iGB Affiliate 68 April/May | Page 7

CONTENTS Events calendar 04 News 06 Regulatory changes and sign-up promotions 09 PR, brands and trust 13 Make sure your site succeeds 16 This year’s World Cup offers yet another big opportunity for sportsbooks to try to turn casual punters into regular bettors. However, as our round table on p40 explores, a perfect storm of factors has unfolded since the last tournament four years ago. It’s one that has necessitated a marked change of strategy on behalf of both affi liates and operators this time around. We lead this issue with an exclusive interview with ThePOGG. He tells us about his timely attempt to bring small and mid-sized affi liates together to protect themselves not only against the questionable practices of rogue programs, but also the forces reshaping the wider sector, from consolidation to advertising compliance (p26). Being held responsible for the marketing activities carried out on their behalf by affi liates has of course been cited by a succession of big operators (most recently 888 and LeoVegas) as being behind their decision to cull the number of partners they work with. According to this year’s iGB Affi liate Survey, a sneak preview of which is on p37, the mean percentage of operator revenues generated by affi liates in 2017 was 32%, down from 37% the previous year, indicating a decreased reliance on the channel among operators. Elsewhere in the issue, we turn our attention to Scandinavia ahead of our Nordic Affi liate Conference (see p31 and p35). With Swedish authorities now pushing hard to keep the market opening on track for 1 January, 2019, the opportunities for stakeholders in this valuable re-regulated market will inevitably be the main focus of the discussion at this year’s event. Why good content is integral to a digital strategy 19 Build and benefi t from a private network 23 ThePOGG: building the union 26 Sweden: marketers seek clarity 31 Catena: new boss will ‘hit the ground running’ 35 iGB Affi liate Survey: a challenging 12 months 37 Round table: World Cup strategies 40 World Cup marketing: and the winner is… 45 Create an outstanding affi liate program 46 Appetite for consolidation 48 Act early to attract top tech talent 51 How we learnt to win at crypto 52 Africa: dig for opportunities and strike gold 56 Beyond the burnout 59 Data centre, including EU regulation, H2 Asian Dashboard 62 Advertiser index 74 See you in Copenhagen! Stephen Carter, Editorial director http://on.fb.me/1CGEIgk @igbaffi liate www.igbaffi liate.com Editorial director: Stephen Carter [email protected] Deputy editor: Hannah Gannagé-Stewart [email protected] Sub editor: Sharon Everitt and Guy Parsons Publishing director: Richard Linn [email protected] Managing director: Alex Pratt [email protected] Designer: Simon Brake Production manager: Craig Young [email protected] Group sales director: James King [email protected] Sales manager: James Harrison [email protected] Senior account manager: Luke Webb [email protected] Account manager: Jack Hill [email protected] FREE SUBSCRIPTION email: [email protected] Printed in the UK by: Pensord Press, www.pensord.co.uk Published by: iGaming Business Ltd, Bedford House, 69-79 Fulham High Street, London SW6 3JW, UK T: [phone] F: [phone] www.igamingbusiness.com © iGaming Business 2017. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, or stored in any retrieval system of any nature without prior written permission, except for permitted fair dealing under the Copyright Designs and Patents Act 1988. Application for permission for use of copyright material including permission to reproduce extracts in other published works shall be made to the publishers. Full acknowledgement of author, publisher and source must be given. iGaming Business Affi liate Magazine is published by iGaming Business Ltd, Bedford House, 69-79 Fulham High Street, London SW6 3JW, UK. The views expressed by contributors and correspondents are their own. Editorial opinions expressed in this magazine are not necessarily those of the Publisher. The Publisher does not accept responsibility for advertising content. Cover image: istockphoto.com. ISSN 2041-6954. iGB Affi liate Issue 68 APR/MAY 2018 3