The deal is the business
An affiliate's revenue is the sum of its deals with operators, and the terms of those deals matter more than most affiliates realise until they read one carefully. Two affiliates sending identical traffic to the same operator can earn amounts that differ by half, on the strength of a definition of "net revenue", a clause on negative carryover, or a CPA qualifying condition. This lesson is about the deal: the structures, the traps inside them, the terms worth negotiating, and how to manage a portfolio of operators as a book of business.
The three structures, precisely
CPA. A fixed payment per referred customer who meets a qualifying condition. The condition is the whole term: "first deposit of at least X", "first deposit and wagering of at least Y", "first deposit within Z days of registration". A CPA with a high qualifying threshold pays on far fewer customers than one with a low one, and an operator that quotes a headline CPA without the condition has not quoted anything. CPA is paid once, soon, and regardless of what the customer does afterwards, which is why operators use it for volume and why they cap or cut it when quality falls.
Revenue share. A percentage of the net revenue the referred customers generate, for the life of the customer or for a defined period. Catena Media's annual report describes the model as a pre-agreed share of the net gaming revenue generated by the users it refers, over the time they spend with the operator. The percentage is the headline; the definition of net revenue and the treatment of negative months are the substance.
Net revenue is gross gaming revenue (broadly, stakes minus winnings paid out) less whatever the operator's agreement deducts. Typical deductions: bonuses and free bets granted to the customers, payment processing costs, chargebacks, gaming tax, platform or "admin" fees expressed as a percentage, and sometimes progressive jackpot contributions. Listed affiliates flag the exposure to investors: Catena Media warns that an increase in the operator's cost base might reduce the net revenue ultimately paid to it. An agreement that deducts tax, payments and a 25 per cent admin fee before applying a 35 per cent share pays a fraction of what the headline suggests, and every one of those deductions is negotiable.
Negative carryover determines what happens when referred customers win in a month. Under carryover, the negative balance is carried forward and offset against future months until recovered; an affiliate with one large winning customer can earn nothing for months. Under "no negative carryover" (NNCO), each month starts at zero. NNCO is the most valuable single clause an affiliate can obtain, and established affiliates routinely ask for it. Read the exceptions: an NNCO clause can carve out particular cases, such as exceptionally large winners, and where referred players are pooled within one account, one large winner can still cancel out a month's commission on all the others.
Lifetime versus capped: whether the share runs as long as the customer plays or stops after a period. Lifetime is the annuity that gives affiliate businesses their value; a capped share is worth correspondingly less, and the cap is a term to look for before comparing rates.
Tiers: shares that rise with volume, measured by depositors referred or by net revenue generated, usually assessed month by month.
Hybrid. A CPA plus a reduced revenue share, sharing the risk. A common structure between established partners, and the one that allows both sides to say they got what they wanted. Listed affiliates' mixes vary widely: in 2025 Catena Media had 89 per cent of its contracts on CPA terms, 9 per cent on revenue share and 2 per cent on other models, using hybrids in some cases, while Better Collective took 47 per cent of its revenue from revenue share and 24 per cent from CPA.
The terms beyond the rate
Experienced affiliates negotiate the whole agreement, not the percentage.
Payment terms. When the operator pays (monthly, at 30 or 60 days), the minimum payout threshold, the currency, and who bears conversion and transfer costs. Late payment is a recurring operational problem, and money owed by operators is the principal source of credit risk that Catena Media reports; the contract's remedy for late payment is worth reading, as is any right the operator reserves to withhold money after termination.
Reporting access. Real-time or daily access to the operator's affiliate reporting, at customer level where data protection permits, with the definitions used for each figure. An affiliate that cannot reconcile its own tracking against the operator's report cannot know whether it is being paid correctly. Listed affiliates flag this to investors: Catena Media warns that undetected miscalculations on the operator's side might result in incorrect fees, and says it regularly audits operators to check them.
Exclusivity and non-compete. Whether the affiliate may promote competitors on the same page, in the same market, or at all. Exclusivity is worth a great deal to the operator and should be priced accordingly.
Brand bidding. Whether the affiliate may buy the operator's brand terms in paid search. Commonly prohibited in operators' standard terms; where an operator permits it, the permission is negotiated separately.
Placement and flat fees. Fixed payments for a position on a page, a newsletter mention, a period of prominence. Advertising, not affiliation, and it should be labelled as such; but for large affiliates these fees are a meaningful income line paid on top of performance terms, and they are negotiable separately. Raketech reported flat fees, charged to operators to be listed and reviewed or for advertising space, of €6.4 million in 2025, nearly a quarter of its €27.0 million revenue from continuing operations.
Sub-affiliates. Whether the affiliate may recruit others and earn on their traffic, and who is responsible for their compliance. In American states that license affiliates, sub-affiliates can need approval of their own: Pennsylvania's rules, for example, cover any individual or entity directing business to online gaming sites for compensation based on player activity.
Term changes. The operator's right to change the commission structure, and the notice required. Standard terms commonly reserve the operator a unilateral right to change commission, sometimes with little or no notice, so the notice period is worth negotiating. A portfolio built on one operator's terms is exposed to such changes.
Customer treatment. What happens to the affiliate's revenue share when the operator restricts, limits or closes a referred customer's account, which sportsbooks do to customers they judge to be skilled or "sharp". Regulators have begun to scrutinise the practice: Massachusetts adopted a rule in February 2026 requiring sportsbooks to give a bettor timely notice that their wagering has been limited, with a specific explanation. Some agreements continue the share on a limited customer's residual play; some end it; the sports affiliate whose audience is sharp should ask.
Termination. For breach, for compliance failure, for convenience. What happens to accrued revenue share on termination is the clause that determines whether an affiliate's book is an asset or a favour: agreements that end the share on termination give the operator the power to cancel the annuity, and the affiliate should resist them. The risk is real: Raketech tells investors that operators police affiliates' compliance and that non-compliant affiliates are likely to have partnerships and future commissions terminated, and Catena Media lists a customer terminating its agreement among the risks to its revenue.
Compliance obligations. The marketing rules the affiliate must follow, the approval process, the monitoring the operator will do, and the consequences. These flow from the operator's licence and are not negotiable in substance; the process around them is.
Negotiating
An affiliate's leverage is the quality and volume of the customers it sends, demonstrated with data. The negotiating sequence that works: send traffic on standard terms for long enough to produce a cohort; show the operator that cohort's deposit rates, value and retention against its own benchmarks; ask for terms that reflect it. Operators pay for quality when it is proven and rarely before.
The other lever is alternatives. An affiliate with three operators competing for the same placement negotiates from a different position than one with a single partner, and the portfolio in the next section exists partly to create that position.
Things an affiliate should not do: accept a headline rate without the definitions; accept negative carryover without a compelling CPA in exchange; sign exclusivity for a rate rather than a fee; agree that the share ends on termination for convenience; or agree to terms that require promoting the operator into markets where it is not licensed.
Managing the portfolio
A mature affiliate has many operator agreements, often spread across several markets and websites, and manages them as a book.
Concentration. The share of revenue from the largest operator and the largest three. An affiliate that earns half its revenue from one operator has a business that operator can reprice. Listed affiliates disclose large customers: Catena Media reported that one North American customer accounted for €5.5 million of its €46.6 million revenue in 2025, about 12 per cent.
Mix. CPA for cash flow and for new or unproven operators; revenue share for established operators with good customer economics; hybrids where the relationship warrants. The mix shifts with the affiliate's stage: early businesses need CPA to fund growth, mature ones prefer the annuity.
Quality feedback. Operators tell affiliates, directly or through commission changes, how their traffic performs. An affiliate whose CPA is cut has been told its customers are not depositing enough; the response is to fix the traffic, not to find a less discriminating operator.
The book's value. Accrued revenue-share entitlements across operators, by cohort, with an estimate of their future value. This is the figure a buyer will pay for and the figure a change of terms destroys; lesson seven returns to it.
Regulatory constraints on deals
Deals are constrained by the market. Several regulated markets restrict what may be offered or advertised: Brazil's betting law barred operators from granting any advance, bonus or prior advantage for placing a bet, even as a promotion until fixed-odds betting was prohibited in September 2026, and Ontario prohibits advertising inducements, bonuses and credits except on the operator's own site or to players who have consented. That changes what an affiliate can offer a reader and therefore what converts. Licensed American states distinguish flat-fee from performance-based compensation for licensing purposes, so the structure of the deal decides which licence the affiliate needs: in Pennsylvania an affiliate paid on player activity must be certified, while one paid a flat fee must be registered. Data-protection law limits what customer-level data an operator may share in reporting. And an operator's licence conditions impose obligations on the affiliate that no contract can waive. The Affiliate Compliance and Licensing course covers each.
What to take from this lesson
The rate is not the deal. CPA is defined by its qualifying condition; revenue share by the definition of net revenue, negative carryover and what happens on termination. Negotiate payment terms, reporting, exclusivity, placement fees and term-change notice as well as the percentage. Prove quality with cohort data before asking for better terms, and create alternatives so the ask has weight. Manage the operator book for concentration, mix and accrued value, because the book is what the business is worth.