EGR Power Affiliates 2021

Welcome to EGR Global’s Power Affiliates 2021 rankings.

The betting and gaming affiliate industry has endured a year like no other due in no small part to the well-documented disruption caused by Covid-19.

Sports betting affiliates struggled throughout the early part of last year as a usually bustling sporting calendar ground to a halt, with many high-revenue events cancelled including Euro 2020.

Igaming affiliates, however, enjoyed a stellar 2020 for the most part and rode the crest of a wave as digital businesses flourished with consumers stuck at home and eager for entertainment, while casino gambling proved no exception to that trend.

The other key narrative driver of 12 month-period to December 31 2020 has been the continued astronomical growth of gambling operations in the US market. Cash has flooded the region since the repeal of PASPA in 2018 and affiliates are increasingly looking to extend and defend their slice of the pie via state-specific launches or targeted M&A.

Speaking of M&A, the largest ever gambling affiliate acquisition was sewn up after the Power Affiliates reporting period as Better Collective paid $240m for US betting site Action Network.

This kind of cash demonstrates the hockey-stick growth and correlating uplift in maturity of the gambling affiliate sector, which has also made bold strides in responsible gambling this year.

As a result, EGR felt it important to make the compiling structure for these annual rankings as impartial and transparent as possible. To that end, we have enlisted the help of accountancy and business advisory firm BDO for the very first time.

BDO has done an excellent job on our Power 50 operator rankings for several years now, and we wanted to replicate that process for the affiliate sector.

Whereas before we relied on a panel of nine independent judges to cast their votes across a series of categories, BDO has this year picked through the financials of each company, where these were available, with a fine-tooth comb.

These financial ratings were then compared against the prior year to ascertain a growth score before being combined with EGR’s judgement using prior knowledge and understanding of the online gambling affiliate space to produce the final rankings, which can be found below.

This has been an intense and complex process. As we all know, affiliates are notoriously private and the landscape is frighteningly competitive. It has therefore been difficult to collect absolutely consistent financial information from each business on the shortlist.

We appreciate that some elements of this year’s rankings may need to be tweaked ahead of next year and we consider this a work in progress of sorts. Your feedback is therefore welcome and will be extremely valuable to us moving forwards.

In conclusion, we are confident that in the long-term this move will bring a whole new level of esteem and maturity to an exciting, fast-paced and innovative sector that deserves annual recognition alongside the rest of the global online gambling industry.

EGR would like to thank bet365 for sponsoring this year’s Power Affiliates, and BDO for helping us compile the rankings. BDO is one of the world’s largest accountancy and business advisory firms and is a leading service provider to the online gaming sector.

Proudly sponsored by

“Bet365 Partners is delighted to sponsor the EGR Power Affiliates list for 2021 and we look forward to continuing to develop our long standing partnerships with all that appear.”

The Power Affiliates rankings are now compiled in partnership with BDO, one of the world’s leading accountancy firms.

1. Better Collective (1)

HQ: Denmark

Key executive: Jesper Søgaard

Access to financials: Yes

Better Collective has now topped these rankings for the fourth year in a row. It was not all plain sailing in full-year 2020, however, as the group’s growth trajectory was temporarily blown off course by sporting cancellations amid the Covid-19 pandemic. Despite this, full-year revenue grew by 35% annually to €91.2m, 8% of which was organic. The rest was generated via shrewd acquisitions as the company made a timely diversification into esports with the €34.5m purchase of HLTV, the leading esports platform focused on the popular Counter-Strike: Global Offensive game. Better Collective also acquired another heavy-hitting affiliate that has previously featured on the Power Affiliates list in Atemi, formerly known as Rise Project, for €44m. Atemi is one of the world’s largest companies specialised within lead generation for online casino through paid media (PPC) and social media advertising. This signalled a clear strategic shift for Better Collective and onboarded additional channels of traffic by sourcing high-intent customers on a large scale. Elsewhere, Better Collective is now live in 11 US states. The group reported annual NDCs of 437,000.

2. Catena Media (2)

HQ: Malta

Key executive: Michael Daly

Access to financials: Yes

In pure financial terms, Catena Media is the most successful company on this list. The Malta-based behemoth brought in annual revenue of €106m for full-year 2020, although this only represented a 3% increase on 2019. Adjusted EBITDA came in at €52m, while operating profit climbed to €38m, €8m ahead of closest competitor Better Collective. There was, however, a £32m impairment in the prior year that impacted operating profit. After what some would describe as a lacklustre approach to M&A, Catena Media tightened the purse strings in 2020 and didn’t make a single acquisition. As well as leading to a sharp increase in annual operating profit, this significantly strengthened the company’s balance sheet and has laid the foundations for strategic acquisitions in the US market, where more than half of all quarterly revenue is now earned. Indeed, the company’s US growth was buoyed by land-based casino closures as customers sought out gaming alternatives online. The business launched in four states in 2020 and the priority it is placing on this market was demonstrated by the promotion of US chief Michael Daly to overall group CEO in January. The firm reported annual NDCs of 444,000.

3. Gaming Innovation Group (12)

HQ: Malta

Key executive: Jonas Warrer

Access to financials: Yes

GiG Media has gone from strength to strength in 2020 and has become a key revenue driver for the overall business following the disposal of its B2C asset portfolio. The supplier has redesigned and optimised several existing websites, which resulted in a very positive Google update in December 2020 that saw several websites rise through the rankings. The revamped websites also had a positive effect on GiG’s paid campaigns and this laser focus on organic growth was reiterated by the fact it made no acquisitions in 2020. With annual revenue approaching the €40m mark, GiG Media is a fully fledged international affiliate business. Its expertise is such that it has been able to create and sell its GiG Comply compliance tracking tool to operators, which has become a reliable and lucrative revenue stream. GiG Media reported all-time-high revenue in December alongside a 36% Q4 uptick in NDCs. EBITDA hit €4.3m while paid media represented 29% of total media division revenue. Throughout the year, GiG entered seven new markets, launched 15 new websites and is now live in 11 US states. The group reported annual NDCs of 126,000.

4. Gambling.com Group (8)

HQ: Ireland

Key executive: Charles Gillespie

Access to financials: Yes

Gambling.com Group has enjoyed a stellar year of organic growth in its domestic market of the US. The affiliate redeemed its senior secured bonds in December so did not have to report Q4 publicly, although EGR understands Q4 revenue rose by 150% year-on-year, which is a more explosive growth story than even the likes of DraftKings, according to Online Gambling Quarterly. While Covid-19 crushed many competitors, the pandemic period was positive overall for Gambling.com Group, as it was less affected by the suspension of sports in H1 due to a sports betting revenue mix of less than 20%. Full-year growth was driven by the launch of multiple internal technology projects which had been under development for some time, including content management and advertiser management systems, which have now come together to propel the business forward. It launched in Colorado, Illinois and Tennessee last year, while Virginia followed shortly afterwards in January. The business also recruited former Catena Media COO Johannes Bergh as its new chief strategy officer.

5. Raketech (3)

HQ: Malta

Key executive: Oskar Mühlbach

Access to financials: Yes

Founded in 2010 as an online poker affiliate, Raketech’s full-year revenue to 31 December amounted to €29.4m, representing growth of 23% and an EBITDA of €12m. As one of the publicly listed affiliates on this list, Raketech has access to investor capital and put that to good use with the €1.4m acquisition of performance marketing company Lead Republik Ltd, which saw the company diversify outside of the Nordics and into markets including Canada and New Zealand. This was followed by a €5m deal for US news portal American Gambler, founded by former Better Collective digital marketing lead Alexander Kostin. This shifted the US from a strategic target to a strategic market with excellent growth potential. Raketech also underwent a substantial rebrand in 2020 and has published a series of strategic promises to mitigate risk. These include operating on at least three continents, earning less than 60% revenue mix from any one vertical and a continued focus on just four to five global flagship assets. Recently added markets include India, Brazil and Colombia. The group reported annual NDCs of 172,000.

6. KaFe Rocks (5)

HQ: Malta

Key executive: Simon Pilkington

Access to financials: Yes

KaFe Rocks was ranked remarkably similarly to Raketech by BDO, to give readers an insight into the privately owned affiliate business. After causing a stir in last year’s Power Affiliates rankings by breaking into the top five as a new entry, 2020 has certainly proved that was no fluke. The company matured significantly last year and recruited its first non-founder CEO in Simon Pilkington. There was also a full rebrand of the KFR corporate website to better reflect the company and its values, which was well received and has led to the firm hiring some top tech talent. In 2020, KaFe Rocks launched seven new assets and entered four new markets. Despite being a fully remote company long before Covid-19, KaFe Rocks also opened its first HQ called Oasis in Malta for employees to meet up and work together. It even has a communal pool. While Covid’s commercial impact on the business was limited due to a well-diversified product portfolio, it did cause uncertainty among staff, which led to a renewed focus on health and wellbeing.

7. XLMedia (4)

HQ: Jersey

Key executive: Stuart Simms

Access to financials: Yes

XLMedia has finished in the top five since the inception of these rankings, yet 2021 proved a bridge too far for the London-listed company. While the business still generated solid annual revenue of $54.8m, it suffered on financial performance following a 31% downturn on profitability in 2019. Former Rakuten chief Stuart Simms was appointed to reboot the faltering business but his reign got off to the worst possible start when Google deranked more than 100 of its casino sites in January 2020. That, combined with a lack of sport due to Covid-19, saw the group lose $2m in revenue per month for several months from March. Closure of the affiliate’s media business also negatively impacted annual revenue by $5m. In 2020, 61% of revenue came from casino, dropping to 22% for sports, 15% for finance and 2% for bingo. More than half (57%) of total revenue was earned via rev share, falling to 20% for CPA. Simms admitted the business had been knocked off track by unforeseen challenges but will be hoping the US sports betting acquisitions of CBWG Sports ($12m) and Sports Betting Dime ($26m) can inspire a growth turnaround in 2021.

8. Natural Intelligence (6)

HQ: Israel

Key executive: Nir Greenberg

Access to financials: No

Natural Intelligence would almost certainly rank higher on this list if we were able to compare its gambling affiliate revenue with its competitors. However, only a small portion of the Israeli lead generation company is focused on gaming. The firm’s gaming section is still doing some serious business and delivered NDCs in excess of 20,000 each month for 2020, not including the US. Gaming revenue and profits account for around a fifth of the company’s overall figures.

9. Oddschecker Global Media (7)

HQ: UK

Key executive: Toby Bentall

Access to financials: No

Oddschecker is another company that has slipped several places this year due to the fact BDO was not able to assess its financial results. Parent company Flutter Entertainment is in discussions over a sale of the business, which is why it was not able to provide further information due to sensitive timing. It has been a mixed year for the Hammersmith-based business, which inevitably suffered from the sporting shutdown but retained a few diehard bettors with a temporary focus on niche sports. It also closed down its Australia business and lost high-profile commercial partners in Entain-owned Ladbrokes, Coral and Betdaq. Despite these setbacks, it launched a new RacingPicks brand in the US as part of a renewed push into the States, while an 18-month technology project to reduce lag times and improve UX has paid dividends. Matt Robinson became CTO in 2020 as part of a managerial restructuring of the business.

10. Livesport Media (10)

HQ: Malta

Key executive: Richard Hájek

Access to financials: No

Livesport Media continues to be led by its world-renowned FlashScore app, which has now expanded into just about every market imaginable. During 2020, it entered Latam for the first time and the company has hired a Latam exec to handle the launch and an Africa exec to build a strategy to enter another emerging region. While the business was negatively impacted by a shortage of sport during H1, FlashScore provides live score updates across more than 35 major sports, so there was always something for consumers to keep track of. Despite the disruption, Livesport finished 2020 roughly on a par with 2019 after a strong bounce back in H2.

11. Spotlight Sports Group (9)

HQ: UK

Key executive: Gethin Evans

Access to financials: Yes

While no M&A was carried out this year, Spotlight Sports Group fully integrated the previously acquired Apsley Group and ICS-digital. This helped unlock growth in Pickswise.com and its B2B content business. Indeed, Pickswise boasts more than one million users per month and over 70,000 Twitter followers, despite being launched only two years ago. In the UK, RacingPost.com, myracing.com and FreeSuperTips.com suffered from the lack of horseracing during Q2 but bounced back strongly in the second half of the year. As part of a 2020 business reorganisation, there were key promotions for CCO Sam Houlding and CMO Gethin Evans, while the firm has also hired an experienced VP of sales in the US in Justin Geiger. Cian Nugent, who is MD for racing, became chair of UK affiliate trade body RAiG at the end of the year, replacing Clive Hawkswood. In the US, the business is live and licensed in New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Indiana, West Virginia, Colorado, Tennessee, Michigan, Virginia, Illinois and Iowa, although not all of those launches took place in 2020.

12. LiveScore (20)

HQ: London

Key executive: Sam Sadi

Access to financials: No

After making its debut in the Power Affiliate rankings last year, LiveScore has continued to grow from strength to strength. Despite the impact of the Covid-19 outbreak, the London-based firm was able to expand its product capabilities with the launch of its live streaming platform in June 2020. The affiliate secured the broadcasting rights to both Italian and Portuguese domestic football for its UK and Ireland users ahead of the product launch, and to date has seen 1,250 matches across 15 different leagues and competitions broadcast via the app. As well as dealing with the Covid-19 pandemic and launching the new live streaming capabilities, LiveScore continued to make numerous hires to its product and content teams and did not reduce its workforce as a result of the pandemic.

13. Blexr (15)

HQ: Malta

Key executive: Ian Hills

Access to financials: Yes

Blexr has flourished in 2020. NDCs increased 4.6% during 2020 and revenue rose 22%. The business, which is now split between Malta and Barcelona, saw decreased traffic in its sports betting portfolio due to Covid-19. It is primarily focused on casino, however, and has diversified above and beyond this year to mitigate that risk, most recently with the leftfield, six-figure acquisition of HomeGrounds, the world’s largest digital home barista community, focused on coffee brewing, grounds and equipment. The business also promoted some top talent last year, including 2019 SEO iGaming Idol award winner Koen Bongers as head of marketing. The affiliate launched its Casinos brand in Portugal and Italy this year, as well as Germany, where it spent €450,000 on the Casinos.de domain. The company’s main casino brand has also been translated into Polish, Japanese and Italian. All this investment has brought commercial success by increasing the overall casino audience by 25% and casino traffic in Argentina by 433% and Germany by 59%.

14. Game Lounge (14)

HQ: Malta

Key executive: Jonas Cederholm

Access to financials: No

Game Lounge did not provide any information, financial or otherwise, for this year’s rankings. The business scaled up significantly in 2020 via M&A, though. It bought odds comparison site and sought-after domain name betting.com in June before acquiring 60% of the shares in Danish-based SEO provider and digital marketing firm We Digitize ApS. It further expanded in the Nordics by putting together a deal for Traffic Lab’s Danish-facing SEO affiliate sites.

15. Clever Advertising (19)

HQ: Portugal

Key executive: Luis Rodrigues

Access to financials: No

Clever Advertising did not provide any information, financial or otherwise, for this year’s rankings. If it had, it may well have ranked much higher in this list, as the company’s web homepage is showcased with some eye-popping stats, including more than 500 million unique monthly viewers. The business to date has built up 3,000 websites, more than 200 social communities and a social media audience in excess of 10 million. Its diverse range of online bookmaking clients include bet365, Betano, Parimatch and PokerStars.

16. Traffic Lab (17)

HQ: Denmark

Key executive: Sebastian Agerskov

Access to financials: Yes

An eventful 2020 for Traffic Lab began by offloading its Danish-facing SEO affiliate sites to Game Lounge in January and ended with a corporate rebrand, which has put the Copenhagen-based firm in good stead. The group’s rebrand saw a new, brighter visual identity deployed, along with an updated marketing strategy and a brand manual for internal use. By undertaking internal surveys to understand how Traffic Lab employees viewed the company, it has become a better employer. Traffic Lab’s Simone Schnoor told EGR: “After a period of valuable research, creative brainstorming and strategic consideration, we find ourselves stronger and more unified than ever. This, we believe, is an important step towards employee happiness and the longevity of any company.” Elsewhere, Traffic Lab also secured the services of igaming veterans Esko Rissanen and Alex Richter as head of accounts and head of media buying, respectively.

17. OLBG (11)

HQ: UK

Key executive: Richard Moffat

Access to financials: Yes

OLBG has grown into a trusted community tipster site since its launch back in 2002, with the Bristol-based firm rapidly approaching two decades in the igaming business. The independent, family-owned business continues to look towards the growing US market, having secured the appropriate licences across 10 states. Revenue grew 50% and FTDs were 48% in 2020, despite the impact of the sports shutdown in the early part of the year, with the group also expanding into casino guides and reviews as it looks to provide a holistic solution for customers. The revenue growth has been derived from improving search engine rankings for its core, English-speaking regulated markets of the UK, Ireland, Australia and the US.

18. Acroud (*NEW ENTRY*)

HQ: Malta

Key executive: Robert Andersson

Access to financials: Yes

Though technically a new entry, there is an air of familiarity about Acroud in more ways than one. Acroud is the Malta-based affiliate business formerly known as Net Gaming. In 2020, it acquired Matching Visions, which finished 24^th in last year’s list. The business is also managed by CEO Robert Andersson, who is well known in the industry as the former CEO of Enlabs and Catena Media. Acroud is listed on the Nasdaq First North Growth Market and full-year 2020 revenue reached €11.6m. Impressive on the surface, but revenue, EBITDA and profit were all down significantly on the prior year due to regulatory constraints and the strategy of the previous leadership. Andersson will be hoping Acroud’s acquisition strategy can propel the company further up the ranks next year.

19. Latest Casino Bonuses (16)

HQ: Hong Kong

Key executive: Nikola Zugic

Access to financials: No

Latest Casino Bonuses (LCB) did not provide any information, financial or otherwise, for this year’s rankings. In January 2020, LCB acquired Slots Zar, a website focused on online gambling for South Africans. It highlights no banking options for South African players, no deposit bonus offers, South African-friendly online casinos and games available in that region. The business is notoriously media shy, hence the brief write-up in this year’s rankings.

20. Vita Media Group (*NEW ENTRY*)

HQ: Denmark

Key executive: Jimmi Meilstrup

Access to financials: Yes

Founded in 2016, Vita Media Group has grown at an impressive rate and finds itself comfortably nestled in the Power Affiliates on its debut appearance. The Copenhagen-headquartered firm, which owns three white-label casino brands and is set to add a fourth to its stable, recorded 5% growth in NDCs on its brands in 2020 compared to 2019. It also posted growth of 465% in site users on Ekstrapoint, its loyalty platform and retention engine. Vita Media Group also actioned a hiring spree, including appointing Mihail Andonovski as head of marketing, Elena Shokarovska as head of affiliates and Teodor Josifovski as head of SEO. In terms of market expansion, the company has its eye firmly set on India, with plans to launch a new brand on the subcontinent well underway.

21. Skores (*NEW ENTRY*)

HQ: France

Key executive: Christian de Cailleux

Access to financials: Yes

Paris-based Skores is a new entrant this year and is maturing rapidly. The affiliate’s flagship Sporty Trader brand is now live in eight markets, having expanded into the Netherlands and Brazil during 2020. The site offers tips, odds comparison, live scores, stats, bookmaker reviews and promotions. In June 2020, the business set up a dedicated M&A division and is actively seeking sports betting acquisitions in target markets including France, Italy, Spain and the UK. The firm was, however, severely impacted by the Covid-19 pandemic, losing 98% of traffic from March to May.

22. Checkd Group (13)

HQ: UK

Key executive: Jamie Knowlson

Access to financials: Yes

If you like football, then you will have heard of Checkd Group. The business is a social media titan in the UK with two million followers spread across three main brands in Footy Accumulators, The Winners Enclosure and Oddschanger. Footy Accumulators is the UK’s number one football betting community, with a combined following of over 1.5 million across social media platforms and a loyal fanbase that has stuck with the brand since 2012. Most staff were placed on furlough between March and May 2020 due to the sporting blackout, which explains the slip in rankings this year. Despite this, annual organic traffic remained strong across all three brands: Footy Accumulators (60%), The Winners Enclosure (14%) and Oddschanger (77%). The business is currently eyeing up opportunities in the US market and has registered an office in New York.

23. BonusFinder (*NEW ENTRY*)

HQ: Netherlands

Key executive: Fintan Costello

Access to financials: Yes

BonusFinder is a real start-up success story in the affiliate space. Since inception in 2019, it has ridden the wave of growth in the US igaming market to great effect and was licensed and launched in eight states last year. Further afield, the company entered into Denmark, Spain and Colombia during 2020. Significant developments saw it launch a completely redesigned website in 12 markets, while it also joined UK trade body RAiG and passed the entrance audit with flying colours. The business employs 27 full-time staff across Malta, Helsinki, Amsterdam, Serbia and London. US-driven organic growth has led to some seriously impressive upticks in revenue, EBITDA and operating profit.

24. Punters Lounge (22)

HQ: UK

Key executive: Tom Galanis

Access to financials: Yes

2020 was a tough year for the Punters Lounge business and community, with the sad passing of two key driving forces of the business in Paul Ross and Graham Sarson. Following the untimely death of principal owner Ross, Punters Lounge onboarded affiliate consultancy firm TAG Media to oversee the commercial and marketing management of the business. The business remains incredibly lean, yet hired a group of experienced racing pundits and content writers in late 2020 and it remains one of the few leading independent affiliates in the UK. As a sports betting community site, Covid-19 caused a 45% tail-off of unique visitors between April and June amid the absence of both horseracing and football. Despite these setbacks, 2020 was the most lucrative financial year to date for Punters Lounge on an EBITDA basis.

25. Bojoko (*NEW ENTRY*)

HQ: Malta

Key executive: Joonas Karhu

Access to financials: No

Bojoko makes its debut as an EGR Power Affiliate after securing 25^th place in this year’s rankings. The Malta-based firm saw a dramatic shift to remote working thanks to Covid-19, with the group’s offices slamming shut in March 2020. A plan to return to a hybrid working model is in place as it looks to offer its employees more flexibility. Bojoko is currently live in the UK, US, Canada, New Zealand and Finland as a casino comparison site, with plans to launch a similar product for sports betting in the near future across all markets. Continuing on the trend of maturity in the sector, Bojoko chief business officer Joonas Karhu launched a newly created affiliate trade body in October called the Professional Gambling Affiliates Association.