Despite the global pandemic having disastrous effects on many industries and businesses, the online gambling and casino industry has thrived – with many iGaming operators recording record quarters and previously unmatched growth.
Affiliates are doing good too- with many affiliate sites dominating the top spots for sports & casino-related keywords.
Record Profits for Vegas Betting
Just last month, Nevada’s gambling regulators announced the state’s first billion-dollar month since February 2013 – collecting $1.066 billion from land based casino and sports betting operators in the state in March 2021.
- In-person Vegas sports betting was shut down in March 2020 in Nevada, and the latest figures were up +72.6% over March 2020 and +4.3% over March 2019.
- Casinos on the Vegas strip were responsible for collecting $501.4 for the state coffers – up 67.2 over March of 2020.
Online gambling companies Kindred and 888 Reported double-digit Q1 growth in their first-quarter Reports:
- Kindred Group plc, operator of Unibet Casino – one of the top UK Casinos reported a revenue increase of +41.2 percent year-on-year to €352.6m (£306.5m/$425.7m) in the first quarter of 2021, Casino, Poker, and gaming made up €192.9m of Kindred’s revenue, representing a 52.1 percent year-on-year increase in its strongest verticals.
- 888 Holdings’ revenue rose by 66% year-on-year – rising to €216.9m. 888 casino was responsible for the lion’s share of revenues at 888, where the channel grew by +80% to €161.1m. 888 is one of the most popular canadian online casinos.
Legal Gambling – Legalization and Regulation in U.S & Canada
A lot of new legal sports betting legislation has been put in place over the last few months – with cash-strapped states turning to gambling revenues to boost their coffers.
While some U.S states have legal online gambling in place (Michigan. New Jersey, Indiana, Pennsylvania, and more), other states have begun planning the rollout of state-wide legal sports betting and casinos in Q1 – including Alabama, Maryland, Arizona, and North Carolina.
Canadian lawmakers recently passed a bill that will legalize single-event sports betting in Canada, pending Senate approval.
iGaming Affiliate Entrepreneurs
Affiliates are entrepreneurs who use their websites to bring traffic and customers to casinos or sportsbooks in exchange for commission or a % lifetime revenue share. Effectively the affiliates are lead-generators.
Online casinos rely on brand, display marketing and visibility in organic search results in order to acquire new customers.
Anyone can rank on google for sports-betting or casino related terms – and many sports and sports-news websites have added sports-betting affiliate links to their sites in order to generate commission from casino and sportsbook operators
The huge growth in the gambling sector could be just the start of things – and a huge opportunity for iGaming affiliates to earn huge revenues, due to the expansion of legal sports betting worldwide
