BetUS closes affiliate program

With some irony, the American Independence Day weekend has seen the closure of another U.S.-oriented gaming and betting affiliate program, BetUS.
In a message addressed to affiliates, the company made the following announcement yesterday:
“On behalf of the team at BetUS Partners I would like to thank you for your continued support of our program through the years. Your dedication has meant a great deal to us and we have very much enjoyed working closely with you.
“Unfortunately, the BetUS Partners Affiliate Program will cease to exist in its current form effective immediately. Nevertheless, we will remain committed to paying commissions on players acquired to date and will have staff available to you should you have any questions or concerns.
“Since the BetUS Partners site will be taken offline, marketing materials and reporting will no longer be available. Please don’t hesitate to contact us directly should you need to update your profile or payment instructions.”
Not many are surprised
BeBetUS had been a focal point for affiliate controversy lately, with the company already struggling to pay affiliates even before this latest news. Many affiliates have already written off the brand and have urged others to do so.
The company recently changed its domain name from BetUS.com to BetUS.com.pa, among other signs that it (like many other companies) was struggling to cope with the recent U.S.-based online gambling crackdown.
Also of note was BetUS’s absence from the list of newly announced sponsors for the upcoming Barcelona Affiliate Conference, scheduled to kick off September 8th in Spain.
“The newest addition to the premium list, Mansion Affiliates, was first in line to take the BETUS mantle as Bronze sponsor,” iGB Affiliate announced in a news release.
Still, the site has its fans, and continues to accept players. BetUS also remains heavily marketed on social media sites like Twitter and Facebook. But speculation is rampant that the site may be heading for big trouble, and could be purchased (or out of business entirely) by the end of 2011.
Even with this latest update, there’s still a lot of uncertainty as to just what’s going on with the program. Details on what the company does next are expected soon.