Hello everyone,
Responding to this thread, I would like to express our apologies on behalf of Score Affiliates for the abrupt and sudden loss of business this move has caused our affiliates. Yes Bryan is right, the Score Affiliates Team has contacted all affected affiliates and is actively discussing how to mitigate the negative impact this decision has on their business continuity and revenues. As discussed previously, we were advised to avoid any direct or indirect US commercial activity that might be used against Ladbrokes in any potential future US business ventures. Unfortunately, this explicitly included affiliates and other marketing partners based in, or with bank accounts in the US, regardless of them marketing towards the US or not.
All of you are more than welcome to contact your affiliate manager or
affiliatequeries@ladbrokes.co.uk, we are happy to discuss each case separately.
Regards,
Liva
Score Affiliates
by
Ladbrokes
I see no reason why US affiliates can't simply sell on to no US affiliates. This would serve the purpose of removing all ties between Ladbrokes and the US. It seems this was not JUST about severing ties with the US, but "confiscating" good revenue generating affiliate streams by ensuring only a 2 week window was available between notification and completion of sale. It seems a few of the bigger affiliates were able to dodge this particular bullet by switching the Ladbrokes side to their non-US subsidiaries, which could be done simply by logging in and specifying a non-US company or bank account.
Most affiliates are not that big, and would need to sell out to a non-US entity, or even partner with one as suggested by Bryan. The ONLY real difference is that rather than "confiscation", Ladbrokes would still be paying commission on those players until they ceased playing.
The whole idea seems illogical, as it implies you can have NOTHING in the way of products and services from the US, whether or not it relates to gambling. Well, you had better ditch MGS then, as the software is tied into Internet Explorer (lobby plugin), a product made by a US company. Back office had better switch to Linux too, as Windows and OS (Apple) are the products of a US company.
It doesn't end there either. There are a whole bunch of EU countries that have now banned offshore companies from offering gambling services following the US moves, so by the same argument based on the same legal advice, many other affiliates had better get their exit strategy sorted so that they can act within 2 weeks of any formal notice.
What the legal team has failed to assess is the risk of being made a pariah among the various affiliate collectives, and thus ending up on blacklists alongside Grand Prive.
It seems affiliates are under attack from all angles, and those that play by the rules are going to suffer the most. Maybe it is this pressure that has caused so many to resort to spamming and other dodgy tactics in order to survive. It is the same in any sales driven structure, unrealistic targets that have to be achieved just to survive creates a culture where the rulebook is kicked to the curb, and anything that works, no matter how dodgy, is used. The fallout from this type of culture comes much later, just ask any UK bank