Sportingbet Drops Affiliate Programs?
Published: Friday, September 09, 2005 Online-Casinos.com
SPORTINGBET DROPS AFFILIATE PROGRAMS?
Termination notice issued to affiliates
Affiliates were receiving shock termination notices from Sportingbet.com this week, suggesting that this company has decided to discontinue affiliate-style marketing going forward.
The notice said that effective 1 October 2005, Sportingbet.com will no longer accept customer referrals via an Affiliate Program and is therefore issuing a Notice Of Termination to all affiliates registered with the SportingBet Affiliates program (an outsourced affiliate program management provider.)
Giving reasons for the change, the brief to affiliates advises that Sportingbet.com currently has no specific geographical market focus and faces growing restrictions on where it can advertise. It therefore plans to alter the dynamics of the Sportingbet.com site, so that it enables the SportingBet European business to establish a single Pan-European brand, complimenting and supporting the regional brands of the company.
This means that Sportingbet.com will effectively become a portal/gateway to the European domains, and will no longer acquire customers using its network of Affiliates, or through any other form of marketing. Instead, regional brands will use their own Affiliate Programs and marketing budgets to drive new customers to their businesses, contributing to the European business of Sportingbet.
Affiliates are asked to remove SportingBet's banners and links by 30 September 2005 and have been advised that negotiations have produced a set of special terms and conditions with SportingBet Plc., allowing existing affiliates to continue to reap the rewards of their referrals to date. The brief then goes on to describe these deals in detail, but cautions affiliates to keep these details in confidence.
That was immediately breached by several sources publicly posting the details on leading message boards.
The brief concludes by expressing regret over the shock nature of the announcement and reiterates that the Sportingbet Affiliate Network will "....no longer accept applications and will close its doors indefinitely on 5 February. Up until such date, you will continue to receive your commission payments for wagers placed by your previous referrals up to Superbowl Sunday. However, if you would like to promote one of SportingBet's regional brands or if you're looking to work with another reputable Sportsbook, Poker Room, or Online Casino, please contact us, and we'll point you in the right direction."
In a postscript, the brief explains a situation where it appears that payments to affiliates have been delayed. The explanation is that: "Due to further challenges with the Finsoft/SportingBet integration, your Affiliate statistics will continue to be unavailable until further notice. We apologize for this delay, as we are awaiting a confirmation date when the problem will be rectified. Thank you for your continued patience."
