US Online Gambling Regulation: Everything You Need To Do
Many in the U.S. have been asking: when will poker online be legal? Here at CAP we have been aware that online gambling in the U.S. already is legal. Well, at least it is in the state of Nevada where online poker regulation has already joined the fray of Internet gambling laws.
With other states considering U.S. online gambling laws of their own, CAP has been working to prepare affiliates for the U.S. market. When regulation is in full swing in the U.S., affiliates need to be prepared rather than scramble to get their sites together at the last minute.
Now that the Labor Day weekend is over ceremoniously marking the end of summer, there’s no better time to get started preparing your affiliate business for U.S. regulation. Here is a list of tips on how to do this that affiliates should make note of:
1. Track the big guys. In business, there’s nothing wrong with realizing your place as a little fish and riding on the back of a large whale. To prepare for U.S. regulation, keep tabs on what the bigger affiliate sites and casino businesses are doing. For example, FlopTurnRiver.com created an interactive state map to keep their readers updated about various U.S. legal scenarios. This is a great tool for them to rank well for state-based online gambling keywords.
2. Know the top programs. Learn what you can about the big casino and iGaming operators likely to be doing business in the U.S. market. Establishing relationships with these groups early if possible could help you gain an edge when it comes time to receive an affiliate marketing license.
3. Find the best hosting providers. Consider using multiple hosting providers so that all of your eggs are not in the same basket.
4. Incorporate. Nevada is requiring all affiliates to receive an interactive gaming license in order to operate as a marketer in their online poker market. Other states could create a similar hurdle for affiliates. Gaining approval from these control boards will be substantially easier when acting on behalf of a corporation rather than your personal self.
5. Distance yourself from unlicensed operations. Gaming regulators are going to be taking a very close look at the past activities of affiliates. William Hill went as far as to leave the Australian market since their operation there was not technically legal. They did this solely to appease Nevada operators. Affiliates need to think about how their present-day affiliations could affect their future standing.
6. Get with the program on email marketing. Affiliates can get started practicing for their U.S. email marketing campaigns by promoting legal horse racing and daily fantasy sports operators.
7. Get to know the Native American tribes. In the case of at least California, the largest iGaming operators could be Native American tribes currently running brick-and-mortar casino operations.
8. Focus on social media marketing. Expanding beyond SEO is becoming ever-more crucial for success in Internet marketing. Utilizing Facebook and PPC marketing are both important ways to gain traffic and capture players.
9. Brace for lower pay. Operators in the U.S. market are unlikely to pay as high of commissions as iGaming affiliates are used to. Decreasing costs and finding more players will become important to maintain revenues.
Watch: Webinar for Preparing for U.S. iGaming Regulation hosted by Professor I. Nelson Rose and iGaming expert Warren Jolly.
Tags: Affiliates, Gaming License, Internet Gambling Laws, Nevada, US Regulation
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If they get too carried away with regulation for affiliates, it will not kill the rogue casino operators. Rogues would still offer an option for affiliates shut out from legal online gaming.
Very interesting point, Richard. I think what I hear you saying is that if being a regulated affiliate is too burdensome, affiliates will just prop up the unlicensed operators? I hadn’t considered that; it’s an interesting dynamic.
Absolutely!
Online gaming in the US did not disappear when the feds started cracking down on money transfers. Casinos found a way to do business because there was a market.
My hope was that US regulations would give affiliates reliably audited casino partners to promote. Rogue casinos cheat not only players but affiliates. We would certainly prefer to promote a casino that we could rely upon to pay us what we actually earned without skimming players and profits. Without the leverage and exposure that affiliates give to casinos, traffic and profits to rouge casinos would decrease dramatically. Hopefully, most of them would eventually go out of business.
But if an affiliate cannot easily join with and get a reasonable revenue share from legalized and regulated casinos, they will be tempted to stay with whoever they can. Not all affiliates have a lot of money and time to invest in any lenghly or costly review process. This is obviously true for someone who has never done it before (you would also not have a lot of new affiliates joining the industry if there are high entrance costs with an uncertain profit).
The argument about unregulated affiliates being a tool for drug money laundering and terrorists is fiction and rediculous scare tactics. Those activities need a very large and secetive process. Having large amounts of money pass through a regulated and monitored system would defeat the whole misison. There would need to be to many parties involved to pass ‘under the radar’. If an affiliate were to earn $9,999 in a month, they would certinaly be noticed!
This should also be a warning to the new legal casino operators. If you try to offer an affiliate a measly CPA or low % you will just be propping up the unregualted casino sites. Sure, in the short term this will cost you more than if you try to make up for the of costs regulation by reducing affiliate revenue. But you eventually literally have the whole world as your market!