How are you navigating legal US sports betting affiliate programs?

[datstheguy]

For those who are monetizing their US traffic with legal and licensed US sports betting affiliate programs, how do you handle it? Getting a license for each state is clearly not realistic initially, so how do you make it happen?

[MJM]

State by state is the only option, there is no consistency in licensing nor is there any states with reciprocity arrangements. You don't need a license to promote in a few states though: Iowa, Illinois, Connecticut, Wyoming, for example and Maryland doesn't look like it's going to license affiliates when the market opens up. There is no quick fix, operators will not work with you unless you go through the licensing process and I"m not aware of any sub affiliate regulations or opportunities.

[datstheguy]

I"m not aware of any sub affiliate regulations or opportunities

That's what I was wondering about, didn't see any solid sub-affiliate opportunity but heard on a podcast recently that they existed. Maybe they are somewhat informal and not public?

[MJM]

That's what I was wondering about, didn't see any solid sub-affiliate opportunity but heard on a podcast recently that they existed. Maybe they are somewhat informal and not public?

I would love to know more about that myself, it would be a great path for many affiliates - but I also suspect any potential sub affiliate relationship will still require both sides to be licensed.

[FintanCostello]

I would love to know more about that myself, it would be a great path for many affiliates - but I also suspect any potential sub affiliate relationship will still require both sides to be licensed.

From what we have seen is that the state licensing system doesn't specifically allow for sub-affiliate licensing, it's very much a grey area on how to proceed.

[MJM]

From what we have seen is that the state licensing system doesn't specifically allow for sub-affiliate licensing, it's very much a grey area on how to proceed.

Yes, the interesting part is state licensing doesn't seem to disallow it either. As you know, anyone who owns more than 10% of a company shares needs to be licensed.....so it does seem that "in theory" a massive company could farm out sub affiliate deals, but the catch is that the master affiliate would be responsible and liable for the compliance of the sub affiliate.

I do know of scenarios where a licensed company (i15 media) used a master affiliate links for bigger cpa's (catena) but in that case, both affiliate companies were properly licensed......so I'd say that sub affiliate deals are probably possible but too risky and impractical unless both parties are licensed.

[FintanCostello]

Exactly this, the master affiliate putting their license at risk is a big decision

[TheGooner]

I'm ignoring it entirely - i'll give it five more years to shake out and come up with a workable framework.

[datstheguy]

Thanks everybody.

We're not sure whether to...

1. go ahead with finding a sub-affiliate deal to promote legal operators though we our current traffic we would probably be laughed at (i.e., 30k monthly US)

2. start promoting offshore casinos though that's not really future proof as we would lock ourselves out of legal operators

[Sherlock]

What about making a domain just for option 2? Keep the premium one for the thieves if you still believe you will make some money with them.

[MJM]

What about making a domain just for option 2? Keep the premium one for the thieves if you still believe you will make some money with them.

Licensing is done on an individual basis, not by domain. You can't have it both ways - and yes, regulators will come after you if you try.

[MJM]

Thanks everybody.

We're not sure whether to...

1. go ahead with finding a sub-affiliate deal to promote legal operators though we our current traffic we would probably be laughed at (i.e., 30k monthly US)

2. start promoting offshore casinos though that's not really future proof as we would lock ourselves out of legal operators

3. get your own deals because sub affiliate deals don't currently exist. 30k a month traffic is PLENTY.

[rmeeuwsen]

What about making a domain just for option 2? Keep the premium one for the thieves if you still believe you will make some money with them.

That's what I'm trying to do now. Keep the "off-shores" on separate sites from US state licensed + UK licensed programs. But most of my sites are already tainted with a mix of everything.

[datstheguy]

3. get your own deals because sub affiliate deals don't currently exist. 30k a month traffic is PLENTY.

This options sounds ideal but what deals are you thinking about here? Do you mean speaking to licensed US operators directly to see what can be done? Would they need me to get licensed to do that?

Thanks for the nudge, though. Much appreciated (and love your BettingUSA website, very informative).

[Kelewield]

This options sounds ideal but what deals are you thinking about here? Do you mean speaking to licensed US operators directly to see what can be done? Would they need me to get licensed to do that?

Thanks for the nudge, though. Much appreciated (and love your BettingUSA website, very informative).

Most likely it means a direct conversation