How we pick affiliate partners (and why DACH stays sportsbook-free).

Why we run affiliates at all

tiptilldone stays free in the Free tier. The Founder tier (€99 one-time, 100 spots) and Premium (€19 per tournament) fund the product — but not the reach, the WC26-weeks server costs, or the translations into five languages.

Affiliate commissions are our third lever. If someone signs up for DAZN through us, buys a World Cup jersey, or books a Mexico City hotel, we get a cut from the partner. The price for the user stays the same.

Three rules everything hangs on

1. Locale route decides. On /de/, /at/, and /sl/ we link zero sportsbook operators. Not one, not subtly, never. On /en/, /es/, and /pt-br/ we add licensed sportsbook operators (FanDuel, bet365, Betano) — but always with the "Ad" label and a link to our Responsible Gambling page.

2. 80/20 ratio. No more than 20% of any page's surface is affiliate. The rest is content, picks, data. If you want an affiliate link farm, go to a comparator site. We're building a tipping game with honest affiliate accompaniment.

3. Clearly labeled, always. Every affiliate link carries "Ad" right next to the link itself. Not in the footer, not in a collapsed disclaimer — inline, per German § 5a UWG and US FTC 16 CFR Part 255. The Bamberg Regional Court reaffirmed the inline-disclosure standard in March 2026.

Why DACH stays sportsbook-free

Three reasons that all stack:

• Legal. Germany's GlüStV 2021 bans RevShare affiliate models for sportsbooks. The GGL (Joint Gambling Authority) classified Polymarket as illegal gambling in September 2025 — the line is drawn.
• Brand position. We compete with Kicktipp. Kicktipp's home audience knows for 18 years: nobody bets here, you tip here. If a bet365 banner blinks under our WC tip, we're a different product — not a better one.
• Brand-safe partners. Sky.de and kicker.de — both partners we're actively pitching — do not want their logos next to sportsbook banners. "We don't take betting money on our DACH routes" isn't a sacrifice for us. It's a sales pitch.

Why non-DACH gets the inclusion

Different markets, different reality. In the US, FanDuel and DraftKings are regulated, licensed, and standard in many states. In Brazil, the sportsbook market was newly regulated in 2024–2025; Betano and KTO actively court WC26 publishers. In the UK, bet365 has been part of football culture for two decades. Our users on /en/, /es/, /pt-br/ know this. Refusing them access they already have would be paternalistic.

What we do instead: pick licensed partners (Pixbet, for example, is out — they defaulted on affiliate payouts in 2023). Label every link "Ad". Geo-block in the redirect handler — a German IP that somehow clicks a sportsbook link lands on our Responsible Gambling page, not at the operator.

What's next

Next week (May 26 – June 1) we apply to the big networks (Awin, Impact, Belboon, Travelpayouts) and to the sportsbook programs for UK/US/BR. Half of them approve in 48 hours. The rest we'll have settled before the World Cup kicks off on June 11.

As soon as the first partners go live, we list them on the Sponsors page. Affiliate partners and sponsors are two different channels, but both deserve public documentation. Transparency is our cheapest marketing.

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