Q3 2025 showed mixed results: nearly all major affiliate players faced declines in NDC* and pressures on Revenue Share, but managed to increase revenue in certain segments thanks to diversification of business models and GEOs. The greatest contribution came from RevShare deals and subscriptions in developed markets, whereas sports betting and certain regions like Brazil and parts of Europe dragged down performance metrics. More details available in our analysis on 3S.INFO.

This review is based on reports from leading companies in the iGaming industry for Q3 2025: 

  • Better Collective: A large international affiliate holding focused on media and paid traffic.
  • Gentoo Media: An affiliate group managing a portfolio of SEO projects and paid traffic campaigns.
  • Gambling.com Group: A publicly traded company combining affiliate marketing, subscription-based models, and advertising products.
  • Acroud AB: A holding including the network Matching Visions, SaaS service Voonix, and proprietary affiliate websites.
  • Catena Media: One of the oldest iGaming affiliates focusing on casinos and North American markets.
  • RAKETECH: An affiliate company and network with its own platform AffiliationCloud and strong presence in Scandinavia.

NDC in iGaming and affiliate marketing stands for New Depositing Customer (sometimes decoded as New Depositing Account). This is a new player who has not only registered with the operator but has also made their first deposit with real money. Find more terms in the "Knowledge Base" on 3S.INFO.

Which Types of Deals Generate More Money in iGaming?

For all companies, the core monetization remains Revenue Share and CPA, but the balance is shifting towards hybrid and subscription models.

  • Better Collective: RevShare generated €38.4 million (-6% YoY) and remains the main driver, while CPA grew to €18.5 million (+2% YoY). CPM and subscriptions provided additional stable cash flow.
  • Gentoo Media: 64% of total revenue (€14.5 million) came from RevShare, though it declined by ‑14.5% YoY. CPA and Fixed Fees helped maintain overall margins.​
  • Gambling.com Group: Classic affiliate marketing dropped to $24 million (-4% YoY), but subscription revenue surged to $9.2 million (+304% YoY), becoming the second most important model.
  • Acroud: 79% of owned-traffic revenue came from RevShare (€10.3 million), but the primary growth was driven by the SaaS segment (Matching Visions, Voonix), effectively transforming the company into a hybrid affiliate network and B2B provider.
  • Catena Media: A radical shift towards CPA with €10.6 million accounting for 91% of revenue, while RevShare contributed just €0.82 million. Focus on instant NDC monetization aligns with the company's strategy of reducing risks.

RevShare remains the foundational component of profitability, but it suffers the most from volatility in sports outcomes and player behavior. Growth is being driven by CPA, subscription, and SaaS models, which offer more predictable cash flows.

Which Segments and Products Performed Best?

Segmentation by traffic sources and verticals illustrates the transition from pure SEO portals to combined media and platform models.

  • Better Collective: Self-owned sites and media generate €46.3 million (59% of revenue, -11% YoY), while paid traffic grows to €27.6 million (+11% YoY). Esports remains niche (€4.4 million, 6% of revenue) with a heavy tilt towards sponsorships.
  • Gentoo Media: SEO sites contribute €18.4 million (-21.7% YoY), paid traffic brings €4.3 million (-28.3% YoY). However, paid traffic delivers more NDC (56.6k vs 52.5k), raising questions about acquisition costs.
  • Gambling.com: Casino segment drops to $23.2 million (-7% YoY), while sports betting grows to $15 million (+116% YoY), effectively balancing the portfolio.
  • Catena: 85% of revenue comes from casinos in North America, with the majority coming from social sweepstakes projects.
  • Raketech: Focus on the "platform-first" approach and its own AffiliationCloud system, where SEO affiliate revenue in the network increased by 80% YoY to €0.9 million, contrasting with declining PPC traffic.

Ultimately, the best performers are:

  • North American casino vertical
  • Sport products from Gambling.com (due to scaling in the US)
  • SaaS and network solutions, where affiliate companies act not just as publishers but as infrastructure providers for other affiliates.

iGaming GEOs: Where Are Profits Higher?

Data from reports clearly shows a shift towards North America and selected Tier 1 markets.

  • Better Collective: Strong dynamics observed in Brazil and North America, where the market doubled over the year and there is a transition from fixed payments to RevShare.
  • Gambling.com Group: North America contributes $19.8 million (51% of revenue, +55% YoY); UK & Ireland remain steady at $9.6 million (-2% YoY); Rest of Europe brings in $6.9 million (+5% YoY); Other regions weaken (-10% YoY).
  • Catena Media: 96% of revenue comes from North America; other regions are virtually negligible.
  • Raketech: Maximum concentration in Scandinavia accounts for €4.47 million (72% of revenue), while "rest of the world" falls by almost 78% YoY, highlighting the risk of geographic dependency.

North America solidifies itself as the main growth driver with high LTV and stable regulation. Brazil and parts of Latin America deliver mixed results: exceeding expectations for some (Better Collective) and being a major disappointment for others (Gentoo).

What is pressuring revenue? Despite local successes, almost all companies report a decline in NDC and margins.

Negative Factors:

  • Unfavorable Sport Results Harming RevShare: Both Better Collective and Gentoo note that poor sports outcomes negatively impact their revenue, attributing the drop to particularly successful performances by players.
  • Search Engine Volatility and Drop Sites Competition: Gambling.com complains about an influx of drop sites in SERP, forcing them to reduce annual revenue and EBITDA forecasts.
  • Decline in PPC Segment: At Raketech, paid traffic within the network is collapsing, while Gentoo sees reduced revenue from paid traffic despite higher NDC counts, indicating rising customer acquisition costs.
  • Regulatory Actions Targeting Key Sites & GEOs: The blocking of one of Matching Visions’ top projects by the ACMA regulator highlights just how fragile revenue can be, even for established players.
  • Systematic Decline in NDC: Better Collective saw a decrease of -29.6%; Gambling.com experienced a drop of -5.2%; Catena recorded a fall of -12%; and Raketech suffered a sharp decline of -63.5%. This indicates market saturation and increasing user acquisition costs across various markets.

At the same time, Q3 2025 set record revenues for several players and demonstrated which strategies are effective.

Positive Drivers of iGaming in 2025

Based on industry reports, several clear trends emerge:

  1. Shift from SEO Media to Platforms and SaaS: Affiliate companies are increasingly earning not only from their own projects but also as infrastructure providers, offering networks, SaaS solutions, and data platforms.
  2. Move Towards North America and Quality Casino Traffic: The United States and Canada become the core revenue drivers, while peripheral geographies and "the rest of the world" introduce instability and regulatory risks.​
  3. Increase in Traffic Costs and Declining NDC: Even with growing deposits (such as Gentoo's total player deposits reaching €195 million), the proportion converting into revenue and the number of new players stagnate or decline.
  4. Diversifying Away From Sports Dependency: Companies that pivot towards casinos, subscriptions, and B2B products perform more sustainably compared to those heavily reliant on seasonal football outcomes.
  5. Intensified Competitive Landscape: Battle for SERPs, drop domains, low-margin PPC affiliates, and stricter regulations render the classical "SEO portal + RevShare" model variable, necessitating additional revenue streams.

Overall, the iGaming affiliate market in Q3 2025 looks less like a collection of media sites and more like a layer of sophisticated infrastructure: platforms, networks, SaaS solutions, and hybrid models. Survival depends on the ability to simultaneously manage GEO risks, product matrices, and deal structures.