In the US sports betting industry, new states legalizing online sports betting is one of the biggest market shifts possible. Affiliate sites are always eager to stay on top of these launches, as this provides a lot of opportunities for potential new players to find their next sportsbook. With the upcoming launch of sports betting in Ohio on January 1st, many operators are looking to gain market share early.
The US team at Leadstar Media has been gearing up for the influx of new players from the state. We spoke with Patrick Corkery – the US product team leader – to discuss how affiliates prepare to serve the needs of bettors & their partners in new states.
Gaining a foothold in the state
Any new state provides the entire affiliate industry with a huge opportunity to get new players to our partners’ platforms, but the upcoming Ohio launch is particularly exciting. The state’s large population and diehard sports culture make it a slam dunk for sports betting.
Of course, before anything else, we need to make sure we’re actually able to operate in the state. Each jurisdiction has different licensing processes for betting affiliates, with some having very strict rules and others allowing sites like ours to operate without one.
Our legal counsel and business administration staff do a great job making sure all that is sorted so our Account Management team and us on the Product side can get to work.
Preparing the product
At this point, we have several sites in the United States, so we spend a lot of time strategizing how to best meet the demands of bettors in the state. Their needs can be varied, so this stratified approach really allows the US team to serve any possible niche of the rollout.
To prepare for this launch on Sportsbooks Online, we’ve prepared an extensive list of all the sportsbooks expected to launch in Ohio. On that site, we’ve supplemented this with a comprehensive breakdown of the Ohio sports betting promos offered to new customers in the pre-launch window.
To serve the Spanish-speaking population of the state, we also posted an article outlining the top operators coming to Ohio on our recently-launched MisCasasDeApuestas.com/US. This is one of the new products we’re most excited about as a company, so an opportunity to attract potential players early on in the days of Ohio lines up perfectly.
Overall, we strive to answer every potential question a new player may have about a sportsbook and make sure their sports betting experience is as seamless as possible.
Connecting with partners
Simultaneous to our product work, the Account Management team is working with our existing partners to ensure that we will be all set to promote them in the state, as well as reaching out to potential new partners that are looking to expand.
During times like this, we are in constant collaboration to ensure compliance with the deals they have established with operators. I think we have the best AM team in the business at Leadstar, so this collaboration always goes smoothly and guarantees we are providing users with the most value.
This process is more important than ever in the lead-up to the Ohio go-live date, as many of our partner brands have gone live with pre-launch offers. Because of the cross-company collaboration, we have been able to offer users the best pre-launch bonuses and have already sent users to several sportsbooks in the state.
