The Challenge

Before Bet-Tenders became a leading name in the affiliate sports betting world, founder Jimmy Zalcman received an investment to start a business in sports betting, but needed support to take his concept and turn it into a revenue-generating operation. 

Jimmy came to XCLSV looking for marketing support and business consulting services to get his idea to market, which resulted in a years-long engagement of hands-on work as an integral part of the Bet-Tenders team.

1 %
conversion rate
1 +
Contractors hired and trained
$ 1 M
In Annual Revenue

Step 1: Finding the Right Niche

We began our work by performing in-depth market research to discover opportunities in the sports betting market, and project the financial opportunities of each. Understanding our end goal was a successful exit, we focused on segments within the market that have seen similar outcomes and settled on an affiliate model. 

We quickly found ourselves competing with some of the world’s biggest sports betting affiliate sites for market share, so decided to add a twist to our model. Instead of fighting for audiences online, why not bring sports betting to bars that already aggregate some of the biggest sports fans – the Bet-Tender concept was born. 

Step 2: Innovate and Expand

To bring this vision to life, we took a direct role within Bet-Tenders as not only business consultant, but brand engineers and team management specialists. We designed the companies values and hired the Bet-Tenders across 7 states. This required designing and implementing systems for growth, working directly with affiliate partners, managing spend and providing ongoing business development support as needed. 

We weren’t just an extension of the Bet-Tenders team, we were the team that helped Jimmy get his business off the ground and present in venues all across the country, including in Ohio, Arizona, Illinois, New Jersey, Indiana, and more. We built the Bet-Tenders culture from scratch and ensured all aspects of the business were aligned with its brand vision and mission. 

Step 3: Build for Future Opportunities

By the end of our partnership with Bet-Tenders, they had become a licensed affiliate with gambling commissions across the country and an accredited partner of the biggest sportsbooks in the world.

As we phased out of our role at Bet-Tenders, the company was generating a $3 million dollars in revenue per year, and brought in thousands of new sports betters to their affiliate partners. Bet-Tenders became a formidable presence in the industry, being one of the only profitable affiliate companies in the market.

Results

Using our expansive network with the major sports organizations like the NFL and the NBA and our contacts with leading sports gambling platforms like DraftKings, BetMGM, and FanDuel, Jimmy was able to use the learnings and capital from this affiliate business to expand his prowess in the industry by discovering new opportunities in sports betting. 

Given the nuances and ever-changing nature of the industry, Jimmy was able to leverage our expertise in the market to bring his product to market and scale operations successfully in a way that no other competitors were able to.