iGB Affiliate ICE 2017 Panel Recap: ‘Affiliate Marketing in the USA’

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The iGB Affiliate panel discussion ‘Affiliate Marketing in the USA: A Hidden Opportunity’, which took place at ICE Totally Gaming in London on 9th February, included our Senior Marketing Services Manager Alana Levine. The panel also featured:

  • George Rover – Rover Strategic Advisors
  • Jason Lisiecki – Digital Products Manager, Michigan Lottery
  • Jeffrey Haas – Chief International Officer, DraftKings
  • Melissa Blau – iGaming Consultant, iGaming Capital
  • Seth Young – Director of Online Gaming, Foxwoods Resort Casino

The goal of the session was to provide insight to affiliates that are evaluating whether or not to enter the US market and also share the opportunities that currently exist within the market. The panellists also considered the market’s inherent challenges and the possible implications of potential regulatory changes.

We recap the key talking points from the session below.Opportunities It was clear that several opportunities exist for affiliates to enter the market, and may remain unexplored.iLottery was one of the verticals generating much interest as it represents a significant market across several states. In Michigan alone, just 2% of the population aged over 18 buy online lottery products, so there is a large potential target group yet to be reached.Daily fantasy sports (DFS) was also discussed as a more established vertical – 7 million users across 40 states are currently registered with Draft Kings alone. The season-long version comparatively has 57 million registered American players across all brands, so a large interest base already exists for affiliates to help convert these customers to DFS.

Another vertical being closely looked at is social casino, which is not considered gambling by US regulators and is therefore available across all states. The real-money online casino and poker opportunity in Nevada and New Jersey, sports betting and online horse racing across multiple states were also discussed by the panel.Challenges As with any bourgeoning market, new barriers and challenges exist and these were discussed for each vertical.

In the case of iLottery, US restrictions on gambling advertising exist, which creates a unique opportunity for affiliates to make a difference. Restrictions do apply as affiliates will need to geo-target their marketing within the state, or use geo-targeted links such as those pulled from the Income Access Ad Serving Tool.

As DFS’ popularity increases among players and brands alike, so do acquisition costs. Attitudes towards the vertical are also changing, while possible legislative changes in the near future could impact its reach.

Other challenges include the difficulties of competing financiallywith larger DFS brands, who have greater marketing spend, as well as developing an impactful affiliate programme. There are solutions to the latter issue, such as outsourcing affiliate management.Regulatory Changes Potential changes to legislation in New Jersey and Pennsylvania were also under the spotlight and could open new doors for affiliates in the next couple of years, with several of the panellists predicting a domino effect. Lawmakers in major population centres such as New York may also follow suit shortly after other states act.

For more insights from the panel, you can listen to the full podcast on iGB Affiliate's website, while our team’s ICE Totally Gaming highlights provide more insights from the conference as a whole.

Following ICE, we participated in the London Affiliate Conference (LAC) panel ‘What’s Next for Your Business: Thinking Innovatively About the Growth and Management of an Affiliate Business’ at the recent London Affiliate Conference (LAC). The key points from this session are available on our Content Hub. If you have any further questions, please reach out to us.