If you manage affiliates in casino, sports betting, poker, bingo, or sweepstakes, you’re operating inside one of the most competitive performance-marketing arenas on earth. Payouts are high, player value is volatile, and regulators are watching.
This guide distills hard-won lessons from the operator side into practical do’s & don’ts you can put to work today: how to recruit and vet partners, set commission plans without destroying margin, keep fraud at bay, and grow sustainable player LTV across web and mobile.
Your core job, defined
Affiliate managers in iGaming are the connective tissue between product, marketing, finance, compliance, BI, and the partner ecosystem. Your north star: profitable, compliant, scalable player acquisition. That means you must source quality traffic, negotiate fair terms, protect the brand, and prove ROI with airtight data.
| Domain | What success looks like | What can sink you |
|---|---|---|
| Recruitment | Pipeline of vetted, GEO-relevant partners onboarded monthly | Signing any site that asks, then bleeding on chargebacks or fraud |
| Commercials | Tiered plans aligned to LTV by GEO & product | Flat CPAs that exceed payback period |
| Compliance | Clean audits, zero regulatory incidents, fast takedowns | Unlabeled ads, bonusing breaches, underage targeting |
| Data | Accurate S2S postbacks, SKAN and Android referrer stitched to CRM | Cookie-only tracking, broken pixels, duplicated conversions |
| Retention | Affiliates sending players with multi-deposit behavior | Bonus abusers & one-and-done depositors |
The Do’s: what great affiliate managers consistently do
1. Build a systematic recruitment engine
Quarterly targets should specify how many qualified partners you will add by GEO and product line. Work sources methodically:
- Landscape mapping: SERP research per GEO + language (e.g., “best casinos Canada,” “pari sportif Quebec”), forum and subreddit scans, Telegram channel discovery, Twitch/YouTube streamers, TikTok creators, tipsters, arbitrage communities.
- Event harvesting: Shortlist 50 publishers per conference (ICE, iGB Affiliate, SBC) with notes on audience, traffic mix, and brand conflicts.
- Competitor back-links: Ahrefs/Majestic to discover who links to other operators’ review pages.
- Marketplaces & PRMs: If you use a PRM/marketplace (e.g., PartnerStack-style platforms) create high-signal listings and a fast-lane onboarding flow for premium partners.
Screen before you sell: ask for traffic by GEO/device, top pages, promotion methods (SEO, PPC, social, email), historical verticals, sample placements, and monetization history. Require a test placement or proof-of-traffic (GA screenshots or Search Console) for SEO publishers. For paid media affiliates, ask for ad accounts redacted screenshots to validate spend and policy knowledge.
2. Match commission plans to real LTV by GEO and product
Not all traffic is equal. Use BI to compute realistic payback windows. Typical models:
- Rev share: % of net gaming revenue (NGR) often 20–40% with tiers. Best for SEO/content partners who send recurring value. Be crystal clear on negative carryover and admin fees.
- CPA: Fixed amount per qualified FTD (first-time depositor) with KYC and minimum deposit thresholds. Safest when you can enforce anti-incentivization and fraud rules.
- Hybrid: Small CPA + lower rev share. Useful for new partners to de-risk while still aligning to LTV.
Do publish a transparent baseline and reserve custom deals for proven partners. Don’t inflate CPAs to “win” a partner if your GEO LTV won’t support it within 90–120 days.
3. Instrument gold-standard tracking
Casino and sportsbook programs fail when tracking fails. Minimum viable setup:
- S2S postback from your operator platform to the affiliate network or directly to the partner: click id/subid captured on first touch, persisted server-side (not just cookies).
- Event taxonomy aligned across web and app: registration, KYC pass, first deposit, each deposit, first bet/wager, wins/losses, churn signals.
- Mobile: SKAdNetwork mapping for iOS, Android referrer for Play, deferred deep links for web-to-app, and MMP integration if you run apps (AppsFlyer/Adjust/Branch).
- App store policies: ensure creatives and claims comply with Apple/Google guidelines (e.g., no “risk-free” wording).
Run weekly reconciliation reports to spot gaps between platform and affiliate stats. If you can’t prove accurate counting, you can’t negotiate or scale.
4. Protect the brand with real compliance operations
Documented rules, rapid enforcement. Your affiliate T&Cs must cover: age-gating, prohibited claims, bonus advertising standards, restricted keywords, PPC brand bidding, placements near sensitive content, GEO blocking, self-exclusion handling, and data privacy terms.
Use a brand-monitor stack: automated SERP scrapers for brand terms, link scanners for disclosure and bonus wording, and manual sweeps. Keep a strike policy: warn, suspend, terminate. Retain screenshots and timestamps for every incident.
5. Make affiliates faster and better through enablement
Power publishers with the tools they need so they spend more time pushing you:
- Dynamic trackers: subid1–subid5, click-id macros, and multi-currency feeds.
- Fresh creatives: sizes for key placements, seasonal promos, localized copy, and clear bonus T&Cs on assets.
- XML/CSV game feeds, RTP ranges, jackpot widgets, odds and promo APIs for sportsbook.
- Affiliate portal education: “How to” docs on compliance, PPC rules, and top-converting funnels by GEO.
6. Review cohorts, not just top-line FTDs
Monthly check-ins should go beyond “how many FTDs.” Analyze by partner and campaign:
- FTD to 2nd deposit rate
- Deposit frequency and ARPU over 30/60/90 days
- Bonus cost ratio and bonus abuse flags
- Chargeback or KYC fail rates
- Churn curve and reactivation rate
Use cohort insights to nudge partners toward traffic mixes that retain (SEO rankings, review pages, strategy content) vs. churn (aggressive incentives, misleading creatives).
7. Run quarterly QBRs like an enterprise vendor manager
Top partners deserve a formal business review: performance, compliance score, product roadmap (new games, features, markets), upcoming campaigns, and shared testing plan. Commit to experiments—e.g., new hero placement for 14 days—in exchange for exclusive offers or improved deal tiers tied to performance.
The Don’ts: costly mistakes to avoid
1. Don’t buy volume at any cost
High CPA with loose validation criteria invites synthetic traffic, incentivized signups, and bonus farming. If you pay before value is proven, you’ll fund fraud. Tighten your validation rules: real-money bet placed, min wagering, device uniqueness, KYC pass, excluded payment methods, velocity checks on signups from single IPs or devices.
2. Don’t run cookie-only tracking
Safari’s ITP and privacy changes kill client-side attribution windows. If you rely on pixels and 30-day cookies, expect missing conversions and angry partners. Move to S2S with server-managed attribution and proper attribution windows per GEO.
3. Don’t ignore negative carryover policy clarity
Ambiguity here ruins trust. If you do not zero negative balances monthly, say it clearly and explain when and how resets happen (e.g., at tier changes, product buckets, or with special deals). Many quality SEO partners will avoid non-reset programs.
4. Don’t let affiliates write your bonus terms
Affiliates love “risk-free” and “guaranteed wins”—regulators don’t. Provide copy templates with legal-approved language and force a change window when T&Cs update. Audit their pages post-change and require versioned disclosures.
5. Don’t cap payments with vague reasons
If you withhold or claw back commissions for fraud or bonus abuse, document it, show evidence (aggregated where needed), and reference the exact T&C clause. “Finance says no” destroys your reputation; next time they’ll send that traffic to your competitor.
Commission planning that won’t wreck margin
Start with finance’s allowable CPA by GEO and product, calculated from LTV minus COGS (bonuses, payment fees, game provider fees, tax/levies), and desired payback period. Build your rate card inside that box, leaving room for tests.
| GEO | Product | Avg LTV (90 days) | Max CPA (target payback 90–120 days) | Baseline Deal | Stretch for Proven Partners |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CA | Casino | $550 | $160–$200 | Hybrid $75 CPA + 20% RS | CPA $220 or 35% RS |
| NZ | Casino | $380 | $110–$140 | CPA $110 | Hybrid $50 + 25% RS |
| DE | Sports | $260 | $70–$90 | CPA $80 | Hybrid $40 + 15% RS |
Review quarterly. If retention improves (new CRM journeys, better payments, more live games), LTV rises and you can sweeten deals for the right partners without overpaying for low-quality traffic.
Fraud and bonus abuse: build a layered defense
Expect sophisticated abuse: multi-accounting, synthetic KYC, device farms, chargeback rings, VPN GEO spoofing, chip dumping in poker, matched betting and arbitrage using bonuses. Your playbook:
- Attribution hygiene: server-side click-id capture, device fingerprinting, and dupe checks.
- Velocity & anomaly detection: spikes by IP/device/affiliate/campaign, low time-to-FTD patterns, excessive bonus share of deposits.
- Payments policy: exclude high-risk payment methods from CPA validation; require unique cards and KYC before commissionable status.
- Terms: no incentivization unless explicitly allowed; ban coupon sites if not supported; no “deposit refunds.”
- Enforcement: auto-suspend flow with manual review; return partners to good standing when proven legitimate to keep trust.
Compliance: regulators, ad platforms, and your legal team
Regulatory frameworks vary wildly (UKGC, Malta, provincial Canada, US states, Nordics, DACH). Bake compliance into your day-to-day:
- Affiliate T&Cs mapping: prohibited claims, responsible gambling messaging, licensing disclosures, age gating, local helplines.
- Geo fencing: ensure landing pages, offers, and even game lobbies match the visitor’s jurisdiction.
- Ad platform policy literacy: Google Ads “Gambling & games” certification, Meta compliance, TikTok restrictions; require affiliates to submit Ad IDs for spot checks.
- Data privacy: GDPR/CCPA compliance for partner data, DPA addenda, and secure file exchange for reports.
Web vs. App: tracking nuances you can’t ignore
On the web, S2S and first-party cookies can cover you, but apps add complexity. Solutions that work in casino/sports:
- Deferred deep linking: capture affiliate click-id and pass it through store install to first open; stitch identity post-login.
- SKAN mapping: define conversion values for early predictive signals (registration, KYC submitted, first deposit bracket) to gauge partner quality on iOS.
- Android referrer: pull click info for post-install attribution.
- Web-to-app banners: partner-specific links to maintain attribution integrity when users jump platforms.
Onboarding flow that earns trust and speed
Affiliates judge you by how quickly you get them live. Build a frictionless path:
- Self-serve application with GEO/product selection, traffic disclosures, tax docs upload.
- Instant baseline deal assignment; auto-provision tracking links and API keys.
- Starter kit email: top landing pages by GEO, approved copy blocks, most converting bonus presentation, banner packs, and compliance checklist.
- 15-minute kickoff call for premium partners to agree testing plan and success metrics.
Day-to-day operating rhythm
- Daily: performance scan, fraud alerts, brand policy checks, payments queue, creative requests.
- Weekly: partner pipeline review, payout approvals, broken-link scans, landing page performance, SEO partner ranking shifts.
- Monthly: cohort LTV updates, rate card review, content calendar, compliance training refreshers, QBR preps for top 10 partners.
Metrics that matter
| KPI | Why it matters | Benchmarks (directional) |
|---|---|---|
| FTD count & quality | Core acquisition volume | Growth 10–20% MoM for scaling programs |
| FTD→2nd deposit rate | Early retention predictor | 40–60% healthy for casino; 35–50% for sportsbook |
| ARPU 30/60/90 | Commission affordability insight | Must exceed effective CPA by payback target |
| Bonus cost ratio | Detects abuse & promo inefficiency | <30% of GGR typical in stable cohorts |
| Chargeback/KYC fail | Fraud indicator | <1–2% of FTDs |
| Compliance incidents | Regulatory risk | Zero tolerance; remediate within 24–72h |
Templates you can steal
Outreach opener (SEO/content partner)
Subject: New [GEO] license, fast KYC, clean bonus terms — partnership?
Hi [Name],
I edit the affiliate program at [Brand], live in [GEO] with [license]. Your guides on [topic] rank well for our target keywords, and we’d value a test placement. Baseline: [deal]. We provide local landing pages, bonus copy that passes compliance, and S2S tracking with subids. If you’re open, I’ll send a 2-week test plan and assets today.
Thanks — [You], Affiliate Manager
Compliance takedown note
Hi [Partner],
We identified non-compliant wording (“risk-free”) on [URL] at [timestamp]. As per clause [x] of our T&Cs, please update to: “[approved copy]” within 24 hours. Reply with a live link. We appreciate the fast fix — it protects both brands.
[You]
People & tooling: assemble your stack
People: 1 senior AM per 40–60 active partners, plus compliance analyst, payouts coordinator, and a shared designer. Tools: affiliate platform (network or in-house), BI dashboard (Looker/Tableau), fraud/brand monitors, link checker, creative manager, contract & e-signature, and a PRM or CRM for pipeline tracking.
Interview questions for hiring affiliate managers
- Walk me through a GEO where you scaled from 0 to 200 FTDs/month. What changed in terms and tactics?
- Show an example of a fraud pattern you uncovered. How did you detect and stop it?
- Which KPI do you prioritize when SEO traffic is up but deposits lag? What experiments do you run?
- Explain SKAN to a partner who has never worked with iOS app attribution.
Do’s & don’ts recap
| Do’s | Don’ts |
|---|---|
| Recruit methodically with GEO/product fit | Onboard anyone who asks |
| Price deals to LTV with clear validation | Overpay CPAs to chase volume |
| Use S2S tracking & mobile attribution | Rely on cookies/pixels alone |
| Enforce compliance with documented rules | Let affiliates write risky bonus copy |
| Review cohorts & retention, not just FTDs | Celebrate vanity volume |
| Run QBRs & shared test plans | Only talk at payout time |
| Pay quickly, communicate clearly | Delay payments without evidence |
Final word
The iGaming affiliate channel rewards discipline. When your tracking is clean, your terms are fair, your compliance response is swift, and your enablement is generous, great partners will prioritize you. Do the boring, rigorous things right and you’ll unlock the compounding effect that makes this channel the highest-ROI line on your acquisition P&L.
FAQs
What’s a fair baseline deal for new casino affiliates?
For mid-tier GEOs, a safe starting point is a hybrid like $50–$100 CPA + 20–25% rev share with clear validation (KYC pass, minimum deposit, first wager). Scale up after 30–90 days if cohorts retain.
Should I allow brand bidding on PPC?
Generally no. Reserve brand keywords. If you allow it, whitelist a short list of trusted partners with exact match only, bid caps, and mandatory sitelinks to compliant landing pages.
How do I handle negative carryover?
Be explicit. Many quality SEO partners prefer monthly reset. If you can’t offer full reset, consider product-bucket resets (casino separate from sports) or tier-based resets to reduce partner risk.
What’s the fastest way to detect bonus abuse?
Watch for high bonus-to-deposit ratios, rapid time-to-FTD, clusters of signups on shared IPs/devices, and payout attempts before real-money wagering. Tighten validation and exclude risky payment methods from CPA.
How fast should I pay affiliates?
Aim for monthly payouts within 5–10 business days after month close. Faster payments earn goodwill and prioritization. Communicate any holds with evidence tied to T&Cs.
Responsible gambling: promote tools, respect local laws, and never market to minors. This guide is informational, not legal advice. Always confirm jurisdictional rules with your legal team.
