Gambling.com Group partners with Gannett in national content deal

Gannett and US Today logos on a sign
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Gambling.com Group has added another asset to its list of partner publications, and it is its biggest one yet.

The affiliate company has partnered with Gannett in a multi-year strategic partnership for both sports betting and online casino content. Gannett’s portfolio of publications includes a wide range of local outlets in 43 states as well as USA TODAY. Additionally, the company owns Sports Media Group, which includes Sports Wire and its associated sites.

“I think it’s bound to be the biggest media partnership that any affiliate has entered into given the sheer scale of Gannett assets and the power of their most powerful assets. So we’re over the moon about this,” Gambling.com Group CEO Charles Gillespie told SBC Americas.

“Our approach to these media partnerships has been more about doing big deals with big media groups, not individual newspapers like some of our peers have done so. We just think it’s a more elegant way to go about it. And now that we’ve bagged the elephant where we hope to show the proof in the pudding in the next couple of quarters.”

Gambling.com Group inked a deal with Gannett rival McClatchy in January 2022. Like the McClatchy partnership, the deal with Gannett will utilize several local publications in sports betting states, such as AZ Central, The Tennessean, and Freep.com.

“Partnering with Gambling.com Group enables Gannett to have a market-leading, sports-betting authority deliver in-depth reviews, breaking news, and expert insights. Our highly engaged audience of more than 47 million sports fans crave analysis and betting insights to make smart decisions and find the best sportsbooks and online casino sites,” said Michael Reed, Gannett Chairman and Chief Executive Officer. “We expect this partnership to be immediately accretive to our EBITDA and Free Cash Flow by monetizing our sports traffic. The deal is progressively more valuable as regulated online gambling is launched in more states.”

Gannett also has an existing deal with Tipico Sportsbook dating back to July 2021. The two groups revised that agreement last summer, limiting the exclusivity of the sportsbook’s deal to a few specific states and opening up the opportunity for Gannett to work with other groups.

Gillespie confirmed the Gambling.com Group deal with Gannett would respect Tipico’s exclusivity in given states, but also reiterated that the two companies are offering Gannett different things.

“We’re going to be doing what we do, which is providing great content and lots of affiliate-oriented content,” he said. Tipico, on the other hand, structured its deal around being an odds provider and free-to-play games.