GPWA Times Magazine - Issue 25 - June 2013

As for why? It’s a good question, but it goes back to a vision I had four years ago to create a giant, all-encompassing event for our entire sector. Back then there was a gap in the market for a May event and I felt the industry needed an event that appealed to all parties in iGaming, from regulators and affiliates to opera- tors and suppliers. I wanted to ensure the content was the best available, the networking incomparable and the entire event free for everyone. Since then the event has evolved and we have learned a lot, particularly about host- ing B2B events, which is a completely dif- ferent beast in itself. This year though I think we have the right format, with the Super Show being an umbrella brand for seven events taking place under one roof. The B2B expo is still much smaller than the affiliate side but for the first time we are seeing lots of CEOs registering from the major operators and I am super ex- cited to see the vision we had become a reality after four years of really hard work. As Europe enters a more regulated en- vironment, what business concerns are you hearing from operators and suppli- ers? I am sure you are hearing the same thing, but it’s all about taxation and com- pliance. Long gone are the days when you can put up a site and watch the money roll in from both an operator and affiliate per- spective. The future to me will be made up of a number of super brands that are in each of the major European markets with dedicated teams in each region and then niche operators that focus on specific re- gions or markets. I think it’s still exciting and there is space still to make a lot of money, but these days it takes investment, a great management team and a lot of hard work. In your role as a magazine publisher and an event organizer, you sit at an interesting nexus between operators, affiliates and suppliers. What are three misconceptions about operators that affiliates have? And what are three mis- conceptions about affiliates that opera- tors have? This is something I get really frustrated about as one of the challenges we have had with the Super Show is to convince the B2B market that affiliates aren’t parasite geeks that are paid way too much and sit around at our events booz- ing and ogling promo girls. The fact is the affiliate market is made up of some of the smartest affiliate marketers and business people in the sector, and although our reputation is now a lot better there are still many misconceptions both about affiliates and what we get up to at the events, where everyone actually works ridiculously hard. A good example of this was in February at LAC, where I took a major gaming soft- ware provider around the event to intro- duce them to the affiliate market and the first thing they said was, “I was expect- ing everyone to be wearing flip flops and drinking beer!” This is a reputation we have to collectively change to ensure in- vestments flow down from the manage- ment into this acquisition channel and also so they understand affiliates are their partners and not a “necessary evil.” On the other side of the coin I think af- filiates often imagine the management teams as these evil people sitting on their thrones counting their money while work- ing out how to rip off or steal players from affiliates. I am sure on very rare occasions this is the case but for the vast majority of operators this isn’t reality. In my expe- rience, most operators value and respect the affiliate channel, but I think what has changed is they are looking more for part- nerships now where they can really maxi- mize the relationship. The key is communication and reputation, and a big part of that responsibility lies with us as a media channel. But also, as an industry, we are responsible for help- ing our sector grow by eradicating some of the stereotypes people have. As we enter a more regulated environ- ment – both in Europe and the U.S. – how do you envision the role of affiliates changing? Do you anticipate any chang- es to the basic business model we see today? I touched on this earlier but yes, I do see things changing. There will always be affiliate programs that will offer ridicu- lous rev shares or CPAs to stand out from the crowd but I think generally we will see many deals change from how they are done today. Affiliate programs are on the whole focusing on working with partners now, so this may mean less affiliates but in a much deeper relationship where the affiliates are seen as an extension of their marketing department. I think in the short term competition is still very high, at least in Europe, so we won’t see deals changing that much. But in the long term I think we will see less paid on CPAs and an expiry on rev share deals. The fact is iGaming has had a great run but in comparison to other sectors the deals done are hugely different and I believe in a regulated environment are on the whole not sustainable. I could well be wrong and hope I am, but the impression I get is the margins are already narrowing for operators so it cannot be long till these are pushed down the chain. What’s the toughest part of your job? I am a perfectionist and massively com- petitive and that means I work ridiculous hours and stupidly hard to grow iGaming Business and be the best so this is defi- nitely one of the hardest parts of my job. But if I were specific I would say the events – they are hugely stressful as you literally live and die on an event, and if you get it wrong there is nowhere to hide. In the buildup to an event and during I am liter- ally living on the edge, constantly check- ing registrations, the website, forums and Tricia Lines Hill, First Atlantic Commerce, Alex Pratt, Joe Gallagher, Gaming Consultant, and iGB’s Michael Caselli “I kind of fell into it” – An interview with Alex Pratt 35