In a few weeks’ time, Betfair will shut up shop on its affiliate operations across the UK and Ireland – a decision that might seem like a small detail in the grand scheme of iGaming, but one that actually speaks volumes about where the industry is heading.
From 1 July 2025, Betfair will officially cease all affiliate marketing activities targeting the UK and Ireland. That means no more affiliate-driven traffic, no more partner placements, and a complete removal of related services from Betfair.com. The reasoning? It is in response to “a series of changes to the UKI market and an increasingly complex regulatory landscape”.
In other words, it’s just not worth it anymore.
This isn’t just about one brand deciding to call it quits. It’s a sign of a bigger shift that’s sweeping through the affiliate world – a world that’s becoming harder to navigate, more expensive to operate in, and frankly, a lot less predictable than it used to be.
Wider industry changes
For a brand as large as Betfair, the decision came as quite a surprise to the industry. This is a company that is not only one of the most recognisable names in the industry, but is one that has also heavily relied on affiliate traffic to fuel its growth in the early years. To walk away now is not a decision made lightly. It’s the result of mounting pressure from every angle.
But perhaps it’s not so surprising when you look at the bigger picture.
Over the last few years, we’ve seen the affiliate industry undergo far-reaching changes. The rules around advertising, player targeting, and responsible gambling have tightened. Regulations have become more detailed, more demanding and, crucially, more expensive to comply with.
For Betfair, the numbers tell their own story. The closure of its affiliate programme comes at a time when its parent company, Flutter Entertainment, is continuing to ramp up its investment in compliance and safer gambling initiatives.
In fact, the operator group has already committed more than €100 million annually to safer gambling initiatives since 2022. That investment reflects a clear regulatory shift, one that increasingly demands not just compliance, but demonstrable proactivity.
And while this investment has undoubtedly helped position Flutter as a leader in responsible gambling across its core markets of the UK and Ireland, it has come at a cost. In 2022 alone, regulatory changes shaved around £160 million from Flutter’s Adjusted EBITDA.
For Betfair, pulling out of the affiliate space in these two markets is about refining its focus. It’s about putting resources where they can be most effective and about stepping away from areas where the risk-reward balance no longer makes sense.
These ongoing shifts continue to deliver punch after punch to the affiliate industry. For years, affiliates have played an integral role in digital acquisition, often able to reach players in a way that traditional marketing campaigns could not. But as regulations have tightened, even the affiliate model has come under strain.
Now, it’s not just about how well you can convert clicks. It’s about how well you can demonstrate that you are compliant with different regulations across a range of markets. Can you show exactly where your traffic is coming from? Can you guarantee that your messaging aligns with safer gambling guidelines? Can you afford the legal oversight and documentation that operators are now demanding?
These aren’t small asks. And for smaller affiliates in particular, meeting them isn’t just difficult. It can be make-or-break.
A new landscape
Betfair isn’t the only major brand that will make this kind of move, and it most certainly won’t be the last either. If this trend of tightening regulations continues, then we’ll likely see many other brands pack up.
For those affiliates who rely on a handful of large partners or single-market strategies, they may soon find themselves exposed to the challenges posed by compliance. That means diversifying across geographies, exploring new verticals, finding smarter ways to monetise traffic and investing in the kind of compliance infrastructure that regulators now expect as standard.
It also means rethinking how marketing and compliance work together. These aren’t separate departments anymore. Every campaign, every call to action and every piece of copy now needs to be looked at through the lens of both creative strategy and regulatory risk.
Meanwhile for operators, this should be a moment to pause and reassess their strategy. How much of the acquisition model relies on third parties? How much control do brands really have over the player journey? And are they prepared for a future where every affiliate that they work with could carry regulatory risk?
Of course, the closure of Betfair’s UK and Irish affiliate programme isn’t the end of gambling affiliation in these two markets. Far from it. But it is the end of a chapter where brands can rely on affiliates to drive growth.
In the short term, many affiliates will feel the sting. Some will lose a valued partner, others may be forced to reconsider their entire strategy. But longer term, this could be the push the industry needs to evolve their player acquisition plans.
If nothing else, Betfair’s decision should remind us all that the affiliate industry cannot afford to stand still. The cost of compliance may be high, but the cost of inaction is far higher.
