TIME FOR ACTION

termed the frenzy of activity in

The deal for Action Network not only

the US is generally washing over

gives acquirer Better Collective even

the affiliate sector as much as any

more heft in the crucial US market , it also

other . How that plays out will likely

potentially signals the Danish affiliate giant ’ s

determine the shape of the sector

willingness to play a part in what many say

going forward .

might be the great convergence of media and sports betting , which is tipped to be one of the key trends in the space in the

QUALITY OVER QUANTITY

years to come .

The response from XLMedia

On the surface , Better Collective buying

to its now long list of travails

the Action Network ( TAN ) appears to bear

with various Google algorithm

a resemblance to the deals that saw Penn

changes has been to attempt

National buy Barstool and , more recently

to reconfigure and remake its

and definitely in the same ballpark , the deal

casino-facing offerings to try and

that saw DraftKings buy VSiN .

restore its search engine rankings .

The $ 240m headline figure is significant

The effort to ensure sites are

not only as the largest single acquisition

“ higher quality ” fits with a broader

seen in the gaming affiliate sector , but also

trend in the sector – particularly

as it signals Better Collective ’ s intent to

with sports betting – to focus

be viewed as a potential player in future convergence deals .

It wasn ’ t the only significant slice of M & A in the sector during the quarter . Catena Media also laid out $ 39.6m for Lineups . com , a deal that clearly showed the excitement being generated by the US right now . Indeed , the news came ahead of Catena ’ s results , which demonstrated just how much the US is now the key driver for its results – quarterly revenue rose a whopping 53 % year-on-year , largely driven by new US state openings , including Michigan .

Indeed , all of the results from the listed affiliate sector are influenced to some degree by the US . What might be

on the quality of the sites and

their content . A recent effort by

Gaming Innovation Group ( GiG ) to

re-engineer its Livegoals . com site

is perhaps a sign of how affiliates

are seeing enhanced content as a

route to better returns from their

inventory of sites .

Similar comments around

content came from the newest

listed affiliate . Playmaker , the

company behind the Futbol

family of websites , recently

floated on the Toronto Stock

Exchange . Affiliate Monitor will

be following its progress in

subsequent editions .