In the affiliate vertical of the gaming industry, opportunities and challenges both present themselves suddenly.
Yet for Adam Small, being ready for the moment when his affiliate businesses might become attractive acquisition targets for larger operators started long before those opportunities arrived.
Small, who founded and operates Third Planet Media today, talked to SBC Americas about his approach to building an affiliate and selling one as well in advance of his appearance at the upcoming SBC Summit Americas in Florida.
SBC Americas: How did you as a founder position your affiliates including PocketFives.com, USBets.com, NJOnlineGambling.com and PennBets.com to be acquired by Better Collective in 2019?
Adam Small: If you’re trying to get the company you’re building acquired, you need to be thinking about what buyers are looking for and how to present the value of your company in relation to what’s actually important to the prospective buyer. This is something that changes all the time, so it’s a factor of the moment you’re in and the buyer(s) you’re talking to.
In our case, we began our sale process less than a year after the Supreme Court decision. There were multiple publicly traded affiliates based in Europe that were trying to create or grow a footprint in North America. Particularly because they trade publicly, revenue and profitability are highly important in what kind of deals can get done. We had to frame everything around how much revenue and how many customers were coming through in the U.S. market they were trying to break into. We had search rankings and revenue that buyers wanted to acquire, but also plenty of potential upside when paired with a world-class affiliate operation at scale.
Put another way: We had content, customers and revenue that would’ve been hard for the buyers to earn organically, and they had the institutional knowledge and team to grow revenue and profitability. It was a great match.
I’d say that, however anyone gets into discussions about selling, the best way to position yourself is to make sure your strengths fill an area of need for a buyer. In turn, there’s a good case that the buyer can get as much or more value out of the business than you can on your own.
SBCA: What considerations went into the decision to sell when you did and what was most important to you about how you ultimately structured your deal with Better Collective?
Small: After the Supreme Court decision, it was clear there was going to be much more money flowing into the U.S. market, and that many large affiliates that had been mostly ignoring the regulated U.S. wouldn’t be doing so for much longer. Competition was about to get much tougher.
Additionally, publicly traded affiliates were paying very nice multiples on acquisitions, and they had a particular interest in getting strong assets in the US. So it was a good time to sell.
The tricky part was that at the time of the sale, we still weren’t realizing any online casino or sports betting affiliate revenue outside of New Jersey. Pennsylvania would launch later in 2019, and many other states would soon follow, but at the time we just had a bunch in New Jersey. In order to capture some of the upside that was on the way in the ensuing years, we agreed to an earnout period of about 2.5 years. This gave us an opportunity to continue to grow and stay aligned with the business through the end of 2021, and ended up working out great for us.
Additionally, because we understood Better Collective was planning to make more U.S.-facing acquisitions and neither they nor we wanted them restricted from having assets outside our portfolio that were competing for some of the same traffic, we had to work in some provisions to protect us from internal competition. It took a while, but in the end, we were able to work out a deal that ended up being very positive for both sides.
SBCA: How do you approach CPA vs. revenue share decisions with your operator partners? How have those discussions evolved over time?
Small: I’ve always believed CPA was the right choice most of the time, with certain exceptions. As an affiliate, if you’re sending consistent high volume and are able to negotiate well-protected legal agreements with high-potential partners, revenue share may make more sense for the long term. CPA is a great option to maintain business flexibility and also to get consistent cash flow. And it doesn’t require you, as an affiliate, to evaluate the long-term viability and upside of the operator itself. You can focus on the important job you do have – acquiring players for your partners.
SBCA: What advice would you give to a founder trying to succeed in the US business today?
Small: Make sure whatever you’re creating is unique, and indispensable to your partners. And try not to depend too much on any particular source of traffic. Whether it’s social media, search, paid media, Reddit, YouTube … If you’re too heavily dependent on a particular algorithm treating your content favorably, you’re at a lot of risk.
Try to create products that people will use, talk about, share with their peers and just generally love, and from there you will usually find a way.
Adam Small will be speaking at SBC Summit Americas 2026 on the Masterclass panel ‘What Gets Funded and What Gets Bought — Inside the Minds of Investors and Operators‘.
Small and fellow panelists Derrick Gyamfi, Director of Tech & Innovation at MGM Resorts International, and Meredith McPherson, CEO & Managing Partner of DRIVE by DraftKings, will speak with moderator and Defy The Odds Co-Founder Sue Schneider about go-to-market strategy for venture capitalists, what’s getting funded in gaming and sports technology, how operators are spending, what it takes for a startup to survive, and more.
SBC Summit Americas 2026 will take place at the Broward County Convention Center in Fort Lauderdale from June 9-11 and host 10,000 delegates focused on the U.S. and Latin American betting and gaming markets. Operators and affiliates are eligible for a free VIP Pass, granting you full access to all conference sessions, the show floor, and our exclusive evening networking events.
