Online gambling remains an increasingly popular pastime in New Zealand, thanks to a peculiar and surprisingly commonplace set of regulations in the market.

More specifically, while the country’s gambling laws currently prohibit natives from wagering within a private online casino based in New Zealand, there’s nothing in the Gambling Act of 2003 to prevent players from registering with an accessible international brand such as Betway.

This also creates an opportunity for affiliate marketers in the NZ iGaming space, although things may be about to change in the wake of a comprehensive legislative review by the Department of Internal Affairs (DIA). We’ll explore this in a little more detail below:

Can You Become a Gambling Affiliate in New Zealand?

Currently, there appear to be no restrictions on operating as an iGaming affiliate in New Zealand, while this is becoming an increasingly lucrative career option in the digital age.

After all, the figures demonstrate that New Zealanders have poured huge amounts of money into overseas casino websites and sportsbooks over the course of the last 18 months, wagering approximately $381 million during this period alone.

There are also numerous types of affiliates available in NZ, including platforms such as Onlinecasinonewzealand.nz. This operates broadly as a standalone and independent review site that compares reputable and accessible gambling brands online, while it is also categorised as an affiliate website.

This means that the platform receives commission from the virtual casinos that it lists, through the various links, products and verticals provided.

When visitors click on these links and subsequently open an account with the online casino in question, the commission is paid out at the agreed percentage and within a predetermined timeframe.

You will also find a large number of prominent casino affiliate programs in New Zealand, some of which promote a number of competing overseas operators and payout at various rates of commission.

Typically, however, these programs will offer a revenue share between 25% and 50% to affiliates, while some will provide two-tier commission plans and customised bonus plans depending on the players making deposits.

The availability of affiliate programs in NZ should not come as a surprise, with this innovative marketing channel widely accessible even in nations that have taken a more stringent approach to advertising in the iGaming space.

Take Italy, for example, as while the so-called “Dignity Decree” has placed a stringent ban on iGaming advertising of late, affiliate marketing continues to create a handy workaround for operators.

Will Affiliate Marketing Continue in New Zealand?

As we’ve already touched on, the review by the Department of Internal Affairs (DIA) is well underway in NZ, while a number of potential reforms have been proposed to help expand the marketplace in line with its increasingly digital nature.

The good news is that none of these are likely to affect affiliate marketers in New Zealand adversely, and in fact, they are far more likely to boost affiliates and create more opportunities within the sector.

The most likely reform would actually create additional licenses for both domestic and operators in NZ, for example, while broadening the market considerably and removing control away from centralised agencies like Lotto and TAB (who regulate lottery games and sports betting respectively).

This would create an increased demand for affiliate marketers and reputable programs in New Zealand, allowing established affiliates to scale their market shares and newcomers to carve themselves a lucrative niche within the industry.

Even if the legislation was adjusted to simply grant additional licenses to international casino and betting brands, this would also boost demand for affiliates while enabling existing programs to snap up new operators with the minimum of fuss.

Perhaps the only potential reform that would not directly benefit affiliates would see the government agencies Lotton and TAB extend their centralised offering to provide more gambling products to customers.

This would probably only see a single, centrally controlled online casino enter the NZ marketplace, creating little in the way of additional money-making opportunities for affiliates in the region.

Ultimately, however, it is clear that iGaming affiliates in NZ have little to fear from the current DIA review of the 2003 Gambling Act.

In fact, they’re most likely to benefit from any reforms, irrespective of any additional controls or regulatory measures that may be conceived much further down the line.