New York 3rd Party Sports Betting Advertisers & Affiliates Legal Updates

Even after states legalize sports betting, regulators continue to look at laws, rules, and regulations to keep the market safe. New York was looking at potential new rules that would ban third-party advertising. 

The rule was not followed through on, and for the time being, affiliate marketing sites can continue to share offers that help attract new users to sportsbook providers in New York.

What is a 3rd Party Advertiser or Affiliate?

A third-party advertiser or affiliate marketing company is anyone who makes a deal with a sportsbook to help them acquire new customers. Typically, an affiliate and a sportsbook have two types of deals in place.

• A deal where the affiliate gets a set amount of money for a user signing up at a sportsbook, having come from a link taken from the affiliate source.
• The second deal is a revenue-sharing deal where the affiliate is given a percentage of what a user spends at a sportsbook when they sign up at a sportsbook having come from a link taken from the affiliate source.

New York Affiliate Rules Updated

The New York State Gaming Commission (NYSGC) made some amendments that will continue to allow affiliate companies to be compensated by sportsbooks. Updates include:

• Affiliates must disclose any partnership for the sportsbook they have agreed to promote. Affiliates must disclose in a reasonably prominent manner and/or an about link in any editorial content where affiliate links appear.
• Affiliates must not include any advertisement information that states about chances of winning or contain false or misleading statements.
• No affiliate should imply or promote sports betting as risk-free. Also, betting should not be described as free in any situation where a real money wager is being placed. 
• Lastly, affiliates should not push bettors to compensate for losses or re-invest winnings.

NYSGC commissioner Brian O’Dwyer shared concerns about the new amendments and said affiliate marketing would be watched closely in the coming months.