ABOUT ME
Stuart Simms , Group CEO at FairPlay Sports Media , is a highly experienced leader with strong expertise in the sports betting industry . Rising to his current role via senior positions at companies including Microsoft , Rakuten and XLMedia , Stuart has a proven record of value creation and delivering on ambitious global strategy .
Affiliates are certainly not blameless in how this situation has come about . To date , there ’ s been an obsession over acquisition , fuelled by the frequency of new state openings , boosted revenue and heightened valuations .
This impulse , coupled with a thirst for ever-bigger audiences to convert , somewhat trumped the urgency to prepare for the next , more prolonged market phase , and the necessary subsequent investment into technology and more nuanced content that is and will continue to be required . And let ’ s not forget the blinkered prioritisation of Google News . That was never going to end well .
Outside our own walls
As the secondary phase of the US sports betting market develops , with new sportsbooks scattered across more regulated states , my strong belief is that we should be looking to create a more sustainable opportunity for all .
This should entail more sharing of data and technology and , critically , a fairer distribution of rewards and incentives that ensures those creating more value receive the biggest returns .
We need to look outside our own walls . We should learn from the retail industry which is already executing affiliate programme change and providing engagement opportunities to new partners .
While not low-hanging fruit , there are certain achievable aims that we can deliver on within a modest turnaround period . We should be
focusing on investment in networks that develop and manage a long tail of publishers .
Building attribution models
We need to build attribution models that ensure increased visibility of valuable partnerships . Campaigns should be prioritised to activate new publishers and media properties of value to the betting ecosystem and , perhaps more importantly , we must incrementally move away from strict , singlerevenue business models .
Flexibility across alternative models , including those with transactional fees , revenue-share agreements and fixed payments should all be integrated together .
What those changes all have in common is a reliance on betting technology , or BetTech , as it should be colloquially known , to show just how reliant our industry will become on this critical piece of the sustainable igaming jigsaw .
In the coming few years , whatever question is posed to determine future strategy forks across the igaming sector , it ’ s likely that BetTech will form at least part of the answer . It will shape an entertainment offering where all sports and betting audiences can expect great moments , powered by the best humans and machines , all paid for by the consumers themselves or those brands that buy into those very same experiences .
Are affiliates dead ? Not yet . Are affiliate programmes needing an overhaul ? Absolutely .
Affiliates working on old tried-and-tested methodologies , as opposed to the best-practice and the new , will soon fall by the wayside . Instead , those channelling the best tech to truly obsess over the consumer will win the day , flourishing within a more sustainable and profitable betting ecosystem for all , supported by forward thinking sportsbooks who reward innovation and value .
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