Exclusive: Better Collective investor suggests affiliates are the true winners of US sports betting goldrush

Betplay Capital chief Tomasz Juroszek has suggested affiliates are the current winners of the US sports betting and igaming market almost six years after the fall of PASPA in 2018.

Speaking exclusively to EGR, Juroszek, a member of the management board at Betplay Capital, a Polish investment firm with holdings in affiliate firms Better Collective and Gaming Innovation Group as well as live dealer giant Evolution, said affiliates had been the “biggest beneficiary” of the legalised sports betting market.

Better Collective, which has an extensive North American footprint thanks to Action Network and a host of other brands, saw Q4 revenue from the market fall 23% as part of an ongoing shift to a revenue share model.

Juroszek said the intense competition among operators to steal market share meant that affiliate firms were well placed to deliver customers amid a frenzied fight for spend.

He explained: “We can see a clear fight between operators to get market share. They are spending a lot of money on marketing, not only the current ones but also the ones that are entering the market.

“It is because of this clear competitive landscape where all of these companies are fighting with each other that the biggest beneficiary is the affiliation industry, as they can work with nearly every operator and can benefit massively from all of this marketing spending.”

Juroszek also gave his thoughts on the US market as Betplay explores investment opportunities outside its native European heartlands.

He continued: ”

The US is a hot market and we are constantly looking at new opportunities there. The situation in the US is cooling a little, but as we are in this period when not many states are going live with igaming, there are only a couple of companies with a significant market share and profit in the region.

“The US is a very tough and competitive market. We have seen several companies already failing to achieve anything there. For operators, we will have to see how the future goes. It is a very interesting market, and eventually it will be the biggest market in the world.

“I hope the legislation landscape gets better in the future as there are just a few states with igaming, and the focus is too much on sports betting for now.”

Despite some European operators and domestic brands calling time on their efforts in the US, including Kindred Group, MaximBet, and Fubo, Juroszek said he believed there will be an opportunity for a second wave of firms to make a dent.

However, the Pole did note the intense competition in the market as it stands, with FanDuel and DraftKings having a near-duopoly in the US, with major players in the shape of BetMGM, ESPN Bet, and Fanatics also looking to push ahead.

He commented: “

Some companies have gone across and had some kind of success like Entain and its joint venture with MGM. But it is slightly different case by case with the likes of Flutter and its FanDuel brand in the US.

“We saw what happened with Kindred and we haven’t seen much success from European operators. It is hard to give an overall opinion. It is a difficult market to examine, but in the short and medium term, the clear winners are FanDuel and DraftKings. However, we don’t know what the picture will look like when more players enter the market.

“We also don’t know when the bigger players will reduce marketing spend; will they sustain market share, or will there be more competition? The US market is a very tricky one for European operators. They thought they could easily enter the market by duplicating its strategy from legacy markets and that it would suit US customer.

“But it looks like the US is totally different. Players bet differently and it’s not as easy as copying and pasting the European way of gambling in the US and having easy success. For now they are adjusting their strategy, and there will be a second wave of European operators trying to get into the US,” he concluded.