This is what happens when an intense period of heavy marketing hits the top lines of the recipients of the largesse. If you wanted to make money out of the boom in US sports-betting – and the smaller boom in igaming – then being an affiliate is a good place to start.
But in talking about Catena Media’s results, CEO Michael Daly let slip a phrase that may yet have more resonance than he intended. Germany’s new regulations introduced in July have shown that affiliates can make hay in any given market as long as operators’ marketing wallets remain open. But when that period ends, there is not a lot they can do to change direction and to use the analogy, when the tide turns it will be affiliates that will be found to be swimming naked.
So it was that Daly said “winter is coming” in the US and other northern hemisphere markets. He meant that a seasonal return to the home would herald a return to online activity over in-real-life experiences in the summer.
Blood infusion
But the phrase has resonance as well when it comes to the marketing spend of the US operators. With operators openly talking about the elevated spending coming to an end – and some like Wynn publicly exiting the merry-go-round altogether – the third quarter 2021 might yet be a high watermark for the marketing dollars.
The affiliates, meanwhile, will hold out hope for New York, and certainly what Better Collective had to say about Arizona (producing 62% of total US revenues) signals just how much a new state opening up can mean.
Also available today on Earnings + More:
- Better Collective
- Catena Media
- Endeavor Q3
- IGT Investor day analyst reaction
- Churchill Downs analyst note
