Bet Big, Win Big: Your Powerful Guide to Sports and Esports Betting Affiliates

Jamie Larson

Apr 25, 2025 — 6 min read

Right now, Betting is one of the most solid verticals in Affiliate Marketing known for steady profits and continuous demand. No matter if classic sports or emerging esports, the betting niche is stable and brings plenty of business opportunities to affiliates. In this guide we will give sports and esport betting definitions, more GEOs, and how to create a successful campaign on platforms like Offer.one.

What is Betting?

Affiliate marketing betting involves marketing online sportsbooks and gaming platforms. In this business model affiliates are paid commissions, either CPA or RevShare, for each registration and every deposit made through their promotional efforts. People love to bet on sports and games all year round and so it is a stable one.

Bettors are always present since there are usually football matches, cricket tournaments or esports championships. So long as there is money to win (the event and the contest), there is an audience primed to lay a bet. This keeps affiliates from consistent ongoing opportunities with regular traffic and conversions for nice running betting campaigns. Platforms like Offer.one streamline this process, offering affiliates curated betting offers that convert effectively.

Sports vs Esports Betting

The betting affiliate includes traditional sports betting and the newer esports betting but they work in different jungles and attract different crowds. Below are explained how each vertical works and for whom they are.

Sports Betting

Sports betting has a deep well with many fans. Today most of the bets are located online on popular sports like football, basketball, cricket, tennis, etc.

Sports betting has a broad audience, especially males between their late 20s to mid 40s. These bettors are true sports fans, passing each day by betting on outcomes, which adds some spice to the games. And the most loyal are those that stick to their favorite sportsbooks; especially if they supply great odds and bonuses.

Sports gambling has a long history and is legal in most jurisdictions (for instance, the UK has strict gambling laws as you would expect). This implies that affiliates may have to abide by local advertising rules, but more importantly that the market is stable, used to and trusted by the audience.

Esports Betting

Esports betting is a type of betting on a competitive video game match, such as League of Legends, Counter-Strike, Dota 2, etc. Global eSports viewership and betting interest are skyrocketing, and an audience that will be in the hundred of millions is coming fast. So, the demographics here tend to be younger and tech savvy, (sometimes the gamers themselves). This means they follow matches in streaming platforms and are on online gaming communities.

While it is the same general betting experience as sports, this crowd might also bet in newer ways, such as through using in-game items or ‘skin betting,’ a piece of the gaming culture. Esports betting represents a new market for affiliates to get into. But marketing to this cohort is different – more gaming references, memes and social media engagement, in order to really engage with these users.

Key GEOs for Betting

High interest and good market conditions, which lead to performing GEOs type, are more or less facilitated by certain geographic regions (“GEOs”). Here are some top-performing GEOs:

Sports betting: Brazil, India, UK (United Kingdom) large sports loving populace and developing online bet market. For instance, Brazil accounts for almost 25% of the global online betting market, with football being a dominant sport for wagers.
Esports betting: Southeast Asia (SEA), Nordic countries, CIS region – regions with high esports engagement and strong interest in online betting.

(GEO tip: Always research local regulations. Campaigns are run in different ways in some countries due to their strict gambling laws and we set up other countries to be more relaxed of course.)

How to Create a Successful Campaign

Now let’s walk through four actionable steps to build a winning sports or esports betting affiliate campaign:

Step 1: Choosing Offers & GEOs

Choose an offer that suits your traffic source and target region. Assuming the betting advertiser is accepting your traffic type (e.g. push or native ads and vice versa) and if online betting ads are being allowed in your country (or many countries) then go ahead … For quick returns, it is wise to start with CPA offers (a fixed payout per sign up or deposit). RevShare deals (revenue share) may pay more over time, but you have to wait and have the volume for it, as you make one payout per bet.

Then you need to choose a GEO to run your campaign based on your budget and experience. If you want more competition, and higher ad costs, you can aim for higher payouts but targeting the Tier-1 markets such as UK or Western Europe, otherwise opt for the more affordable Tier-3 with cheaper traffic and lots of it. Often, the latter is a good strategy for beginners to learn and test without a huge budget. Also, focus on good brands, a well known sportsbook is usually more likely to convert.

Step 2: Analyze Your Audience

Know exactly who your potential bettors are so you can make sure that in whatever you do, you are speaking to them. Examples include demographics such as age, gender, income, interests and online behavior. Sports betting also appeals to men aged 25-45 who are sports lovers, esports betting appeals to that same range of demographics in their late teens to 30s that enjoy gaming culture.

These groups have different triggers. Ads for forthcoming games or their favorite team may be of interest to sports fans while ads about the most famous game characters or esports memes would be of interest to gamers.

Find out where they are spending time online: sports news sites and fantasy league forums for the first; Twitter feeds, Twitch broadcasts or Discord channels for the other. More adverts and content is more likely to convert if it is more relevant to your target audience’s interests and language.

Step 3: Selecting Ad Creatives

To pull in clicks, try and use engaging creatives that will work with your bettors. Betting vertical has the number of affiliates with success with push notifications ads because they appear on users’ devices and are hard to miss. But a small number of creative approaches do very well in push campaigns:

WOW-push: Create that shocking notice to get attention such as a false “Big Winner!” or a message like “You won’t believe this $10,000 jackpot story…” This is how this method encourages curiosity, FOMO and brings in new users.
Event push: A campaign involving the massive lift of a real sporting event or esports contest. There are immediately images like ‘Championship Final tonight: Bet on Team A vs Team B’ with team logos or star players. They rely on tapping into people’s enthusiasm that already exists.
General bonus push: It is a wide ad that has a nice desirable offer like “Sign up now and get a 100% bonus on your first deposit!” or “New player exclusive free bet”. This attracts bargain hunters and people on the hunt for the ultimate bargain.

The writing has to be clear and interesting regardless of the style to choose. Make use of the sports icons, team outfits and the game figures, and also integrate a very clear call to action such as “Bet Now” or “Claim Bonus.” When someone sees your ad, you want them to think right away, "This is about something I'm interested in."

Step 4: Analyze and Optimize

Keep an eye on the statistics and tweak your strategy after your campaign is live. Keep tabs on important indicators like CTR, conversion rate, and return on investment. Find out what's working and what isn't using these measurements.

For instance, try a different title or picture to make your ad more appealing if your CTR is low. If you're seeing a lot of clicks but not many conversions, it might be because your landing page isn't compelling enough or because your offer isn't meeting consumers' expectations.

Never stop testing! See what works best by doing A/B tests on various creatives, experimenting with different times of day to target, and even trying out new offers. What works can be scaled up, and what doesn't may be adjusted or eliminated. The success and ROI of your campaign may be enhanced by repeated iterations in this manner.

Conclusion

If it is done right, sports and esport betting can be a rich, green affiliate marketing niche. Know who your demographic and your niche are and know the offers you want to promote in the GEOs in which you should, employ creatives that resonate with bettors and optimize each depending on the outcomes. These are the steps to become a big winner as an affiliate.

Ready to begin? High converting’s sports and esports CPA offering are available on offer.one. Offer.one is considered the premier affiliate network, as it provides the most betting offers and all of the tools and support you will need to succeed. If you want to start your profitable betting affiliate program then check out Offer.one!