Part 3: A look ahead
Part 3:
A look ahead
T
he vibrancy of the entire affiliate space one,” he says. “No one really investigated the
is worthy of note. A point to make about regulation (or) how the regulation would look.
the affiliate market is that we tend to hear Of course, it makes sense to stick to regulated
about what is happening within the sector from markets, but they are, and will be, tricky. Super
the top end. By their nature, the listed players affiliates and all other affiliates simply need to be
tend to be the larger organisations. more than a one-trick-bonus-listing-pony.”
Of course, there are, as mentioned earlier The oft-heard phrase when it comes to the
in this report, some notable big names which debate around regulated jurisdictions, whether
are privately held and therefore less willing to on the operator or affiliate side, is the return to
participate in the wider debate. It means that grey markets. This is clearly a loaded phrase; to
what we hear about what is going on in the call it a return would presume that operators and
affiliate sector is necessarily skewed to the views affiliates left in the first place. This obviously isn’t
of the larger players while the long tail of affiliates necessarily the case.
But what we can say is that a refocusing
gets somewhat sidelined.
This has particular relevance to the debate about
has become the order of the day with some
affiliates and regulated gambling markets. As elements of the affiliate sector. While for some
hinted at earlier in this report, with the exception in more open and well-regulated jurisdictions,
of the US, the focus of the larger affiliates on the prospects of being able to generate business
regulated markets arguably makes less sense for outside of the regulated regime are very slim
the affiliates than it does for the operators. (the UK, Denmark, increasingly Spain and over
While there are undoubtedly benefits to
time Sweden), the more protracted regulatory
working within regulated markets, for affiliates timelines or less-than-perfect regulatory
at least they might be somewhat oversold. Such structures in countries such as the Netherlands,
is the view of some affiliates working below the Germany and Poland make potentially fertile
listed level, such as Feda Mecan, a long-standing ground for affiliates.
affiliate expert who works with Kafe Rocks.
“I think in many cases there was simply a very
blind bet on regulated markets and an unprepared
“I think there could be a pivot back toward grey
markets in general but particularly for smaller
affiliates,” says Gillespie at Gambling.com Group.
I think there could be a pivot back toward grey markets
in general but particularly for smaller affiliates
Charles Gillespie, Gambling.com Group
iGaming Business • Affiliate Monitor • August 2019
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