The biggest news from the affiliate sector in recent months

Market Monitor , July 2021 Written by Clear Concise Media

Published July 2021 © 2021 iGaming Business Ltd

All rights reserved . No part of this publication maybe reproduced , stored in a retrieval system , or transmitted in any form or by any means , electronic , mechanical , photocopying , recording or otherwise without the permission of the publisher . The information contained in this publication is believed to be correct at the time of going to press . While care has been taken to ensure that the information is accurate , the publishers can accept no responsibility for any errors or omissions or for changes to the details given . Readers are cautioned that forward-looking statements including forecasts are not guarantees of future performance or results and involve risks and uncertainties that cannot be predicted or quantified and , consequently , the actual performance of companies mentioned in this report and the industry as a whole may differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements .

Author : Scott Longley Editors : Stephen Carter and Joanne Christie Design : Ogo Ikeogu Production : Guy Parsons

Published by iGaming Business , part of Clarion Events . Registered office : Bedford House , 69-79 Fulham High Street , London SW6 3JW Tel : + 44 ( 0 ) 207 384 7763 Registered number : 3934419

Editor ’ s letter

Executive summary

Part 1 : Action stations

Part 2 : Build back better

Part 3 : Company-bycompany first-quarter results analysis

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was Better Collective ’ s huge deal for Action Network . This was notable not only as the largest in the affiliate space to date , but also as an indication that at least some affiliates want in on the convergence between media and sports betting in the US .

Whether or not other affiliates will follow suit remains to be seen , but it ’ s clear BC ’ s rivals are also firmly back in the M & A game , as was evident with long-time US market leader Catena Media ’ s snapping up of Lineups . com .

It will be interesting to see how the two recent acquisitions affect the overall market shares of the leading two players going forward – after climbing to the top of the table in the fourth quarter of last year , Better Collective was overtaken by Catena again in the first quarter of 2021 .

Deals aside , the other big issue occupying affiliates ’ minds of late has been the quality of their content . Hammered by Google ’ s algorithm changes , a number of the sector ’ s big hitters have been revamping their content to try and get back in the search engine ’ s good books .

Some have also continued to pursue a strategy of pivoting towards paid media , at least to a greater degree than in the past , to provide some level of immunity from future organic changes . As the results analysis shows , however , this is having something of a negative effect on margins .

Stephen Carter Editorial director , iGB

“ Hammered by Google ’ s algorithm changes , a number of the sector ’ s big hitters have been revamping their content to try and get back in the search engine ’ s good books ”