When it comes to
marketing on behalf of online casinos and gaming sites, much of this is carried
out by independent affiliates. Knowing this all too well are affiliate marketing
agencies like FreeSI, who recently announced they are considering setting up a
new promotional strategy in which professional poker players will help to drive
traffic to FreeSI's top performing affiliate websites.
In what would be the
first marketing deal of its kind in the online gambling industry, FreeSI is
still yet to have finalized anything. The possibilities are looking good,
however, according to FreeSI Vice President, Larry Rothchild. The company has
already began initial discussions with a handful of unnamed poker pros. The
idea, says Rothchild, is to have the pros wearing hats and shirts with the
affiliates logos printed on them. Up to four or five affiliates will be
represented by each poker pro, while the logos themselves will be rotated to to
give them an equal amount of exposure.
In addition to this
innovative way of sending more traffic to FreeSI's network of
online poker
rooms, FreeSI is encouraging their affiliates by offering them a chance to
qualify for the World Series of Poker main event, kicking off on July 6 and
wrapping up eleven days later on the 17th. 150 of FreeSi's best performing
affiliates will get to take the trip to the Rio Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas,
for which FreeSI will be covering the costs, as well as the $10,000 buy-in for
anyone skilled and lucky enough to qualify for this multi-million dollar
tournament.
It certainly shall be
interesting to see how FreeSI's proposed marketing scheme with poker
professionals pans out. Ever since the passing of the Unlawful Internet Gambling
Enforcement Act, there has been a growing apprehension toward U.S. focused
online gambling advertisements. Considering that FreeSI is avoiding the
traditional ".com" or ".net" advertising, and is speaking about the use of
logos, perhaps they are seeking to avoid the use of url's, thereby finding a
safe and indirect way for affiliate sites to gain widespread television coverage
during the WSOP.
