other parts of the team bring.”

What about other types of challenges? The ones you can’t mitigate?

“When it comes to subjective challenges, however, you have much less control, and this is where companies must brace themselves and adapt quickly. Case in point, there are 38 sports betting states, while a portion of the remaining ones, such as Hawai, Utah, Texas, and California, won’t introduce sports betting or iGaming in the foreseeable future.

With fewer states regulating gaming in the foreseeable future, is the market bound to shrink?

“I don’t see it that way. Long gone are the days when a new market opened every few months. What would you do? You can’t ‘magic up’ more states. But you can certainly adapt and brace yourself to improve and grow your share in existing markets, which is exactly what we are focusing on doing,” he explains. “Along with acquiring new players through new and existing markets, we are constantly looking for new channels that will bring our customers (operators) loyalty and higher lifetime value.”

You are talking about increasing share and value, does that mean there are no new opportunities?

“We see huge potential, with opportunities constantly coming to knock on our door. North Carolina and Vermont were the two new markets that launched in 2024, and we are already seeing a lot of growth there. For example, North Carolina, which only went live with sports betting in March 2024, but by the end of the year, already clinched ninth place in the Top 10 sports betting states, reporting revenues of over $583.

This is why we treat every state as a standalone ecosystem with its unique set of challenges, requirements, and potential. The next exciting challenge (and opportunity) we are preparing for is Missouri, which legalized sports betting at the end of 2024 but has yet to launch. We have already been hard at work since the ballot was approved in November, so we can hit the ground running and start sending our MO sportsbook partners newly depositing customers from day one.

What about organic growth in existing markets?

“There’s certainly that also. While every new state that launches sports betting can potentially bring a spike in growth, we are certainly seeing organic growth and improved results across the board year after year. Take as an example the Super Bowl. In 2025, legal US bets on the Super Bowl grew 10% year-on-year. Or March Madness, on which best are expected to grow 13% from last year.

So, is there still organic growth in existing markets? For us, it’s a big, fat yes.”

Are you planning on staying within the iGaming and sports betting markets in the near future?

“That’s a very good question I ask myself every day, Segal smiles and immediately corrects himself. “Actually, scratch that. I ask myself this question many times over the course of a day in the office.”

He elaborates: “iGaming is tangent to other gaming verticals, and sports betting has an overlap with a whole universe of sports and its related verticals. Every website in these verticals needs traffic, and we know how to provide it. So new opportunities knocking on our door. But how do we capitalize on these without losing our focus and commitment to our core business? We keep our ears and eyes open, but never lose focus.”

The post Affiliates in the US Sports Betting Market – Has The Game Gone Cold? appeared first on Gaming and Gambling Industry in the Americas.

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Affiliate Industry

Affilka by SOFTSWISS Wins at EGR B2B Awards for Second Year Running

Published

3 hours ago

July 7, 2025

George Miller

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Reading Time: 2 minutes

Affilka by SOFTSWISS, an affiliate management software platform, has secured the title of Affiliate Software Supplier at the prestigious EGR B2B Awards for the second consecutive year. The awards ceremony took place on 3 July at London’s iconic The Roundhouse, where the iGaming industry gathered to celebrate the most successful and innovative companies of the past year.

The consecutive win reinforces Affilka’s growing leadership in iGaming affiliate marketing software. Over the past 12 months, the product has consistently evolved, launching a series of powerful new features.

Among the recent updates is the Cross-Brand Player Duplicate Detection tool, which identifies overlapping player accounts across different casino brands within a single affiliate program. The platform also introduced the new Traffic Report, which provides real-time, click-to-registration and click-to-FTD metrics with multi-dimensional filters. Another new feature allows affiliates to access data on their marketing campaigns and tracking links directly via API, enabling automated data extraction and custom integrations.

At the end of last year, Affilka rolled out the Geo-Distributed Redirect feature, which boosts site visits by reducing redirect times from 1.5 seconds to 300–500 milliseconds, and the Cohort Analysis Report, which offers deeper insights into player behaviour.

Anastasia Borovaya, Head of Affilka by SOFTSWISS, commented on the recognition: “Winning this award two years in a row is an incredible achievement for our team. It reflects our hard work, creativity, and deep commitment to the continuing improvement of our platform. What makes this win special is knowing that the tools we build are already helping our partners solve real challenges. Whether refining traffic strategies or making smarter, data-driven decisions, we’re proud Affilka plays a part in their success.”

Thanks to ongoing updates and the introduction of new innovative features, Affilka by SOFTSWISS now supports over 450 brands, 400 thousand affiliate accounts, and 98 million player registrations.

Earlier in June, SOFTSWISS won two prestigious trophies at another EGR Ceremony – Marketing & Innovation Awards 2025. The company’s marketing department received the Marketing Team of the Year Award for its bold creative approach and effective use of new technologies and data analytics. In addition, Valentina Bagniya, CMO at SOFTSWISS, was named B2B Marketer of the Year for transforming the company’s marketing function into a powerful brand engine within the iGaming industry.

About SOFTSWISS

SOFTSWISS is an international technology company with over 15 years of experience developing innovative solutions for the iGaming industry. SOFTSWISS holds a number of gaming licences and provides comprehensive software for managing iGaming projects. The company’s product portfolio includes the Online Casino Platform, the Game Aggregator with over 30,000 casino games, the Affilka Affiliate Platform, the Sportsbook Software and the Jackpot Aggregator. In 2013, SOFTSWISS revolutionised the industry by introducing the world’s first Bitcoin-optimised online casino solution. The expert team counts over 2,000 employees.

The post Affilka by SOFTSWISS Wins at EGR B2B Awards for Second Year Running appeared first on European Gaming Industry News.

Affiliate Industry

Affilka by SOFTSWISS Unveils Updates for Affiliates

Published

1 week ago

June 27, 2025

George Miller

affilka-by-softswiss-unveils-updates-for-affiliates

Reading Time: 2 minutes

Affilka by SOFTSWISS, an award-winning affiliate management software platform, has announced a suite of new product updates for the affiliates. The latest release introduces a Traffic Report with advanced clicks analytics, an API for extracting campaigns and tracking links, and a sub-affiliate NGR-based revenue share model.

Traffic Report: In-depth Click Analysis

This new Traffic Report focuses on detailed click-level analytics, offering in-depth insights into clicks, registrations, deposits, and conversion rates such as click-to-reg and click-to-FTD – all in one place. It includes several key features for flexible data analysis:

Multi-dimensional filtering and data grouping: The report enables users to filter and break down the data into granular views across multiple dimensions, offering detailed insights by traffic source, campaign, country, device type, IP address, and more. Notably, click data is transferred to the report in real time, providing instant visibility into user activity.
CSV data export: The report supports one-click CSV export, allowing affiliates to easily download raw data for offline analysis or sharing.
Historical data access: Affiliates can review traffic statistics from 1 January 2023, enabling year-on-year comparisons and long-term trend evaluation.

Gleb Bichan, Product Lead at Affilka by SOFTSWISS, comments: “At Affilka, we know how crucial it is for operators and affiliates alike to make data-driven decisions. That’s why we’re introducing tools like the Traffic Report to help partners become more productive and uncover new insights faster.”

API for Marketing Campaigns and Tracking Links

In addition to the existing Reports API, affiliates can now access data on their marketing campaigns and tracking links directly via API, allowing for automated data extraction and custom integrations. With this API access, users can retrieve up-to-date lists of marketing campaigns, promo codes, and related performance metrics directly via API calls. This improvement helps Affilka clients automate their reporting workflows and integrate affiliate data with external BI tools, reducing manual effort and ensuring timely access to key information.

New Sub-affiliate Revenue Share Model

Responding to client feedback, Affilka’s team also features a new sub-affiliate reward type. This allows affiliates to earn a commission based on the Net Gaming Revenue (NGR) generated by players referred by their sub-affiliates, offering a more direct revenue-sharing approach. By aligning earnings with the actual revenue brought in by sub-affiliates, the update incentivises collaboration and gives experienced affiliates a stronger stake in mentoring their referred partners.

Gleb Bichan adds: “For us, it’s important that affiliates not only use the product but also feel it’s built with their real needs in mind. We regularly gather feedback and implement improvements that make daily workflows more transparent and efficient. Features like the Traffic Report, API access, and new reward types are direct responses to partner requests – and we’re not stopping there. We plan to introduce even more tools designed to simplify affiliate operations, so stay tuned for upcoming updates.”

Affilka by SOFTSWISS will be presented at iGB in London from 3 to 4 July 2025. Attendees of the event can learn more about new features directly from the Affilka team and see how these innovations support better affiliate programme management.

About SOFTSWISS

The post Affilka by SOFTSWISS Unveils Updates for Affiliates appeared first on European Gaming Industry News.

Affiliate Industry

Hop on the Wealth Bus: N1 Partners heading to iGB Live London 2025

Published

3 weeks ago

June 19, 2025

George Miller

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Reading Time: 2 minutes

N1 Partners is gearing up for iGB Live London 2025, and will bring something visitors won’t want to miss. On July 2–3 at ExCeL London, guests will find N1 Partners at Booth J50 — where a black-and-red stand designed to resemble an elegant bus stop welcomes guests beneath the slogan: Hop on the Wealth Bus.

The stand is designed to be more than just a place to visit — it’s a lively lounge where you can grab a drink, chat with the team, and explore real ways to scale your affiliate profits against the backdrop of a bus stop-style design.

N1 Puzzle Promo: Your road to the helicopter prize

N1 Partners is tying the Wealth Bus theme into its N1 PUZZLE Promo — the campaign that’s literally driving our partners toward a brand-new Robinson R22 Beta II helicopter.

Here’s how it works:

1 puzzle piece for every 10 FTDs from SEO traffic
1 puzzle piece for every 40 FTDs from PPC and ASO
1 puzzle piece for every 100 FTDs from FB and other channels (social media, SMS, Email, UAC, In-App)

The more puzzle pieces you collect, the closer you get to taking home the helicopter. And since London is one of the key stops on this journey, N1 Partners will showcase exactly how affiliate traffic can help drive progress toward the prize.

Of course, it’s not just about the final prize. N1 Partners is already running two mini-lotteries (April–July and Sept–Nov) packed with luxury prizes — and everyone wins something. Whether you’re driving PPC, SEO, or social traffic, you can turn volume and speed into puzzle pieces and prizes.

What’s on board at Booth J50

The stand will offer plenty of engaging activities for visitors:

Bar — visitors can grab a drink and connect with the N1 Partners team.
Puzzle Collection merch drop — every item gives you +1 puzzle piece in the promo. Plus, each merch owner enters a special giveaway: a custom hoodie, an iPhone 17 Pro Max, and a branded case.
Plinko-style game — everyone wins! Grab a guaranteed prize right at the booth.
Meet the N1 Partners team — the team will be on hand to answer questions and show how to boost your current promo results and earnings.

Why meet N1 Partners in London

N1 Partners has been driving affiliate success for over 7 years, with 12+ licensed casino and betting brands and top deals across Tier‑1 markets.

Here’s what the program offers:

CPA up to €650
RevShare up to 45% + NNCO
Hybrid deals
No shave, no delays, guaranteed payouts

At Booth J50, N1 Partners will be ready to talk about real business — no fluff. If you run SEO, PPC, FB, or any other traffic, we’ll show you how to turn it into bigger profits with our offers.

N1 Partners stands for reliability, honesty, and speed — and we’re always open to new partners who are ready to scale.

Let’s meet in London!

Attendees can visit N1 Partners at Booth J50 during iGB Live London on July 2–3.

Hop on the Wealth Bus, grab exclusive merch (get an extra Puzzle Piece with it) — and discover how to boost your affiliate marketing performance with N1 Partners.

The post Hop on the Wealth Bus: N1 Partners heading to iGB Live London 2025 appeared first on European Gaming Industry News.