Trafficology April 2024

TRAFFIC REPORT

Tra cology has partnered with data expert Casino City Press, to provide insight into website and tra c trends across a liate industries – predominantly in gaming but including others. In this edition, we review a liate programmes per vertical for February 2024 in Latin America. The below is a breakdown of the top 20 sites, including both desktop and mobile, sorted by: overall ranking, casino ranking, sports betting ranking, bingo ranking, lottery ranking and poker ranking

nethive.com

rush-affiliates.com

betssongroupaffiliates.com

superafiliados.com

afiliados.ecuabet.com

partnerships.betfair.com

entainpartners.com

7k.partners

betssongroupaffiliates.com

superafiliados.com

bc.game/affiliate

partners1xslots.com

roobetaffiliates.com

betwinneraffiliates.com

trafficon.io affiliates.juegaenlinea.net

affiliateskto.bet

etoropartners.com

pinnacle.com/affiliates

betfury-affiliate.com

royal.partners

bet365partners.com

egamingonline.com

deriv.com/partners/ ohmypartners.com

7k.partners

noviaffiliates.com

rivalry.com/affiliates

winwin-affiliates.com

1xpartners.com

roboforex.com/partners/affiliate/forex-affiliate/

buffalopartners.com

shuffle.com/affiliate

nethive.com

gamblingcraft.com

mrbet.partners

chillipartners.com asianconnect88.com

nethive.com

rush-affiliates.com

betssongroupaffiliates.com

partnerships.betfair.com

superafiliados.com

entainpartners.com

pinnacle.com/affiliates

noviaffiliates.com

1xpartners.com

afiliados.inkabet.pe

partners.io

betwinneraffiliates.com

twinspiresaffiliates.com

afiliados.vaidebet.com

betwaypartners.com

gamdom.com/affiliates

GamingPoint Partner

Free Spirit Bingo Affiliates

partnersonly.com

yogroupaffiliates.com

lotoplay.com/afiliados

nethive.com

entainpartners.com

revenueplanet.com

rankaffiliates.com

tauaffiliates.com

winwin-affiliates.com primepartners.com

maxiaffiliates.com

affiliate.888.com

gamesysgrouppartners.com

silverspinpartners.com

gamingpoint.co

freespiritbingo.com/affiliates

spicebingo.co.uk/affiliates

dearbingo.co.uk/affiliates

thelotter-affiliates.com affiliate.888.com

lottoelite.com/login/ ggpartners.com

affiliates.smart-winners.com

clobetaffiliates.com

fdj.fr

wpnaffiliates.com

entainpartners.com

betssongroupaffiliates.com

pailottery.com/p/partners/ superafiliados.com

partnerlottery.com

tipp24.com/aktionen/partnerprogramm

winamax.fr/en/affiliates

wptpartners.com

westlotto.de/unternehmen/affiliate/ partnerprogramm.html rsppartners.com

megarushaffiliates.com

multilottoaffiliates.com

lottohoyaffiliates.com

betchain.com/affiliates

healthlottery.co.uk/affiliates

agents.coinpoker.com

highstakes.com/affiliates

pokerkingpartners.com

natural8.com/affiliates

lottogoaffiliates.com

michiganlottery.com/about/affiliate

bananalotto.fr/affiliation.php

livepartners.com

truepokeraffiliates.com

kindredaffiliates.com

XLMedia: A history

XLMedia is a multi-national digital media company based in Cyprus that manages a range of brands related to sports betting, gaming and personal finance. Currently operating with over 2,000 owned assets globally, the company’s journey began over 15 years ago...

XLMedia is founded by Ory Weihs, Yaron Nahari and Assaf Levy.

XLMedia enters into an agreement to sell all its operations in Turkey, with $1,500 being paid monthly over 60 installments.

XLMedia purchases ExciteAd in a major deal worth $19m.

The following year, annual revenue for 2016 was $103.6m, up 46% year-on-year.

The company officially incorporates itself as an international business in the Seychelles.

XLMedia moves its official incorporation from the Seychelles to Jersey.

Official reports on XLMedia’s 2015 revenue show a 76% year-on-year increase.

A gradual retreat from its media buying business, which had previously accounted for 40% of revenue, leads to a 30%

decrease in share price in one day.

The company acquires Saturday Football Inc. for $23m.

XLMedia undergoes ‘company reset’ with a rebranding campaign after turbulent three years with a Covid-19 and share dips.

CEO Stuart Simms resigns from his post after an “orderly handover” and is succeeded by David King.

After two and a half years as CFO, Caroline Ackroyd steps down from her position.

The company reports $29.4m revenue for H1 2023, down 34% from H1 2022.

XLMedia agrees sale of Europe and Canada operations to Gambling.com Group for $42.5m.

XLMedia acquires Sports Betting Dime (SBD) for $26m.

Caroline Ackroyd named as CFO of XLMedia.

Sportsbooks get social

In lead-up to the launch of social media sportsbook Rebet on Monday 18 March 2024, Trafficology sat down with CEO Carson Hubbard and CMO Bella DiGiovanni for an exclusive preview of the app, and to find out how Gen Z are establishing their presence in the gaming market

TELL US ALL ABOUT REBET.

CH: I am Carson Hubbard. I am the CEO of Rebet.

BG: I’m Bella DiGiovanni. I’m the CMO at Rebet and we’re super excited.

CH: At the heart of what we are, Rebet is a first-of-its-kind, free-to-play social sportsbook where fans can connect, share and celebrate their love of sports together. I think one of the most interesting things about Rebet is our founding story. Because it’s not every day that you see a company like this being founded by a bunch of 19, 20-year-olds.

Rebet was founded by four Dartmouth undergraduate college students and our development was driven by our shared love for sports, and this realisation that there was a huge void in the current sports betting experience. Our team’s got diverse experience in economics, technology, entrepreneurship and software development that converged at the Dartmouth Tuck School of Business startup incubator, where we were able to hone this idea into a more feasible

business model. Over the summer, we got out and raised over seven figures in funding from various private investors. The vision was to build a platform that would bring the social and communal aspects of fandom to the forefront of the sports betting experience. That’s ultimately what led to the birth of Rebet.

COULD YOU BREAK DOWN WHAT REBET IS AND HOW YOU SET YOURSELF APART?

CH: You’ll see in the application we have two different currencies. We have Rebet Coins and Rebet Cash... Rebet Coins are the currency users use for fun. Users get 100 Rebet Coins every day and can place picks with these coins. Through the accumulation of these coins, players can climb social leaderboards and earn status within the Rebet community. But this currency is just for fun. It can’t be redeemed for real prizes.

Rebet Cash is our other type of currency. This provides entry

into our promotional sweepstakes and can be redeemed for realmoney rewards. One unit of Rebet Cash can be redeemed for $1. Rebet Cash is always free to claim; it can’t be purchased. Once won through gameplay, it can be used to enter more sweepstakes or be redeemed for real-money rewards.

IT IS INTERESTING THAT SOCIAL MEDIA ELEMENTS AREN’T INHERENTLY PRESENT IN SPORTSBOOK APPS WITH THE NUMBER OF YOUNG PEOPLE COMING INTO SPORTS BETTING.

CH: The sports betting experience is inherently social... You’ll see that, through this approach, there is no more disconnect in the environment. Everything can be done on one platform. There’s no more screenshotting your bets and sending it to your friends via iMessage. Everything can be done on one platform.

I’M LOOKING AT THE APP AND I’M SEEING ELEMENTS FROM EXISTING SPORTSBOOKS AND SOCIAL MEDIA PLATFORMS. I’D LIKE TO KNOW WHERE YOU DRAW YOUR INSPIRATION FROM.

CH: We drew inspiration from different social media sites we love. You can see similarities to something like Instagram. And you can see other similarities to DraftKings, FanDuel or traditional sportsbooks. We tried to merge the best of sportsbooks with the best social media so that you can do everything in one application... By using similarities within the app, we’re creating a user experience that people are already used to. They don’t need to learn an entirely new user interface. They are familiar with this type of layout already.

HOW DO YOU MAKE YOUR APP ACCESSIBLE?

CH: We are opening the doors for anyone to use Rebet, even if you’re not someone that consistently makes picks. One example I love to share is about my grandma Pam. She loves to use Rebet and it’s just so that she can go on and see what picks me, my dad and my brother are on [so she can] cheer on those teams...

Our mission is to create a fun and inclusive environment. We have easy-to-read lines; with one click of a button, you are going to transform your entire platform into a language that anyone can understand. Instead of seeing a spread as minus two, you see the Patriots need to win by more than two points. Instead of seeing money line, you see it says game winner, and instead of seeing traditional odds, you see what the payout would be for a wager of 10 Rebet Cash or 10 Rebet Coins.

BG: Easy-to-read lines feature really quick. There’s a lot of insight as to what inspired us with that feature. It came down to research we did on the beginner bettor market. There’s this huge group of people that haven’t been introduced to the sports betting space, and can’t understand

complex terminology and odds since they’re new, creating this barrier.

Within that beginner bettor market, there’s a huge untapped group of the female population. We did some gender research throughout this process and it’s no surprise that this industry skews male. In total, 80% male, 20% female. But of the surveying and research I’ve done from females, I found that there’s equal enthusiasm coming from females towards the sports betting industry and towards sports in general... they want to be involved. But they don’t understand that terminology.

As a female, it’s pretty daunting to enter a male-dominated space when you don’t quite understand it. I think feedback from beginner bettors and females specifically really drove the creation of that feature; to make this platform as inclusive as possible and accepting of all types of users, no matter the skill.

YOU’RE A YOUNG PERSON ENTERING THE INDUSTRY. HOW DO YOU NAVIGATE THAT?

CH: I think the sports betting experience has stagnated. There’s not a lot of innovation within the space. What we’re seeing right now is a very crowded space among traditional sportsbooks. We’re seeing more and more social sportsbooks emerge but they’re all taking the same approach. The way they’re all competing for new customers is ‘who’s gonna give the biggest bonuses? Who’s gonna give the biggest sign -up rewards?’ That’s not our approach at Rebet... We think the reason people will use Rebet and continue to use Rebet isn’t

Carson Hubbard

because we’re doing crazy promotions, which is the reason companies like DraftKings and FanDuel still aren’t profitable.

It’s really exciting to enter into a space and see a bunch of 19, 20, 21-year-olds take on industry giants and say, no, this isn’t what our generation wants. Our generation wants something new. Our generation wants something social because that’s the generation we live in.

GB: To your point about being young in this space, we’ve talked about this a lot as a team, but we see that as one of our biggest advantages. Being this young, being in college, we’re able to hit the demographic we’re a part of, along with many other demographics... We have passion for this project. We work on this every day. This is our lives.

We’ve been able to empower other people in our age group as well, who share that same passion for this project as we do. For example, within the marketing department, our content creators are the same age as us, dropped out of school to be professional videographers and we’re helping them achieve their passion.

REBET IS A SOCIAL SPORTSBOOK. SOCIAL MEDIA APPS HAVE TO ADD NEW THINGS TO KEEP PEOPLE COMING BACK. WHAT DO YOU WANT TO ADD NEXT?

CH: We have an entire year-out roadmap of new features we’re planning to add. Everything from live score tracking to live match tracking, to the ability to stream your games within the platform, are all features we’re looking to add in the

coming months. What we’re looking to do is continue to build these new and innovative features, new social media features, especially with the emergence of artificial intelligence. It adds the ability to do a lot of really cool things in the social media feed; where we can create new communities, new friendships and relationships within the Rebet platform.

SOCIAL MEDIA ISN’T ALWAYS THE NICEST PLACE. HOW DO YOU SAFEGUARD YOUR USERS?

CH: I think a lot of the problems that arise out of social media, especially on Instagram or Snapchat where you’re seeing what people are doing every week, come from a sense of insecurity. Rebet takes a different approach. Your whole social interaction is based around something that anybody can do. It’s not something that’s gatekept or that only certain people can do; it’s about building people up together and trying to create an experience where people can cheer on with one another, not against one another. GB: I definitely echo that statement because I feel that all of our main social features have some sort of element where you’re bringing another person into it. Whether that’s posting to your feed, or allowing your friends and followers to like, comment or react to your bets.

When you place a peer-to-peer bet you’re inviting another user to bet with you. When you send a direct message, you’re inviting someone to have a conversation with you. It’s fostering all of these different communications with other people, and that element of community is very much at the forefront of the platform.

CAN YOU COMMENT ON ANYONE’S FEED? OR IS IT JUST IF YOU’RE FRIENDS WITH SOMEONE?

CH: Currently, we have it so that anybody can comment on anyone’s feed. We do have plans for the future to have private profiles added, then only your friends would be able to see. But through the Rebet platform, users are able to report any comments that may be offensive or they may have concerns about, so that our team internally can review those comments and take them down if needed. Because really, at the forefront of our mission is to ensure there’s safe game play for all our users; and that it’s a safe and inclusive environment where people feel accepted and welcome.

FINALLY, WHAT ARE YOUR GOALS FOR THE END OF THE YEAR?

CH: We are so excited to get out there and show the world this new user experience. It’s something that our team has been working on for the last year now, day and night. It’s been blood, sweat and tears getting this project together while being full-time students at an Ivy League school. Our goal is to go out there, provide the best user experience possible and see what our users think. See what innovations our users would like to see and just continue to innovate, to give our users the best possible experience.

Bella di Giovanni

Trying to turn the corner

After battling through challenging Q4 & FY23 results, Manuel Stan is the new fi gurehead appointed to take the 'super a liate' forward

Catena Media recently suffered what some might describe as organisational turbulence, with the announcement of challenging Q4 and FY23 results immediately followed by the resignation of former CEO Michael Daly. A week later, Manuel Stan was appointed as the new CEO – bringing 20 years of industry experience with him. Kindred Group veteran Stan, who is scheduled to begin his new role in July, said he was “delighted to have the opportunity to drive Catena Media forward.”

Catena’s Q4 results showed a 41% revenue decrease yearon-year. For FY23, revenue from continued operations fell 22%. Daly stated that there may be more challenging financial results to come through the first half of 2024 until new investments gain traction. However, he will not be the man to lead Catena into the future, as he has since resigned following years of work to stabilise the company's balance sheet.

New CEO Stan inherits not only a range of financial challenges, but also major regulatory responsibility. This is because as of November last year, Catena was one of six founding members of the Responsible Gambling A liate Association (RGAA). The purpose of the group is to cultivate discourse and action among a liates regarding protecting consumer’s best interests and implementing constructive regulation.

If this wasn’t enough, other founding members of the RGAA include Better Collective, Oddschecker Global and XLMedia among others. Far from small names in the a liate market.

So, how is Catena going to turn the corner? Firstly, it has released updated long-term financial targets for 2024-2026 – and as previously mentioned, has invested in new ventures. Much of this investment has been centred around North America, with a major rollout happening in Q4 2023 in Ontario, New York, Maryland and Kansas. This was alongside a complete exit from the Italian market. It also marks the completion of its previous strategic review, which began in May 2022 and resulted in the sale of €76m ($82.2m) worth of assets.

Catena Media invested in a number of projects over the course of 2023. Q4 alone saw both the buyback of over 2.5 million of its own shares, alongside the launch of an online sports betting a liation in Maine. In January, Catena also launched another sports betting a liation in Vermont.

However, North American revenue was down 21% in FY23 and 43% in Q4 – despite representing 87% of Catena’s total revenue. Nonetheless, Catena has seemingly adopted the 'keep calm and carry on' approach. March has seen it gear up for another stateside launch in newly regulated North Carolina.

Prior to his resignation, Daly spoke of “large investments in both tech and AI,” indicating that AIdriven content production from Catena could be around the corner. As of 25 March, Catena also proposed the reduction of its Board members from seven to six among a general reshu e which saw Erik Flinck proposed as Chairman and Dan Castillo added as a new Board member. Michael Garrow has also been appointed Group CFO.

Overall, it’s becoming hard to predict where the vision lies for Catena. It is very much up to Stan to tell us. A large-scale rollout of investment in the States seems to be the strategy, despite declining revenue in the market in both Q4 and FY23. Whether it is AI or America, stakeholders will hope recent investments spell a positive change – especially with Q1 results around the corner.

Where will Catena go from here?

Manuel Stan

mastering webmaster relationships

In the latest Trafficology Webinar, Staff Writer Beth Turner sat down with Growe Partners' Dmytro (Dima) Mariievskyi

LET’S GET STARTED. COULD YOU GIVE ME A BRIEF SUMMARY OF HOW GROWE PARTNERS BEGAN?

Growe Partner s’ story began in the summer of 2023. We used to work as a part of a partner system, Parimatch Affiliates. We were in charge of traffic delivery from Latin America, Asia, Africa to Parimatch. After some period of time, we realised we can do something on our end and we decided to create Growe Partners as a direct and official advertiser of the Parimatch brand from geos like Latin America, Asia and Africa. Right now, we have some other brands, like JugaBet that operates in Chile. But it’s going to reach other regions as well.

"Affiliate marketing; it’s about money, all of us know. But money is brought by people. So, our way is to work with our partners, to find a personal approach"

WHAT ARE SOME OF THE BIGGEST CHALLENGES YOU FACE IN GENERATING LEADS?

I would say traffic sources because, right now, there are a lot of difficulties with them. We have a new relation system in Meta and in Google. So we really try to find new solutions and new ways to generate leads. That’s the biggest challenge for us right now. On the other hand, we have our affiliates. All of them are very important for us. And so we try to take care of relationships with them and make them happy.

HOW DO YOU NAVIGATE WORKING WITH CHALLENGING WEBMASTERS? WHAT ARE SOME TIPS AND TRICKS YOU HAVE FOR GOOD WEBMASTER CO-OPERATION?

Well, it’s a very good question, because in Growe Partners, we truly believe that the most important way is to be very honest and open. So we believe that affiliate marketing... it’s about money, all of us know. But money is brought by people. So our way is to work with our partners, to find a personal approach and, as I said before, to make our partners happy. And for sure, we have the best rates, the best products, the best technical solution. So if some partners have some struggles with another partner system, I’m sure they will be very happy with us and our company.

COULD

YOU GIVE ME AN EXAMPLE OF AN INTERESTING EXPERIENCE WITH A WEBMASTER, WHETHER GOOD OR BAD?

Oh, there are a lot of suc h good examples. I would say, if I tell you all of these examples, we will spend a full day on this answer! But the recent one is, I would say, about our recent launch in Chile. We started to work with brand JugaBet for Chile and the acquisition campaign for Chile was very tough in the beginning. A lot of our affiliates used to have a lot of struggles to bring

traffic to products. We, in Growe Partners, don’t give up. So, we made several brainstorming sessions with our affiliates, with our product teams and we found the solution to ‘how can we actually bring this traffic to a product?’ And right now everything is going pretty well.

Another example is the IPL, the Indian Premier League. It’s the biggest cricket tournament in India. As you know, we operate in India. Because of this, we will have produced a nother of new stories to encourage traffic.

SO, WHAT ARE SOME OF THE BIGGEST CHALLENGES OR CHANGES AFFECTING THE AFFILIATE MARKET AT THE MOMENT?

Traffic sources. Because of these regulations, because of these new rules, it’s very difficult to find new approaches. So we are always trying to be ready for change. We try to work with our affiliates very, very closely and find solutions. How can we, let’s say, overcome these troubles and bring high-quality traffic to our products?

WHERE DO YOU THINK THE MARKET IS HEADING?

It's a difficult question to be honest, because if we speak about the affiliate market, I would say it’s definitely going to grow, despite the fact that a lot of acquisition campaigns are struggling etc. I consistently meet a lot of new affiliate teams. I think all of them are very successful. They bring traffic and it’s okay, so the market will grow. If we speak from the product side, from my personal opinion here, it’s going to be regulated. All markets, all geos. Everything is coming to regulation. And my personal opinion is that’s positive because it gives very good opportunities to all of us.

FINALLY, WHAT ARE GROWE PARTNERS’ MAIN GOALS AND ASPIRATIONS FOR 2024?

The main goal is to scale our current relationship with partners. Trying to find some new campaigns to open with them, new markets, and for sure to find new affiliates and new launches

"All markets, all geos. Everything is coming to regulation. And my personal opinion is that’s positive because it gives very good opportunities to all of us"

and new opportunities. Also, I would like to add that this year we made a pretty good and big event. It was a tech party in London this year. And, our main goal is to make something bigger and something better. So, as I said, we would like to make our partners very happy.

For the full, unabridged interview, check out the webinar on the Trafficology section of the Gambling Insider website.

We are always trying to be ready for change. We try to work with our affiliates very, very closely and find solutions"

A new challenge

Following the announcement of George Rover’s appointment as Executive Director at the RGAA, Trafficology spoke with him on his new role, his history in the gaming industry and what he hopes to achieve with the association

HI GEORGE, PLEASE TELL US ABOUT YOUR CAREER TO DATE.

I’m an attorney and from 1992 to 2016 I worked in the Attorney General’s Office in New Jersey. I did a whole bunch of things there, including law enforcement with state police and Alcohol & Beverage. In January 1999 I was assigned to the Gaming Division until I retired in 2016. I focused mostly on the Division of Gaming Enforcement in New Jersey. The last five or six years I was Deputy Director of the Gaming Division, retired in 2016 and started my own consulting company.

I’m the only person really involved in it. I do consulting for a lot of companies, primarily on licensing, regulatory matters, enforcement matters, things of that nature. Again, with respect to the RGAA, they’re aware that I’m going to continue my consulting practice. It doesn’t present any conflict with the association.

WHAT HAVE BEEN YOUR FIRST IMPRESSIONS OF THE RGAA?

My first impressions are they’re really sharp people. Obviously, I had some involvement with affiliates as a gaming regulator. I remember in 2013, New Jersey was the first state to launch any type of online gaming in the US. I was intimately involved in that. Affiliates then were a mystery to me. I’m becoming more and more understanding of what affiliates actually do.

I represent some affiliates, but when you talk to the folks at the RGAA, I have a lot of respect for them. When they asked me I was flattered because they’re really successful at what they do. They want people to understand that they have a positive impact on the industry.

COULD YOU GIVE ME A BRIEF OVERVIEW OF THE MISSION STATEMENT OF THE RGAA?

The mission statement they put out in November listed five pillars. First was promotion of competitive gambling markets, second was industry education. The third was consumer protection, empowerment and choice, while the fourth was advertising codes of conduct; the last was responsible business practices. I think, from an overall perspective, when you look at those together, they want to make sure affiliates are focusing on regulated legal markets. They see their role as trying to assist in lessening the offshore illegal market.

Very important to them is responsible gaming, making sure affiliates post content in a responsible manner. RG issues are front and centre in 2024 for US gaming regulators for good reason. They also want to make sure there’s commonsense regulation when states are passing or changing laws and regulations, they want to make sure they understand how affiliates can play a very positive role; and that they don’t pass regulations that make it difficult for affiliates to conduct business in a responsible way.

YOU HAVE PLENTY OF EXPERIENCE IN GAMING REGULATION IN THE US. YOU WERE PART OF THE NEW JERSEY DIVISION OF GAMING ENFORCEMENT FOR QUITE A LONG TIME AND YOU’VE HAD SEVERAL OF OTHER ROLES. HOW DO YOU BELIEVE THOSE EXPERIENCES WILL HELP YOU AT THE RGAA?

They’ve helped a lot. I suspect that’s one of the reasons why I was asked and interviewed for the position. Being in a gaming regulator, I’m very well versed in all aspects of the industry. I know all the players pretty well. I know all the issues pretty well. I think knowledge of the industry was number one.

Number two, the role requires that you have the ability to act collegially not only with your association members but with the other stakeholders, regulators, elected o cials and RG folks; to try and foster a cooperative relationship where you’re all rowing in the same direction to get positive results. The knowledge and ability to work and collaborate with people, I think, put me over the top.

HOW ARE RESPONSIBLE AFFILIATE PRACTICES DIFFERENT FROM RESPONSIBLE OPERATORS? COULD YOU GIVE ME SOME EXAMPLES?

They’re all part of the same ecosystem, right? Operators enter into relationships with a liates. I don’t think they’re separate, I think they complement each other. Licensed operators want to make sure they’re dealing with a liates that do things the right way. They want to make sure they’re e ective business partners. But when you’re in a regulated market like this, you need to make sure the people you’re associating with are doing things the right way.

For example, they’re not involved with the o shore market. They have responsible gaming initiatives on their page, a 1-800 gambler number because, again, a liates in many cases are direct points of contact with the player. We believe they have the ability to really drive home responsible gaming.

WHAT DO YOU PERSONALLY HOPE TO ACHIEVE IN YOUR ROLE WITH THE RGAA?

Well, I obviously want to keep my Board happy! But you know what? I’ve been around a long time and I like new challenges. One of the key challenges is seeing if there’s a way to expand membership. I think the larger the association, the more ability it has to positively influence stakeholders. That’s not easy to do.

I’ve been involved in other organisations where you have to bring on members. It’s complicated. It involves economics, vision requirements, and standards and conditions. The goal here is to expand membership and for the RGAA to be looked at by regulators and elected officials as a good, forward-thinking organisation that is contributing positively to gaming sustainability.

“Operators enter into relationships with affiliates. I don’t think they’re separate, I think they complement each other”

CAN YOU TELL ME ABOUT ANY PROJECTS OR INITIATIVES THE RGAA IS CURRENTLY WORKING ON?

I knew you were gonna ask me that but it's very early on! We have ideas. I spoke to the Board a little bit over the weekend and I don’t want to box us in. Aside from expanding membership, we have a goal of creating certain standards. How we do that is under discussion; it could be an outside audit or self-imposed audit. Every year, you check you’re not involved with the o shore market, check all the boxes on responsible gaming, check your content is not misleading.

I’m not in a position right now to lay out anything concrete, I can’t pinpoint anything specific. We want to come up with something meaningful and substantive. To do that, you’ve got to think it through. When you have a number of di erent members, it’s hard to get everyone on the same page. But I’m sure with this group, because they’re really sharp, we’ll come up with a few things that will be meaningful.

george rover

lead like you mean it

Trafficology Staff Writer Beth Turner has been participating in Saroca’s LeadHERship Program, hosted by Emily Leeb and Claire Adamou. Here are her thoughts so far...

As of writing this article, I am three sessions into Saroca’s LeadHERship Program. Led by Emily Leeb and Claire Adamou, the sessions have been designed to take women in the gaming industry on a journey of self-understanding and self-development, with a particular focus on the challenges faced by women in leadership and the crucial steps we need to take to better ourselves not only as leaders, but people.

Needless to say, being surrounded by so many talented women in the industry has been an eye-opener. But, aside from my awe over the company I find myself in, what have I learnt?

SESSION 1: EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE

Despite being considered a ‘soft skill,’ to be an effective leader and grow as an individual, EQ training is essential. Alongside other topics, including ‘the lie of multi-tasking,’ emotional intelligence was top of the agenda in session one.

We were asked to assess the way we were raised and how those experiences have manifested in our processing of emotions as adults. Children that grew up with a lot of responsibility may become adults unable to share responsibility in the workplace, or if a child grew up with less attention than others, they may become self-soothing, unable to ask colleagues for help in completing a task.

All that is to say, having the emotional intelligence to understand our flaws and having the determination to overcome them is key for those in leadership – women especially, who so often have their feelings disregarded due to stereotypes of the ‘over-emotional woman.’

It is also important for those you lead. Being an emotionally intelligent leader breeds a healthy and communicative work environment, and as a Fast Company study at Coca-Cola found, leaders outperformed targets by 15% following EQ training.

Emily Leeb

SESSION 2: COMBATTING IMPOSTER SYNDROME

Session two felt like a lightbulb lit up in my head. Session one made important statements and set the stage, but in two, I felt the cogs in my head really begin to turn.

I never assumed myself to be someone facing imposter syndrome. I had an idea of what it was: someone who feels they should not be in their current role for one reason or another; and by my own definition this was not something I believed impacted me.

This session explored the idea of the inner critic and expanded my understanding of what imposter syndrome is. Needless to say, I was not expecting to have a mirror held up to my own behaviour.

The inner critic is the voice in our head that holds us back. It criticises and discourages growth to keep us where we are now. A place the brain knows is safe. Growth isn’t easy and what we will grow into is never something guaranteed, so when we dedicate ourselves to growth, the inner critic is the one trying to keep us away from potential harm.

Being self-critical is a sign you care about something. It is a sign you want to grow. The way your inner critic speaks to you also has an impact. Not everyone’s will sound the same, being a reflection of who we are as people. In my case, I described my inner critic as dismissive of success. Identifying this voice, how it sounds and when it speaks up the loudest, therefore, are key ingredients for successful personal and career growth.

Then, there is imposter syndrome. There are five types of imposter syndrome that can be experienced, including ‘perfectionists,’ ‘natural geniuses’ and ‘superhumans,’ the latter of whom feel they must work as much as possible to be worthy of the role they are in, among others.

These types of imposter syndrome are not cut and dry –someone can experience one type exclusively or a combination of several types at once. Combine the type of imposter syndrome that most closely matches your experience with the voice of your inner critic? Now, you’re onto something.

Imposter syndrome is more than just workplace anxiety. It is something complex and personal and something that probably affects more people than we realise. In this session, I gained an understanding of how I am impacted by imposter syndrome and how this intersects with the voice of my inner critic. It was having a mirror shown to me and now it is my responsibility to make sense of what I saw.

SESSION 3: MANAGING BURNOUT

In session three, we discussed burnout. Much like imposter syndrome, I felt like I understood what burnout was going into the session. Overworking leads to exhaustion. I never realised just how serious an issue it could be, the physical and mental repercussions that can lead from severe burnout.

With this in mind, knowing how to mitigate burnout is a crucial skill. With burnout, not only do you put your own physical and mental wellbeing in harm’s way, but you struggle to be a part

of your team, manager or otherwise.

Taking 140 minutes a week, or 20 minutes a day, to engage in stress-relieving activities can be a huge help in negating burnout. Suggested activities included yoga, walks in nature and random acts of kindness, though for me the one that stood out the most was journaling – a hobby I have engaged with for over half a decade now and can personally recommend as a way to reconnect with yourself and reflect on recent experiences.

Sticking up for yourself in an effective way is also key for avoiding burnout. Pointing out where issues have occurred and using the correct method of feedback delivery is key both for yourself and your team. The SBIA (Situation, Behaviour, Impact, Agreement) feedback system, an offshoot of the popular SBI feedback system, was suggested as an effective model for doing so. However, it seems far easier to provide feedback to those you lead, rather than those who lead you.

WHAT HAVE I LEARNT?

The idea of being able to do things for others, but not for yourself, has been a thought I’ve had multiple times throughout the course. In previous roles I have been a leader and in those roles I remember the work I would put into my team. Constructive feedback, pushing back when outside forces caused issues. But would I do the same when it came to preserving my own role, when it came to sticking up for myself?

Questions like these are ones I am grateful that the Saroca LeadHERship Program has raised. Understanding your needs in and outside of the workplace and being able to express that is a skill that comes with practice. As such, learning these skills early is a huge bonus later down the line.

But it is never too late. That has been another key aspect of the course. We are always growing and developing, as people and as professions and as leaders. We can always strive for growth. Our teams will thank us for it.

Claire Adamou

reimagining casumo

Trafficology spoke with Casumo CFO Janice Duncan about the company’s current objectives, the importance of gender diversity, leading by example and the company’s rebranding effort

THANKS FOR JOINING US, JANICE. GIVE US A QUICK BIO!

I am Janice Duncan. I am the CFO for Casumo. I joined Casumo back in June 2023 but I’ve been in the gaming industry now for about 10 years.

WHAT ARE CASUMO’S CURRENT OBJECTIVES

AND WHAT ARE YOU DOING TO REACH THEM?

We are very much in a transformation process at the moment. We have brought in a whole new C–suite who joined through 2023. We’re very much focused on moving forward and looking forward. Underpinning everything that we do, we have three core values;

Aspire . That’s about commitment to excellence and commitment to growth. Believe, which is all about trusting and supporting each other. Care, which is a commitment to our players and to our employees.

Our goal back in 2012 when we were established was very much about designing, improving, reinventing and shaping the future of online gaming. That was the goal back in 2012

“I think the fact we have a 50/50 gender divide at C-level gives people the view that opportunities are there regardless of who you are and where you come from”

and remains the goal at this point in time as well. We have a number of main markets which include Sweden, the UK, Spain and Malta, as well as some other emerging markets, subject to applicable law.

In terms of our future plans, it’s a very exciting time for Casumo. We’re very much in a transformation phase. We have a clear focus in terms of our product launch and rebranding. That goes back to supporting our plan of shaping the future of online gaming... We’ve got an entirely new C–suite who joined in various points through 2023, which is designed to deliver our vision and in terms of our product, again, it’s very much about continuing with that innovative approach. We’re looking to bring products that can revolutionise the iGaming sector but also provide a unique social entertainment experience. It’s important to say this is very much about doing so in a responsible way, but also about social features that allow us to foster human connections and build community within our players.

YOU TOUCHED ON INNOVATION AND TRYING TO CHANGE THINGS UP. HOW DO YOU DIVERSIFY YOUR CASINO AND SPORTSBOOK OFFERING?

As I mentioned, it’s about having a unique social entertainment experience. There are a lot of similar products on the market. We want to do something that makes us stand o ut from everybody else.

WHAT BENEFITS DO YOU OFFER TO YOUR AFFILIATES?

In the past, Casumo embarked on numerous affiliate deals, engaging with a wide array of partners that, although expansive, diluted the potential for genuine partnership projects. Recognising the essence of partnership —akin to real-life relationships that require nurturing and commitment — we are pivoting towards a more focused approach. With a longstanding reputation in the industry, Casumo is now committed to reverting to its foundational strengths: building bridges and forging stronger, more meaningful connections with a select group of affiliates.

JANICE, YOU’VE BEEN IN THE INDUSTRY FOR ABOUT A DECADE. YOU SPENT SEVERAL YEARS WITH RANK INTERACTIVE AND WILLIAM HILL. HOW HAVE THOSE EXPERIENCES HELPED YOU AS THE CFO OF CASUMO?

There’s a lot of challenges within the industry; a lot of regulatory change. But they’re all very similar in terms of how they impact different companies. What I’ve been able to do is take the experiences I’ve gained in some of those larger companies and bring them to Casumo. But, at the end of the day, there are a lot of similar challenges across the industry.

ONE THING I FOUND QUITE INTERESTING IS THAT YOU HAVE A 50/50 GENDER SPLIT. HOW DOES CASUMO ENCOURAGE WOMEN TO ENTER AND DEVELOP CAREERS IN THE GAMING SECTOR?

That’s one of the things I really like about Casumo. The fact that we have a really diversified workforce. It’s not just about the gender diversity we have, we have something like 45 different nationalities working within Casumo. The benefits of that are well known. If you bring in a diverse workforce, you get lots of experience. You get lots of different viewpoints. Therefore, it’s about encouraging people to bring those viewpoints out into the company. That will encourage more people to come and want to work with us.

DO YOU THINK, AS A WOMAN IN LEADERSHIP, YOU’VE BEEN ABLE TO HELP DEVELOP AND GROW THAT WITHIN CASUMO?

I believe so. We’ve got an open-door policy, we’ve recently launched a mentorship programme and we’re looking to get involved in International Women’s Day events. Again, I think the fact we have a 50/50 gender divide at C-level gives people the view that opportunities are there regardless of who you are and where you come from. It’s about bringing your experience out for the company.

HOW DOES YOUR WORKPLACE CULTURE ALLOW YOU TO GAIN AND HOLD TALENT, ESPECIALLY IN MARKETS AS COMPETITIVE AS MALTA?

One thing we do is, like many other companies, encourage flexibility and culture. I’ve already touched on the three values that underpin the business; aspire, belief and care. We put a lot of emphasis in terms of our employees and making opportunities for development. That’s very much integrated into our values.

What keeps people in the company? We, like many other companies, encourage flexibility in terms of working. We have a hybrid working policy in terms of splitting between working from home and working from the office. It allows people to have a balance between personal life and work life. One of the things unique to Casumo is that we have a work-from-anywhere policy

as well. Recognising the fact that we have so many different nationalities, we allow our colleagues to work from anywhere in the world for a period of time during the year. These benefits encourage people to want to work with us and stay with us as well.

WHAT’S CASUMO GETTING UP TO NEXT? WHAT ARE YOUR GOALS?

Our product I’ve touched on already. But one of the other big things we’re doing is in terms of rebranding. It’s a really exciting time. The idea behind it is about reflecting the change in our company strategy, our revised values or aesthetics and current trends, and focusing on social platforms and engaging our players. It’s a really vibrant, exciting community and our rebrand will hopefully reflect that.

IS IT A CASE THAT YOU’RE KEEPING THE NAME CASUMO? ARE YOU CHANGING THAT OR IS IT MORE AN AESTHETIC CHANGE?

The updates are primarily centred on visual enhancements, aesthetic improvements and values that we want our players to have and the Casumo name remains unchanged. So, again, the initial goal we set in 2012 is still what we’re looking to go towards and is very much still our goal. This is about refreshing and bringing ourselves up to date with the modern world.

janice duncan

re-inventing the Affiliate wheel

After undergoing a major shift in operations last year from a B2C company to a B2B company, with the relaunch of affiliate site Bet90.com, we caught up with Executive Chairman Ronny Breivik to find out why

In November 2023, B90 Holdings made the decision to cease B2C operations and relaunch its brand, Bet90.com, as a B2B affiliate platform. The new site would use its group subsidiaries, including Emwys, Oddsen.nu and tippen4you. com to engage in lead generation via SEO and Pay-per-Click solutions, with online gaming products then offered by Bet90.com and additional subsidiary spinbookie.com. The move to B2B operations impacted the company’s 2023 earnings, and the benefit will be reflected fully in 2024, which while in line with expectations, still reported negative adjusted EBITDA and a net loss. In the report, Executive

“For us, being a smaller player... we have to re-invent the wheel and come up with a plan that allows us to go to where we want to be”

Chairman Ronny Breivik spoke about these results and hopes for the shift to B2B operations. He said:

" These initiatives are central towards achieving our target of profitability and to driving shareholder value in 2024." Trafficology spoke with Breivik at B90's London offices to find out more...

YOU HAVE FEATURED IN TRAFFICOLOGY BEFORE, BUT FOR THOSE WHO ARE NEW TO B90, COULD YOU TELL

US ABOUT YOURSELF?

My name is Ronny Breivik. I’m the Executive Chair of B90 Holdings PLC, a company listed on AIM in London. We have recently undergone a transition from B2C to B2B performance marketing, which you rightly pointed out. My background comes primarily from gambling. I’ve been working in the sector since the mid-1990s, most notably with SportingBet on two occasions, being part of start-up and running M&B Poker Invest, which was the world’s first online poker website. I was part of creating Norway’s largest community for sports betting on oddsen.nu , which was later acquired by B90 Holdings, the reason why I’m now where I am. Recently, it’s been all about B90 Holdings in various capabilities and positions.

YOU TALKED ABOUT SOME OF YOUR PREVIOUS ROLES. HOW HAVE THOSE

HELPED YOU ON YOUR WAY TO WHERE YOU ARE IN YOUR CAREER NOW?

Thank you for that question. That is one I haven’t received. It helped greatly. I’ve been playing poker professionally, I’ve been betting on sports professionally. I worked as CPO in, at that time, Modern Times Group on Bet24 and then was Chairman at a small start-up called OddsAlive in 2001, which had lots of Norwegian celebrity investors. It helps you to form a 360-degree view. I like to think, I hope, that allows you to look at multifaceted problems in a way that allows you to come up with solutions you would normally need a committee or two for, so that’s at least the idea. I like to think so.

BRILLIANT. WE’RE GOING TO SWITCH OVER TO DISCUSS THE COMPANY NOW; B90 HOLDINGS IS A GROUP. HOW DOES BEING IN A GROUP BENEFIT INDIVIDUAL BRAND MARKETING?

If you want one word, it’s synergy. Synergies arise from having the same team analyse data across multiple business units and come up with conclusions that allow us to improve all of them at the same time. It allows us to make more money for our shareholders based on decisions we can take to improve the synergies, without getting too much detail on the actual business.

For instance, you get player X, send across to provider Y. We know a lot about what happens there and it helps us create better campaigns. It helps us create better content and thereby we can add more value to our end users. We can also provide a better deal for our partners on the operator side who will be acquiring traffic from us. So hopefully all parties win.

BET90.COM RECENTLY RELAUNCHED. WHY DISCONTINUE B2C GAMING OPERATIONS?

Discontinuing B2C operations makes a lot of sense. I will take a step back. Our sector is made up of customer deposits. That is what fuels the gambling economy. Then you look at the lifetime value of these players across these deposits. Then, our job as managers of B90 Holdings PLC is to find ways to extract the most from that. So, we benefit our shareholders and, as we have discussed very often, when you look at certain markets, 80-85% of the lifetime value can actually end up in the pocket of the market there, rather than the B2C. B2C firms have a higher back-office cost. You pay more for your payment processing and you need to pay for your platform. Then the customer acquisition cost... has risen by 8 to 10 times in the time I’ve been involved.

So for us, being a smaller player, a tiny player compared to the big players, Entain and BetMGM etc, we have to re-invent the wheel and come up with a plan that allows us to go to where we want to be. That has to do with the marketing part because there we have the knowledge and the base to provide the market what it wants; and with the economics

being what I just explained, I think for us it was a very simple decision to make. It absolutely makes sense.

HOW HAS THE DISCONTINUATION OF B2C OPERATIONS IMPACTED YOUR AFFILIATE SERVICES?

It doesn’t really impact much. Other than that our affiliate services now are more complete... B90 as you see it today is not the finished article. There will be upgrades. From that perspective, it gives us an SEO platform. You can imagine again, the site has been around for quite some time, it has a lot of backlinks. We’re not starting from scratch as an SEO project on that one. It will allow us to target multiple deals in regulated markets where we want to grow and that is as simple as that.

HOW DOES THE GROUP MODEL OF B90 HOLDINGS POSITIVELY IMPACT LEAD GENERATION?

Well, again, it’s a holistic view that we take to our partners and our end users. It’s all about creating value for everyone and then balancing that. It is as simple as that.

Trafficology is brought to you every month by the Gambling Insider team at Players Publishing. For all editorial enquiries please contact us at trafficology@gamblinginsider.com, and for advertising enquiries please contact commercial director Deepak Malkani at sales@gamblinginsider.com. We would like to thank the following contributors to this issue: Casino City Press, Dmytro Mariievskyi, George Rover, Carson Hubbard, Bella DiGiovanni, Janice Duncan and Ronny Breivik. ‘What's love, but a secondhand emotion?’ - Tina Turner, 1984. Players Publishing Limited, all rights reserved.

RONNY BREIVIK