Caledonian Publishing on Bettingpro.com's winning formula

A constant flow of new online sportsbooks in recent years has unsurprisingly given rise to a seemingly endless stream of sports betting affiliate sites flooding the market. As a result, even affiliate portals with a strong legacy brand and proven track record are finding the space more cutthroat today than ever before.

Bettingpro.com is one brand that appears to have stood the test of time better than most. Founded in 2009, the tipster site is the jewel in the crown of Caledonian Publishing, which in the last few years has steadily built up a growing empire of more than 100 affiliate portals – most recently the political betting site BetOnPolitics.co.uk launched in time for the UK General Election.

With more than 30 full-time staff – including an in-house product development team – at its disposal, Caledonian Publishing has laid strong foundations to ensure it maintains its success. EGR Marketing spoke to the firm’s editor, Neil Roarty, to find out more about the company’s strategy and where he sees the greatest opportunities for growth in the future.

EGR Marketing: Congratulations on placing again in this year’s EGR Power Affiliates list. How would you sum up Caledonian Publishing’s year?

Neil Roarty (NR): It has been another strong year for Bettingpro and it’s nice to be acknowledged in the EGR Power Affiliates. Following extensive user testing we redesigned the site both to freshen it up from an aesthetic point of view but also to add in a number of new features, including integrated race cards, odds comparison and bet slips. Readers can now come to Bettingpro.com, read previews by our expert tipsters and bet directly from the site, which is great for user experience. Of course all of the new features are fully optimised for mobile and tablets as well.

EGR Marketing: What has been your main focus over the past 12 months?

NR: The site redesign has obviously been a major focus over the past 12 months but that is only a small part of a broader focus on our readers. We’ve spoken to our various sporting communities and found out what they are looking for from a sports betting website and have tailored both our content and our features towards that. We now have industry news, expert previews and more tips than ever.

We have expanded our team of writers and we are now providing more in-depth coverage of more sporting events to what we believe is as high a standard as anywhere else online. We’re also offering more in the way of ‘quick tips’ via our Daily Tips sections as well as working with bookmakers to provide the kind of tailored bets and enhancements that customers actually want to back, rather than those the firms want to push.

EGR Marketing: How do you think the sports affiliate market has changed during this period?

NR: The affiliate market is more competitive than ever and the industry as a whole is benefiting from that. In the past decade the affiliate space has changed from one-man bands looking to exploit loopholes to well-capitalised listed companies. The negative side of this is that smaller affiliates are being priced out of the market but the upside is that those who have always been run in a professional manner are now working within a market that is recognised as important in the value chain.

Neil Roarty, editor at Bettingpro.com

EGR Marketing: How has Caledonian Publishing reacted to these trends?

NR: We’ve always positioned ourselves as being the most responsive, professional lead generation business and have always set our bar high comparing our production values to the best publishing houses in the world. We’ve always focused on providing a service and now we are reaping the benefits of some strong positions.

EGR Marketing: The UK gambling industry is facing a potential regulatory crackdown this year. Does this provide additional challenges or opportunities for affiliates?

NR: Increased regulation, like the increased competition, is something which we at Caledonian Publishing welcome. The industry as a whole has been much better at self-regulation over the past few years and the public perception is definitely changing. We’ve never worked with unlicensed operators or ones that we felt preyed on problem gamblers and have always looked to work with those that are providing entertainment and working within regulatory frameworks. That won’t ever change and we look forward to working even closer with our partners following each new regulatory change.

EGR Marketing: What do you look for when preparing to partner with new operators?

NR: Trust and reliability first and foremost. One thing that is not always taken into account by affiliates is that the operators you are promoting reflect back on you. You can’t send customers to operators who provide a bad service and then expect those customers to return to your sites, so it’s important to make sure you trust the brands you are promoting.

We work very closely with the firms we are promoting and have real-world relationships with all of our affiliate managers. We meet regularly and our communication lines are always open. We’ve spent years building these relationships and we trust the operators we work with and the operators trust us. Our best operator relationships span the affiliate team, the PR department and even the traders – by doing this we can continue to provide the service that our millions of customers enjoy.

EGR Marketing: How big is the Bettingpro team and how is it broadly structured?

NR: Bettingpro.com is the flagship brand of Caledonian Publishing, which is the parent company responsible for over 100 sites with over 30 full-time staff. The team has been expanding every year for the past decade and we now have employees in virtually every corner of the world. We have a core team of editors working across a number of sites and then full-time contributors who provide content across all verticals, including a dedicated social media and SEO team.

We also have numerous contributors who provide us with excellent content on either a daily, weekly or monthly basis. We’re adding new team members every week and it’s great to be involved with such a multinational company. On any given day you can be having conversations with people in Nigeria, Argentina and the Philippines and they get to chat to someone in sunny Scotland.

EGR Marketing: Are most of your products designed in-house?

NR: The whole operation would not exist without our in-house development team who have been with us for 10 years now. These guys have been responsible for the rapid expansion and growth of the company and they continue to help us launch many new sites every quarter. This ability to be reactive and to release new products to market, with very little turnaround time, is what has helped us to get where we are today and it’s something that we take great pride in.

The Caledonian Publishing team

EGR Marketing: Do you have plans to expand the team and what roles are you looking to hire for?

NR: We are always on the lookout for new writers and contributors, particularly those who also have a flair for social media. We’ve had some great recent success with some young, dynamic and hungry journalism students and graduates who we’ve given the opportunity to go to major sporting events, interview and fraternise with sports stars and just generally enjoy themselves while writing about something that they love. Anyone with passion is always welcome at Caledonian Publishing as, ultimately, we want to showcase passion for sports and betting and that’s what keeps readers interested.

EGR Marketing: How does the current wave of M&A in the market impact Bettingpro? Could you be in a position to do something similar in the future?

NR: The M&A activity means that there are now much bigger competitors, who have more resources – but this has been the trend for several years. Our constant expansion provides validation that we are good at what we do and so we are happy with our position in the market. Our strategy has always been to continue to expand our own business and every quarter we release new brands to the market.

EGR Marketing: What was your strategy for remaining competitive during Cheltenham and the Grand National?

NR: This year was our most successful Spring on record, which is quite extraordinary given the increased competition around both the Cheltenham Festival and the Grand National. The big newspaper brands such as The Sun are now entering the market but we’ve been building our positions for years and now have deep partnerships within the racing community that are now paying dividends.

EGR Marketing: Is racing an important part of Caledonian Publishing’s proposition?

NR: We have some great organic positions for some of our racing sites and the racingtips.com brand and associated social communities are now thriving. We have a very large racing following, spread across various different social media platforms, and this pays off come Festival season. This isn’t something which has happened by accident though and it’s a year-long job maintaining these sites and communities to ensure that we’re in prime positions for all of the major events.

EGR Marketing: Are the summer months tough when there is no World Cup or Euros?

NR: The summer months can be tough for some operators and affiliates when there is no major international football tournament but we have so many different properties that it is barely noticeable now. We have market-leading positions for horseracing, plus run the largest social communities for tennis, darts and snooker, with over 1.5 million followers on those three sports alone. These sports, as well as golf, basketball and NFL, have some big events over the summer months and so we’re kept pretty busy.

EGR Marketing: With this in mind, is the summer the perfect opportunity for sports affiliates to assess their strategy?

NR: As I said, there’s still plenty going on and there isn’t necessarily a period where you can simply down tools and take a break. Instead, we’re always looking to assess our strategy and we have regular team meetings, which are now being held all around the world to discuss our strategy.

EGR Marketing: Although sports betting is still your bread and butter, how important has the casino side of the business become?

NR: We have always had a casino offering on Bettingpro.com but our main priority was cross-selling sports traffic, which has proven to be very successful over the years. However, we recognise how profitable ‘pure’ casino traffic is and have recently set up various other properties for this reason. Both www.freespins.com and www.nodeposit.com are new sites that are already generating many players and this is something we’ll be looking to launch even more of in 2017.

EGR Marketing: As an affiliate, are you excited by the growth of esports betting?

NR: esports has been discussed to death in the affiliate sphere but, to be honest, I’m yet to be convinced. There is, of course, a massive opportunity for some dedicated esports affiliates but it’s a very tough market. That doesn’t mean that it should be ignored but it’s something that needs professional esports players and writers involved to make it work, particularly from the affiliate side.

EGR Marketing: Do you feel the same way about the opportunities for DFS in Europe? 

NR: I think that’s an area that’s going to prove tough for existing affiliates to move into. The games are already dominated by professional players and so it’s less appealing for casual punters. It works phenomenally well in the US because it’s a way for the average American to win money based on sports knowledge. We already have real-money sports betting in Europe and so it’s less appealing. Again, it’s a market that will work for some dedicated affiliates but perhaps not as well for more general ones.

EGR Marketing: Do you have any plans to launch new affiliate brands? Will these be predominantly sports or non-sports focused?

NR: We are always looking to expand and launch new brands every few weeks across all verticals. We have a number of exciting casino brands and some exciting new betting brands that have launched, such as footballaccumulators.com. Our network is over 100 sites strong and we can quickly get traffic to new brands by leveraging our large social presence.

EGR Marketing: Why doesn’t Bettingpro currently have a mobile app in the App Store? And do you expect this to change?

NR: Our focus has always been on our sites and making the user experience as strong as possible across all devices. That’s the number one priority for us, although we’re always open to new ideas and if we feel our customers would benefit from an app then we would release one.

EGR Marketing: Finally, how will your network look differently by the time of next year’s Power Affiliates?

NR: We will keep trying to up our game and will continue our strategy of launching new brands to provide entertainment and value for our readers and strong leads for our partners. So look out for new brands targeting new verticals and new geographies.