Affiliate Announcements
FANSUNITE ACQUIRES AMERICAN AFFILIATE, ACCELERATING ENTRY INTO U.S. GAMING MARKET

FansUnite Entertainment Inc., is pleased to announce a definitive agreement dated November 22, 2021 pursuant to which the Company has acquired (“Transaction”) the businesses and brands of American Affiliate LLC (“American Affiliate”). The Transaction will result in FansUnite securing a podium position in the U.S. online betting opportunity and will be the cornerstone of a larger U.S. affiliate strategy going forward.
American Affiliate Business
American Affiliate is a diverse collection of assets dedicated to generating new depositing customers for legal sportsbooks, online casinos, online poker sites, and adjacent products in the U.S. market.
American Affiliate’s vision blends an exclusive focus on the U.S. opportunity with marquee brands, a powerful omni-channel approach, a deep portfolio of proprietary technology, and a uniquely proven management team.
Transaction Highlights:
Accelerates Entry into U.S. Gaming Market: American Affiliates’ Betting Hero brand is the #1 live activation company in the U.S. sports betting and online gambling market.
Revenue and EBITDA Growth: American Affiliate has produced trailing 12 months unaudited revenue and EBITDA of US$13.1 million and US$6.0 million respectively.
High-Value Customer Base: American Affiliate’s assets have generated over 150,000 new depositing customers for legal U.S. online betting operators.
Partnerships with Tier-One Sportsbooks: Partnerships with leading sportsbooks and casinos including BetMGM, DraftKings, FanDuel, PointsBet, Underdog Fantasy, WynnBet, and more.
Strong Alignment with Existing Management and Shareholders: Consideration shares to be issued at a 42% premium to market price with share restrictions over a three-year period.
U.S. Pure Play: The only at-scale affiliate company focused primarily on the U.S. market.
True Omni-Channel: A premier at-scale omni-channel affiliate in the U.S. market, combining marquee digital brands with a best-in-class live activation arm.
Leading Intellectual Property Portfolio: Category-leading portfolio of proprietary technology.
World-Class Executive Team: Tier-one executive and management team with a history of success and scale in the U.S. gaming market.
“The acquisition of American Affiliate represents the most significant milestone for FansUnite to date,” said Scott Burton, CEO of FansUnite Entertainment. “This transformative transaction will provide us further access to the lucrative U.S. regulated sports betting and online gambling market while generating accretive, high-margin revenue, expanding our leadership team, and accelerating the growth of our company’s footprint in the global gambling market.”
“When we looked at how quickly the U.S market is expanding, it made clear strategic sense for us to enter the affiliate business as a way to partner with some of the largest gambling companies in the world,” continued Scott Burton. “We will now own and operate an unparalleled customer acquisition portfolio, allowing us to leverage our technology, brands, and talent to immediately capture share in the U.S. sports betting and online gambling market.”
Combined, the American Affiliate brands represent one of the most significant single sources of new depositing customers for legal U.S. sports betting and online gambling operators. The leadership team has over 40 years of combined experience in the regulated gambling industry, including senior roles at market leaders such as ACEP, Amelco, DraftKings, Catena Media, and GeoComply.
Brands, platforms, content, and services highlighted in the Transaction include:
Betting Hero (www.bettinghero.com)
Props (www.props.com)
BetPrep (www.betprep.com)
Wagers (www.wagers.com)
“Legal U.S. sportsbooks and online casinos are spending billions of dollars to acquire and retain customers,” said American Affiliate CEO Chris Grove. “Our brands, team, and technology allow us to capture a meaningful share of that marketing spend today while producing some of the highest margins in the U.S. online betting ecosystem.”
“But that success is only a starting point,” Grove continued. “We anticipate unprecedented near-term growth as legal online betting continues to expand into new states and new products. Joining with FansUnite was key to our strategy of aggressively scaling our business to meet that opportunity head-on.”
Affiliate Announcements
BetGoat Partners with NetRefer for its Affiliate Marketing Platform

Crypto-first operator BetGoat has joined forces with NetRefer, the industry’s leading data-driven, AI-powered affiliate marketing platform, to launch and expand its affiliate programme with speed and precision.
BetGoat has quickly established itself as a next-generation casino and sportsbook, combining a crypto-only payments model with a sleek, mobile-first platform. The brand caters to players across Asia, including Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia, and Vietnam, offering extensive coverage of global and regional sports alongside a dynamic casino portfolio.
From Premier League football and NBA basketball to UFC, esports, and Formula 1, BetGoat delivers thousands of live events each month. Odds are updated in real time, while in-play markets give players the ability to act on every moment of the action. This focus on immediacy and responsiveness reflects the operator’s commitment to delivering a seamless betting experience.
Beyond sports, BetGoat’s casino and live dealer catalogue features leading providers such as Pragmatic Play, Evolution, and NetEnt. The operator processes deposits and withdrawals exclusively in digital currencies, including Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Tether, with rapid turnaround times and no fiat restrictions, ensuring both efficiency and transparency for players.
Licensed by the Anjouan Gaming Board, BetGoat places a strong emphasis on responsible play. Its platform integrates a wide range of tools that allow customers to set deposit, wager, and session limits, take timeout periods, or opt for self-exclusion, supported by a 24/7 service team. This combination of crypto-driven innovation and player protection reflects BetGoat’s commitment to long-term sustainability.
Affiliate marketing is central to BetGoat’s growth strategy. By selecting NetRefer, the operator gains access to performance insights and flexible reporting that allow it to adapt quickly in fast-moving markets. With the support of CoPilot AI, ASR 1.0 API, and the newly released Report Builder, affiliates benefit from actionable, data-driven intelligence that drives measurable results.
Crucially, BetGoat also utilises NetRefer’s Data Ingestion API, a robust solution that delivers 99.5% availability, standardised inputs, and frequent data updates. The API reduces delays and manual work by correcting errors automatically, ensuring affiliates receive accurate reporting and rewards with greater speed and consistency. For a fast-scaling crypto operator, this level of reliability and precision is essential.
Marky Chan, Affiliate Manager at BetGoat, said: “Our experience with NetRefer has been outstanding. We chose the platform for its strong reputation, reliable tracking, and scalability, all essential for managing BetGoat’s growing affiliate network. The onboarding process was smooth and well-supported, with clear guidance from the team. We particularly value the powerful reporting and commission management tools, which make tracking and optimising performance effortless. NetRefer is a reliable, user-friendly, and responsive partner, and we highly recommend it to any business looking to manage and grow their affiliate programme effectively.”
Amanda Camenzuli, Manager of NetRefer’s Account Management team, commented: “We’re excited to welcome BetGoat to the NetRefer family. By embracing the Data Ingestion API, they’re setting their affiliate programme up for success with accurate, standardised data and fewer operational hurdles. We look forward to supporting their growth and helping them reach ambitious new milestones.”
This partnership brings together BetGoat’s innovative, crypto-first vision with NetRefer’s 20 years of affiliate marketing expertise. Together, the companies will deliver an affiliate programme built on transparency, performance, and sustainable growth.
Affiliate Announcements
KVA launches new website: stronger quality mark and clear recognition for consumers

The Responsible Affiliates Quality Mark (KVA) has launched its updated website. The modernization is the result of months of preparation and stems from the first meeting of the Alliance for Combating Illegal Online Gambling in May 2025. During this meeting, participants, including the KVA, emphasized the importance of enabling consumers to more quickly and accurately identify which players in the online gambling market are reliable and legal.
The foundation of the KVA: Thorough inspection and legal security
The KVA was founded in 2021, shortly before the opening of the legal online gambling sector in the Netherlands. At the same time, the KVA Code was developed, which all affiliated members must comply with. Compliance with this code has a legal basis: it is contractually established between the KVA and its members.
The KVA Code is based on current legislation and regulations in the Netherlands and is amended as needed. The code consists of six fixed components:
- Contributing to channelisation and combating illegal supply.
- Responsible use of marketing channels.
- Careful and balanced design of expressions.
- Preventing deception.
- Tailoring advertising to addiction prevention.
- Compliance with the Decree on Non-Targeted Remote Gambling Advertising.
All members are fully assessed annually. They receive a comprehensive advisory report, supplemented with random samples and audits based on signals. Compliance assessments are conducted by KVA Compliance Officers, who operate independently within the organization under contract. This guarantees a legally anchored and reproducible assessment structure.
The foundation of the KVA remains unchanged. However, the updated website provides a clearer and more accessible overview of what the KVA Code entails.
Increase recognition
Previously, consumers weren’t always clear about the KVA quality mark when they encountered it on an affiliate website. With the updated website, the KVA aims to improve this by making the quality mark’s function more transparent. Individual certificates for each affiliated website immediately show how it was assessed, how often inspections are performed, and when the last assessment was conducted. We also specifically explain which KVA Compliance Officer assessed the website, for transparency reasons. The certificates increase consumer recognition.
The new website contains several extensions and improvements:
- KVA certificates per website : Each affiliated member has its own page with a certificate, which shows how the assessment was made, whether the organization behind the website has been verified, and who performed the last audit. All the different certificates can be found on the member page: https://kva.nl/leden/ . Many of our members have now set up links from the quality mark to their own certificates.
- KVA Team: Clear information is now available about the team behind the KVA: https://kva.nl/het-team-van-kva/
- Transparency statement: a page explaining the organizational structure behind the KVA: https://kva.nl/transparantieverklaring/
- Advisory Board : The role of external advisors has been given a more prominent role. The KVA is supported by Yvon Jansma (Center for Responsible Gambling), Peter-Paul de Goeij (online gambling specialist), Eric Konings (VNLOK), Anne-Jaap Snijders (Book of Sports expert), and Björn Fuchs (VNLOK chairman). Advisory Board page: https://kva.nl/de-raad-van-advies/
- Responsible Gambling page : comprehensive information for consumers about signs of problematic gambling behavior, tips for responsible gambling, and referrals to support agencies: https://kva.nl/verantwoord-gokken/
- Publications section : an overview of studies, reports, and warnings issued by the KVA. This regularly highlights the risks of illegal online casinos, misleading affiliates, and new marketing tactics: https://kva.nl/publicaties/
Informing and protecting consumers
With its updated website, the KVA is positioning itself more emphatically as a consumer information hub. It regularly issues warnings about the risks of illegal gambling through social media and accessible articles. In doing so, the quality mark aims to contribute to the channeling objective: encouraging participation with legal providers and combating illegal offerings.
Steven Vrolijk, representative of the KVA: “With the updated website, we’re taking the next step in professionalization. The quality mark will be more recognizable for consumers, while members can continue to rely on a robust and legally sound assessment procedure. Through our role within the Alliance, the constructive contact with the regulator, and the input of experienced market experts, we want to continue contributing, together with our members, to channeling legal supply and tackling the illegal sector. Naturally, we thank all members and affiliated partners for supporting our initiative.”
Affiliate Announcements
Affiliate Leaders Summit Grows 40% as Global Operators and Affiliates Flock to Lisbon

Following a successful run, the Affiliate Leaders Summit will make its return to the Feira Internacional de Lisboa (FIL) this September, now expanded to a three-day format and featuring the debut of the Affiliate Leaders Awards.
Taking place from 16–18 September, the Affiliate Leaders Summit runs alongside SBC Summit as a focused, standalone platform for affiliates, affiliate managers, and enabling suppliers. It also delivers a more targeted networking and learning experience, with a dedicated content stage and curated audience of 8,000 operator representatives and 3,500 affiliates.
Affiliate Leaders Summit delegates will also enjoy full access to wider SBC Summit features, including evening socials, the main expo floor, and Super Stage keynotes from leading voices such as Gary Vaynerchuk.
Rasmus Sojmark, Founder and CEO of SBC, said: “Last year’s launch of the Affiliate Leaders Summit was a big milestone for us. The response was incredible, but we knew we could do even more. That’s why this year, we’re giving it the time it deserves; three full days to ensure attendees can take in everything this event has to offer.
“We’re also introducing the Affiliate Leaders Awards, which I’m personally very excited about. Affiliates play a vital role in this industry, and it’s time we had a platform that truly celebrates their work alongside the operator programmes and suppliers who help make it all happen.”
A 40% expansion of the 2025 show floor also underscores the event’s rising influence, following 2024’s debut that earned standout NPS ratings—79 from affiliates and 68 from operators. This year’s exhibitor list is stacked with leaders of the field, including Catena Media, Clever Advertising, Evoke, Flashscore, Kaizen Gaming, Medier, Megapari, Novibet, and Shake, offering attendees direct access to key players across the affiliate and operator landscape.
On the conference side of things, the Affiliate Leaders Stage at this year’s summit delivers a powerful three-day journey through the evolution of affiliate marketing, starting with the martech tools redefining performance and partnerships, moving into audience-focused strategies that tap into community-driven SEO and smarter collaboration, and culminating in a forward-looking exploration of AI, diversification beyond Google, and the future role of affiliate managers.
With debates, CEO insights, hands-on workshops, and panels tackling everything from automation and CRM to content authenticity and deal transparency, this stage arms attendees with the ideas, tools, and strategies needed to thrive in a rapidly shifting digital landscape.
The conference sessions will bring together some of the biggest names in affiliate marketing, including Jonathan Edelshaim (CEO, Natural Intelligence), Elaine Gardiner-Ruddock (Managing Director, TAG Media), Peter Gunni (CEO, Traffic Lab), Filip Komljenovic (Head of Sales, Sofascore), Deb Lee (Director of AI & Data Operations, CILA, Entain), Andre Machado (CCO, Clever Advertising), Leanne Muleba (Chief Operations Officer, Matching Visions), and Johan Styren (CEO & Co-founder, Dilanti Media).
Those joining the Affiliate Leaders Summit will benefit not only from the tailored content on the dedicated stage and Super Stage but also from the addition of the Global Markets and Emerging Markets stages. With affiliates and operators among the most curious about cross-border growth, these new stages provide an ideal opportunity to explore regional strategies and understand new audiences.
Affiliate and operator attendees can expect the VIP treatment at the Affiliate Leaders Summit, with complimentary access to the event’s premium evening networking lineup. That includes the high-energy Opening Party with Joel Corry and Imanbek, and the return of INFINITY Lisbon, featuring electrifying performances from Alok and Timmy Trumpet.
Sojmark added: “The Affiliate Leaders Summit is designed to make networking and easier by giving you a dedicated space to connect. But the hospitality doesn’t stop there. You’re part of the full SBC Summit experience. With access to all six stages, complimentary food and drinks at the Food Festival, and the freedom to explore every area of the event, you’re welcome to engage as widely as you like. The Affiliate Leaders Summit simply helps you focus your efforts where they matter most.”