Being a “small” group does also have advantages though IMO. The way they treat their players is second to none and that should count a lot to affilliates. There may be a trade-off in how affiliates are handled – although I’ve never had a problem with them myself, but if you send players to a casino who have such a good rep, and worth noting that they are always one of the first to pay commissions each month, then that makes good business sense.
I know it’s old ground, but I feel that a lot of affiliates (and this isn’t aimed at anyone here) judge on how the casino treats affiliates when they should worry far more about how a casino treats the player.