A lot of making money in business is about being able to anticipate and prepare for future changes. Those running an affiliate business who are doing work to prepare for US regulation are doing their future bottom-line a big favor.
Affiliates aspiring to operate in the U.S. market are in a tricky position right now. In the interest of appeasing gaming control regulators in order to receive a license to operate as an advertiser for legal U.S. gaming operators, affiliates are wise to avoid doing any advertising for operators currently profiting from the unregulated U.S. market.
But where does this leave affiliates wanting to prepared to market in the U.S.? Are there legal forms of iGaming that can currently be promoted in the U.S. that won’t draw the wrath of regulators down the road?
There are at least two forms of legal iGaming that can be promoted in the U.S.:
Horse Racing
A good place to start running legal iGaming promotions in the U.S. is with horse racing. Programs like TwinSpires and TVG convert well among U.S. players.
As of 2010, online horse race betting was legal in 16 states. This gives affiliate a good excuse to geo-target their traffic in order to start running targeted advertisements to citizens of states where some form of online gaming is legal.
Working to promote online horse racing will help give affiliates a familiarity of what it’s like to work with U.S.-based operators in anticipation of the more highly-regulated market of the future. There is no waiting around for legislation in order to start promoting horse racing.
Fantasy Sports
When the UIGEA was passed in 2006 it made an exemption for fantasy sports games or any online contest that, “has an outcome that reflects the relative knowledge of the participants, or their skill at physical reaction or physical manipulation (but not chance), and, in the case of a fantasy or simulation sports game, has an outcome that is determined predominantly by accumulated statistical results of sporting events, including any non-participant’s individual performances in such sporting events.”
Put plainly: real-money fantasy sports are completely legal in the U.S.
A revolutionary new form of fantasy sports known as “daily fantasy sports” where players can draft a new team every day and compete for real-money prizes is quickly gaining popularity in the sports-addicted U.S. culture. Operators like DraftDay offer customers the chance to compete for thousands in nightly prizes by drafting a one-day lineup from their favorite pro sports league.
Almost all daily fantasy sports operators have affiliate programs as they work to gain a substantial customer base in the infant market.