Executive summary
Executive summary
T
he big news from the second quarter with the other moves in the US from Catena and
results from the listed affiliates is the the rest, it is fair to say the largest companies
change at the top in the key metric of new in the sector have pivoted towards the sports
depositing customers (NDCs). Better Collective opportunity in the US. Whether they will succeed
has taken top spot from Catena Media with an is a question that will – as with the operators –
NDC count of 111,000 in the three months to June, take some time to answer.
compared with just under 100,000 for its rival
over the same period.
It is, of course, only one metric; Catena Media
The timing of the US opportunity could not
have been better given the extent to which the
regulatory pressure in Europe continues to be
still leads the sector in terms of revenues with ratcheted up on affiliates as much as operators.
€23.7m in the second quarter versus €15.8m over References to issues in the UK, Sweden, Spain,
at Better Collective. It is also ahead on EBITDA France and Italy pepper the results statements
with €9.4m versus €7.0m. of the listed firms and all go to illustrate the
This change at the top on NDCs comes at an
important stage of development for the sector
as a whole. The opening up of the US sports
degree to which the regulatory embrace now fully
encompasses the affiliate sector.
In response, three leading names within the
betting market has presented the affiliate affiliate space have launched a new organisation
sector with a huge new potential opportunity called Responsible Affiliates in Gambling (RAIG),
and the sector leaders have not been slow to with which they hope to encourage best practice
make their moves. in the sector while also providing it with a voice
Catena Media had already bought its way into
the US prior to the repeal of PASPA and now
for the first time.
How the sector evolves from this point will be
Better Collective has made its own move, buying of interest to the operators as much as to those
first a 60% stake in the RotoGrinders Network for involved in the affiliate space. As ever it should
$21m (with an option to buy the remaining 40% in be noted that the listed firms that this report
three to five years) and then following it up with concentrates on are not the whole market, but
the VegasInsider.com and ScoresandOdds.com together they provide an informative straw in the
buyout in July for $20m. wind and help provide an understanding of the
These are big statements on intent and taken
iGaming Business • Affiliate Monitor • October 2019
market as a whole.
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