New affiliate legal questions

[bettingappguide]

It's a great website and the guys behind it that know what they're doing. If I'm right, they also have some experience in the gambling niche. Clear that they know exactly what are the money keywords and how to rank on them. Besides that it's a brandable website, hence not pure seo and it's very user friendly for people looking for gambling info.

I think it's a situation that's a bit different than building on your own a promocode WP website for the US.

Your right, it is a decent well throughout site. I like it

 

[JonnyPark]

Hi guys,

New to this here and just exploring the topic generally out of interest.

I came across this article recently - I cant post the link but its on sbcamericas from mike murphy exploring the opportunity for affiliates. The most intriguing part for me is:

"In New Jersey, affiliates must acquire a vendor registration number from the Division of Gaming Enforcement (DGE) in order to promote online casinos and sportsbooks on a cost-per-acquisition (CPA) model. Affiliates wishing to promote on a revenue share basis must undergo an extensive background check, fill out detailed forms, and pay a non-refundable fee of $2,000."

I guess for me I have 2 questions after reading:

- As a (legal) US sportsbook affiliate, are you likely to run into trouble by not placing any geo-restrictions on your site?
- The article mentions the need for a vendor license - if you were to hypothetically be promoting legal US sportsbooks but as a registered company/affiliate from overseas (eg. UK) - 1. do you still need the license and 2. are you likely to have any success in your application given you are not US-based.

Thanks alot

 

[Easy.Vegas]

I know this is an old thread, but it still features prominently in Google so people are still reading it. Also, there's some misinformation that should be corrected.

[1] It is not against the law to promote online gambling.

[2] It is not against the law for US citizens to gamble online, bet sports online, or play poker online.

[3] If there are any legal exceptions to this, no one has ever been taken to task on it legally.

All three of these statements are false:

(1) The laws of some states definitely outlaw "promoting" or "encouraging" gambling. That seems to speak directly to many affiliate websites. In addition, some states also outlaw participating in the profits of gambling, which is exactly what rev-share agreements are.

(2) Most states have laws against gambling in general, which apply equally to online and offline. Several states also specifically outlaw online gambling.

(3) I list two cases in my article in which players were charged by their respective states for online gambling. There may be others I don't know about.

jonnyPark, to answer some of your questions:

(1) Yes, you need a vendor license to promote NJ casinos, no matter where you reside.

(2) I'm guessing that you don't need to geo-restrict on your site, that that's the job of the operator. However, you certainly waste your readers' time if you lead them to believe that the operator is open to everyone and not just NJ residents.

 

[Easy.Vegas]

I really wish we could edit posts here. To clarify my above post, when I said "all three of 'these' statements are false", I meant, "all three of the *above* statements are false."

 

[PROFRBcom]

I really wish we could edit posts here. To clarify my above post, when I said "all three of 'these' statements are false", I meant, "all three of the *above* statements are false."

A plethora of $800-1200 an hour international gaming attorneys disagree with your analysis.

Source: I have met them and discussed the matter.

 

[Easy.Vegas]

Exactly which of my statement(s) do your high-priced lawyers allegedly say is/are wrong?

 

[PROFRBcom]

It is casino-professor.com. It ranks 1# for competitive key-words in the "UK" mostly

Who planned all their content?
Do they do consulting?

 

[PROFRBcom]

Exactly which of my statement(s) do your high-priced lawyers allegedly say is/are wrong?

Pretty much all of them.

But hey, do your thing and I'll do mine.

Hopefully no one ends up in jail and everyone ends up wealthy(ier).

 

[Easy.Vegas]

Also, I noticed you said "international gaming attorneys". Since there's no such thing as international law governing online gambling, exactly what jurisdiction(s) did your attorneys speak to? In the U.S. there are 50 states plus federal. I doubt any attorney is familiar with the laws in each of the 50 states, and if they are, they know very well that several states plainly prohibit promotion of gambling and/or participating in the profits (e.g., rev share) in extremely clear terms. In fact, I'll see your attorneys and raise you an Assistant D.A. (you know, the people responsible for actually prosecuting crimes) who confirmed that the Texas law which clearly prohibits "participating in the earnings of a gambling place" obviously applies to revshare. It's why I don't do revshare, since I'm located in Texas.

Texas Penal Code, Section 47.03: GAMBLING PROMOTION

(a) A person commits an offense if he intentionally or knowingly...
(1) operates or participates in the earnings of a gambling place;

 

[Easy.Vegas]

Oh, and since you say "pretty much everything" I said was wrong, and I cited U.S. players who have been charged with online gambling (in response to your claim that that never happened), do you and your high-priced lawyers still contend, despite all evidence, that no U.S. players have ever been charged with online gambling?

 

[PROFRBcom]

You have foiled our Five-Eyes honeypot with your in-depth investigative reporting sir.

You win the Internet.

Enjoy your health, massive search traffic, and the legal wealth that it brings you.

 

[Kadabra]

Oh, and since you say "pretty much everything" I said was wrong, and I cited U.S. players who have been charged with online gambling (in response to your claim that that never happened), do you and your high-priced lawyers still contend, despite all evidence, that no U.S. players have ever been charged with online gambling?

From your site: I think the chances of going to jail for online gambling in the U.S. are so small that I offer a $100 reward for each report of a player actually getting jail.

 

[Easy.Vegas]

@Kadabra: That's true. You don't understand the difference between being charged and going to jail?

 

[Joonas]

Why not get affiliate licenses for the states that have regulated, and only promote gambling sites that have license in the state? Pretty much all the states will be regulated by the looks of it anyway. You can offer other languages and GEOs in your site even if you promote regulated US states, just avoid offshore licensed or non-licensed gambling sites.

 

[Easy.Vegas]

The legal states comprise only 13% or so of the U.S. population. It might get to >50% eventually, but we're a long way away from that.

 

[PROFRBcom]

Why not get affiliate licenses for the states that have regulated, and only promote gambling sites that have license in the state? Pretty much all the states will be regulated by the looks of it anyway. You can offer other languages and GEOs in your site even if you promote regulated US states, just avoid offshore licensed or non-licensed gambling sites.

Because that is almost certainly a violation of affiliate licenses?
Not all affiliates have the ability to GEO target their traffic?
Because there is likely a decade or two of good earnings to be made before the shitty, ubiquitous $150 CPA for all new customers model is entrenched in the oh-so-great-government-regulated markets?
ETC

 

[Joonas]

Because that is almost certainly a violation of affiliate licenses?

What do you mean here?

 

[PROFRBcom]

What do you mean here?

In the US, offering regulated sites to regulated states and offshore sites to unregulated states is a violation of affiliate rules and regulations in regulated states.

You risk your license doing this.

Push the offshore to another site you own? Sure, for a while. Until your competitor figures out what you are doing and reports you to the DGE, NGA, etc. Then... fucked.

It's one or the other.

 

[NDG]

If you have to choose , it should be obvious that you go with the casinos that reach a larger segment of the US,