iGB Affiliate Monitor April 2025 | Page 16

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Affiliate Monitor Company-by-company Q1 results analysis
share income from Brazil, with the affiliate business within the country expected to decline 50-70 % in the short term.
But the company still believes the long-term value of the affiliate model will improve.“ It’ s also worth noting that the players left after this process will be of very high quality with higher lifetime values,” said Søgaard.
There is what the company described as a regulated‘ lockin effect’ as players now must provide full identity verification and documentation to reregister. Once registered, they are locked in with that operator, and by extension, the affiliate that referred them.
“ They now basically are truly locked in with our affiliate to that specific sportsbook,” Søgaard said.
US ACTIVITY
In the US, despite early good momentum, Better Collective saw lower-than-expected activity leading into the NFL season in the second half of the year, influenced by a shift in focus from challenger brands leading to lower marketing activity overall.
Despite flat year-on-year growth in 2024, Better Collective reiterated that the US remains a key strategic market with embedded long-term value creation – particularly via revenue share. Better Collective is pivoting its affiliate model in the US toward revenue share agreements, in contrast to traditional cost-peracquisition( CPA) deals.
“ In 2024, we delivered 1.8 million NDCs [ new depositing customers ], with 81 % or 1.5 million being on revenue share agreements.”
This model implies that much of the affiliate value is deferred and not immediately reflected in revenue and that the business is building long-term recurring income streams.
CFO Flemming Pedersen emphasised:“ This is an ongoing effort that we are really pursuing – sending players on that [ revenue share ] contract.” This marks a strategic distinction from some USfocused peers still relying heavily on upfront CPA revenue.
While revenue was flat in the US, Better Collective asserts that it is building substantial future value:“ We continue to build significant deferred revenue share value on top of the reported performance.” The company’ s diversified model enables it to accumulate“ hidden” future value, which will surface over time as players generate revenue across their lifecycle.
Better Collective is integrating affiliate functionality directly into its media platforms, exemplified by its proprietary product:“ Through our Quick Slip product, over eight million wagers were placed leading up to and during [ the Super Bowl ].”
Quick Slip enables seamless in-app bet placement and higher conversion rates from content to betting activity.“ We powered more than 50 million wagers through the Quick Slip product [ in 2024 ], where bets can be placed directly and seamlessly within our products,” Søgaard said.
This product is a key differentiator in Better Collective’ s US operations, strengthening its partner value proposition.
Better Collective leverages major US media brands as affiliate platforms, the Action Network and Playmaker HQ. These brands drive audience engagement, betting activation and sponsorship revenues.
Despite ongoing revenue share buildup, Better Collective guides for flat US revenue in 2025:“ We expect the US market to show flat growth while still building added value through revenue share,” said Søgaard.
No assumptions are built into guidance for potential new state launches, such as Missouri:“ We simply await and see what happens,” he said.“ We have not taken it into the guidance.”
Although the US business is sports-led, Better Collective does operate as an affiliate in the igaming segment. Revenue share
“ The players left after this process [ in Brazil ] will be of very high quality with higher lifetime values”
JESPER SØGAARD, BETTER COLLECTIVE iGB Affiliate Monitor