THE AGENDA
BY ROGER GROS , PUBLISHER
Standing Tall
I t was 10 years ago that online gaming was introduced in New Jersey . During those 10 years , the state has become the leader in online gaming in the regulatory scheme , the variety of games offered to players , and the transparency of the data that comes with iGaming .
At the dawn of iGaming in New Jersey , GGB formed an affiliate marketing company , iGamingPlayer . com , that we believed would be a huge success . I had covered iGaming in Europe since the late 1990s and seen how important affiliates were to the online gaming industry .
Legitimate affiliates delivered qualified players and , in most cases , provided content that educated those players about how to play the games , what the rules were , and why it made sense to play at licensed and regulated sites rather than the grayand black-market sites that were unregulated and answered to no one if the player had a beef .
Now to be sure , there were plenty of affiliates that delivered players to those gray- and blackmarket sites for exorbitant fees , but we knew the U . S . market would not be that wide open , especially in New Jersey , where regulations were fairly strict , but fair .
It was lonely to be an American affiliate . The existing overseas affiliate companies and individuals weren ’ t eager to go through the licensing process in New Jersey because it was somewhat costly , but also very complete , so any relationship they may have had with the gray- and black-market sites could be problematic .
So along with Jon Friedberg and Melissa Blau , two people who had started their own U . S . affiliates , we agreed that a professional organization was needed to guide the newly formed or foreign affiliates willing to enter the U . S . market . The organization , which we dubbed SiGMA ( the Society for iGaming Marketing Affiliates ) would offer advice on licensing and best practices , and provide a stamp of approval that may influence licensing or regulatory approvals .
Well , all did not go according to plan . First of all , the operators were wary of affiliates to start with , so getting them on board proved to be difficult . And if you didn ’ t get them on board , the entire idea of an organization representing affiliates slowly fell apart .
In the 10 years since legal iGaming was introduced , there haven ’ t been many changes . New Jersey was joined by Pennsylvania , West Virginia and Michigan in hosting iGaming sites . And Ontario just joined the list in the last few months and has proven the strength of iGaming — as opposed to just sports betting . Ontario has produced massive amounts of revenue for the province , with over 85 percent of that revenue coming from casino games , not sports betting . One of the reasons iGaming hasn ’ t expanded more widely are misconceptions that a SiGMA-style organization could fix .
We ’ re also seeing a backlash against some of the advertising online casinos and sportsbooks are creating . This should emphasize the importance of affiliates who can deliver qualified players , since the tried-and-true advertising vehicles the operators used may get taken away by legislation .
So the idea of an association representing affiliates has come up again . There still are the “ bad ” affiliates that work with offshore sportsbooks and casinos , none of which answer to any regulatory agency or government . Now some of these “ gray ” area affiliates have licenses granted by some offshore government entity that resides on remote islands in the Mediterranean or the Caribbean , whose main attraction is not their thorough regulatory schemes but the inexpensive licenses they offer .
As the importance of affiliates grows in iGaming , the need for an organization that can vouch for its members increases . At iGamingPlayer . com , we welcome regulatory scrutiny . We ’ ve experienced some unethical actions by operators who “ steal ” players we delivered to them or claim that the players we ’ ve brought to them in good faith , and in accordance with our marketing agreement , suddenly become theirs and they halt the revenue share we agreed to at the start . When we report these instances to the regulators , we get shrugs if not complete disregard .
Affiliates need an organization to stand up for them and represent their best practices and transparency . There are some very large and some quite small companies , but we ’ re all in the same business , and we need to stand up and show how affiliates can help operators and the states where iGaming is legal . Let ’ s not wait another 10 years .
Vol . 22 • No . 9 • SEPTEMBER 2023
Roger Gros , Publisher | rgros @ ggbmagazine . com twitter : @ GlobalGamingBiz
Frank Legato , Editor | flegato @ ggbmagazine . com twitter : @ FranklySpeakn
Jess Marquez , Managing Editor jmarquez @ ggbmagazine . com
John Reger , Associate Editor jreger @ ggbmagazine . com
Monica Cooley , Art Director mcooley @ ggbmagazine . com
Terri Brady , Sales & Marketing Director tbrady @ ggbmagazine . com
Becky Kingman-Gros , Chief Operating Officer bkingros @ ggbmagazine . com
Lisa Johnson , Communications Advisor lisa @ lisajohnsoncommunications . com twitter : @ LisaJohnsonPR
Columnists Cait DeBaun | Frank Fantini
Contributing Editors John Brennan | Dave Bontempo twitter : @ bontempomedia Julia Carcamo | Andrew Klebanow | Oliver Lovett Marjorie Preston | Bill Sokolic twitter : @ downbeachfilm Michael Zhu _______________
EDITORIAL ADVISORY BOARD Rino Armeni , President , Armeni Enterprises
• Mark A . Birtha , Senior Vice President & General Manager , Hard Rock International
• Julie Brinkerhoff-Jacobs , President , Lifescapes International
• Nicholas Casiello Jr ., Shareholder , Fox Rothschild
• Jeffrey Compton , Publisher , CDC E-Reports twitter : @ CDCNewswire
• Dean Macomber , President , Macomber International , Inc .
• Stephen Martino , Vice President & Chief Compliance Officer , MGM Resorts International , twitter : @ stephenmartino
• Jim Rafferty , President , Rafferty & Associates
• Thomas Reilly , Vice President Systems Sales , Scientific Games
• Michael Soll , President , The Innovation Group
• Katherine Spilde , Executive Director , Sycuan Gaming Institute , San Diego State University , twitter : @ kspilde
• Ernie Stevens , Jr ., Chairman , National Indian Gaming Association twitter : @ NIGA1985
• Roy Student , President , Applied Management Strategies
• David D . Waddell , Partner Regulatory Management Counselors PC
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The views and opinions expressed by the writers and columnists of GLOBAL GAMING BUSINESS are not necessarily the views of the publisher or editor .
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GLOBAL GAMING BUSINESS is published monthly by Casino Connection International , LLC . Printed in Nevada , USA . Postmaster : Send Change of Address forms to : 1000 Nevada Way , Suite 204 , Boulder City , NV 89005
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4 Global Gaming Business SEPTEMBER 2023