Gambling.com Group, CEO Charles Gillespie is very happy to have ESPN as a competitor in the red hot US sports betting market, and he also sees a bright future for casino affiliates. Those are just a couple of the nuggets regarding the general state of online gambling in the United States that Gillespie dropped during a recent earnings call to investors.
Gillespie is extremely bullish on the general state of the US online gambling market and welcomes the legitimacy that the new ESPN sportsbook is bringing to the market. “I think, in general, it’s really positive because they’re the worldwide leader and the biggest name in sports in the United States and, now that they’ve done something, it further destigmatizes the industry. The stigma had already more or less totally washed off, but this is another very meaningful step in the right direction for the industry going fully mainstream,” he said in comments reported on by SBC Americas.
The role of casino affiliates in growing new brands isn’t a topic that’s received much public discussion by CEOs but Gillespie sees real potential there, too (especially after Barstool Sports’ owner Penn Gaming seemed to see little value in affiliates). “ESPN with Penn, you know, they’re, they’re gonna have to spend a lot of money acquiring customers, as any new operator would. Especially an operator that’s set such high expectations for themselves, so clearly this means more demand for affiliate services,” he added.
Gillespie went on to say that he sees plenty of opportunity for growth in the US gaming market, even with the major growth his company has already experienced.