Betting vertical development prospects: is it still a profitable choice in 2023?

In 2020, affiliate earnings dropped in all verticals. Betting was no exception, with massive sporting events getting canceled and many countries introducing lockdowns that have suspended the activities of bookmakers.

In 2021, the sports events sector made a recovery, with many sporting events held in the first 6 months that attracted players to bookmaker offices. What’s the current state of this vertical and what are its prospects?

 

The betting vertical — what is it?

The betting vertical includes all offers linked to bookmaker offices. 

Target actions — users registering with the BK and making their first deposit. . 

Bets are accepted on sport and e-sport events. The most popular sports are football, basketball, MMA and other combat sports, and simply popular events, such as the World and European Football Championships.

Cybersport events are video game tournaments and championships: FIFA, Dota, Starcraft, League of Legend, CS:GO.

 

Bookmaker offices are divided into:

• White-hat — the office is licensed by an authorized gambling body. For example, in Russia, it’s the CATIR.
• Gray-hat — when the office’s accounts are registered in offshores. For example, Andorra, Belize, Bermuda, Cyprus and Malta. You need to pay attention to the legislation of the GEO you’re planning on working with, since the activities of such bookmakers are illegal in certain countries. Driving traffic to such BOs is restricted in some states, but payments for them are higher.

 

The future of the betting industry.

The bookmaker industry demonstrated its crisis preparedness when the pandemic hit. You’d think that the industry came to a halt since all the sport events got canceled. But all major advertisers immediately switched to e-sports betting offers and continued to work.

Esports have been gaining popularity around the world over the past few years. Teams for different types of games are created, championships with large prize pools are held. Such events can be held entirely remotely and broadcast via streaming services. In the United States, esports streams were the most watched event in 2020, second only to the NFL (National Football League), beating out even the MLB (Major League Baseball).

Many bookmakers make mobile applications. This has a positive effect on the influx of new players from TIER 3 countries, where the Internet is slow and computers are expensive.

Affiliates will appreciate large bookmakers having their own affiliate programs, that let even newbies get large payouts and work directly with advertisers. 

 

Popular payout models in betting offers.

CPA.

Payment for a target action. Which is usually the client registering with the BO or making their first deposit. Less often – downloading an app. This model suits affiliates who can’t boast having bulging ad budgets and want to make money quickly. But in terms of long-term earnings, CPA is inferior to RevShare.

RevShare.

Revenue Share — a lifetime share of the income made off a client. This model is usually used by large teams and experienced webmasters. To receive such an offer from an advertiser, you need to provide large volumes of high-quality traffic. This model is often used when working with bookmakers directly. This model helps you turn your traffic flow into a passive income.

Which GEOs to pick to drive traffic to?

Start out by picking a TIER of countries. TIER 1 traffic will open up high payouts, but you’ll need special approaches here. For such players, gambling (be it in the form of sports bets or casino games) is strictly entertainment, not a way to make bank. Creatives that place an emphasis on how fun and exciting the game process is will suit this mentality better.

Whereas when targeting developing countries, it’s best to gambling as a way to make some serious easy money.

Make sure to check what local legal norms require of bookmakers in terms of licensing. In Austria and Switzerland, bookmakers are obliged to have a Curacao or Malta license. While in Germany, it has to be a Curacao one only. 

 

Newbie affiliates should focus on Asia, Latin America, Russia and Ukraine. The traffic there isn’t as expensive, and in the CIS region they’ll encounter a familiar mentality.

 

If you have enough experience and a big enough ad budget, you can try TIER 1 countries. The following countries are filled with gamblers: Australia, Canada, Scandinavian countries, Austria, Germany, Switzerland. Driving traffic to betting offers from these GEOs will cost a pretty penny, but the payments are also several times higher.

 

Cybersport events are most popular in China, Singapore, South Korea, closely followed by the United States and Canada, with Europe and the United Kingdom occupying third place.

How to make money on betting offers in 2021?

Stay on top of your sports calendar. Use sporting events in your campaigns. Conversion rates see a stable surge during popular events, especially since you can whet people’s interest by using the participating athletes or teams.

 

Work with the affiliate programs of bookmakers, they always pay better since there’s no intermediary involved. Bookmaker offices may also grant you access to exclusive offers, unavailable in other affiliate programs and promotional materials featuring popular athletes serving as mascots.

Main sources of traffic for betting offers:

• Social media. Facebook bans ads that promote BOs, you’ll have to work with a cloaking service, a plethora of accounts and a bunch of different creatives. Another good choice are forecast Telegram and WhatsApp chats. Instagram allows mentioning BOs in posts and videos, meaning you can make a profile dedicated to this topic and buy ad space from bloggers. Youtube also still converts well;
• Contextual ads. Google.Ads and Yandex.Direct classify betting as a gray-hat vertical. Promoting certain BOs is prohibited. You can still do it via cloaking, but it’s best to mention the establishment having a license (if it does) on your creative.  
• Push notifications. Cheap traffic, no harsh moderation. The most popular choices here are: wow pushes on large winnings, bonus pushes, event pushes.
• Google UAC and In-App. Just as is the case with gambling, betting apps convert extremely well.
• New traffic sources. The great part about the betting vertical is that it lets unusual traffic sources show themselves off. For example, recently, lots of traffic comes from Twitch – it’s filled with esports fans. There’s been plenty of cases of native ads being effective in Tik Tok.  

 

Conclusion – Is driving traffic to betting offers in 2021 worth it?

The betting vertical proved itself impervious to the 2020 crisis. Following the return of regular sporting events, the demand for betting is constantly growing. Add to this the growing interest in esports in many countries. 

Advantages for novice webmasters are stability and the ability to make money in the long run. There is always an opportunity for experienced affiliates to try new types of traffic. If you want a passive source of affiliate marketing income, we suggest taking a closer look at this vertical.