One of the fastest-growing affiliates in the space, OneTwenty Group has taken huge strides in recent years, acquiring Catena Media’s entire UK and Australian businesses and expanding into global geos. In this exclusive interview, we speak to CEO Chris Russell about growing a fandom business, building creative products beyond traditional affiliation and what a positive work culture means for the group.
Before entering the igaming space, Chris Russell worked for multiple tech companies selling advertisements. With an entrepreneurial spirit, he eventually realised the potential of comparison sites for their straightforward format and profitability. He launched Thimba Media in 2016, initially as a paid media business primarily based on arbitrage plays.
“The downside of that is, you are going to constantly pay more for every lead on that side. Therefore, you’ve got to pivot the business into something with a higher margin that’s more sustainable,” he says.
Russell then adopted a “buy and build” approach, focusing on refining the product qualities of the acquired sites. Around 2023, he rebranded the company as OneTwenty Group, a name that reflects both his ethos and ambition: giving 120% to everything he does, with the goal of growing into a super affiliate valued at over $120 million.
You’ve got to pivot the business into something with a higher margin that’s more sustainable
Today’s OneTwenty Group is not far away from Russell’s original blueprint. Under its umbrella is a long list of sports betting and casino comparison sites including Squawka, the legendary football brand with over three million followers across its social channels. Arguably one of the biggest private affiliate businesses, it reports an impressive EBITDA margin of over 30%, with revenue up 46% year-on-year. Having stepped out of its Waterford hometown, the company has expanded to global locations including the UK, Australia, Serbia, the Netherlands and South Africa.
Fans take the lead
During the M&A spree over the past five years, OneTwenty Group has absorbed Catena Media’s UK and Australian brands, as well as the igaming customer acquisition business Seven Star Digital. Recently, however, Russell has begun to question his old approach, concerned about the disruptions unleashed by Google Updates and the AI revolution.
“The publishing space was static for 15 years, then all of a sudden, everything’s changed in the last 12 months. The technological side has accelerated so much that for the first time, we are unsure about where to go next. So we have backed off from M&A,” Russell says.
The only thing he’s certain of is that OneTwenty Group is giving 120% effort to building a “fandom business”. Beyond de-risking from Google, Russell believes audience-focused brands “truly deserve to be in the world” because they offer a better user experience – he’s already retired any assets that can’t speak to their audiences.
Long gone are the days when you could just launch an aggregator site for the sake of launching
Russell stresses the importance of leveraging brand identity differences to attract users. The Squawka brand, for example, has a social media savvy young audience base, meaning that content creation on TikTok, Instagram and YouTube should be prioritised. In contrast, horse racing audiences tend to be older, making traditional search and Google News the more effective channels.
“Long gone are the days when you could just launch an aggregator site for the sake of launching because there’s no more ranking. Unless you have something interesting to offer to connect with end users, you will die very fast,” he notes.
Pokémon trainer
When Catena Media offloaded Squawka to the group in 2023, Russell was frustrated to find that barely 1% of users were being commercialised through affiliation. But what if there were other ways to monetise that audience?
E-commerce might be the answer. Last year, Russell bought a Pokémon trading card business to learn how to run an online store for high-value collectables. This enabled him to launch a shop on the Squawka site offering Panini Premier League cards and tap into the related interests of the brand’s community base.
“We’ll probably continue to scale e-commerce on Squawka, and probably on Live Darts, too,” he says. “Because naturally, there are months in a year when betting for the world championship isn’t the focus. But during that time, people still want to play and engage in darts. So the question is: can we keep them engaged year-round? That’s the direction we’re exploring.”
AI could unlock another opportunity. Established in 2012, Squawka was once a stats-focused brand with a dedicated mathematician team before it shifted to a pure affiliation model. Russell now aims to bring it back to its roots, using AI to build products and optimise social media content – something the founding team couldn’t achieve a decade ago.
“Our CTO doesn’t really focus on the day-to-day business anymore. His entire job now is to productise the business using AI. For example, if we wanted to build a tipster tool before, it might’ve taken three months. Now it takes a week, max. That means we can build and scale products really quickly and effectively.”
Our CTO’s entire job now is to productise the business using AI
Not in the gold rush
Russell’s core principle for a healthy affiliate business is that no more than 15% of revenue should come from a single asset. Last year, OneTwenty Group expanded into the Netherlands ahead of the Euros 2024 and entered Brazil with the launch of bettingodds.com/br/.
That said, Russell sees the most promise in regulated, mature markets that others tend to overlook, with the UK and Australia being his favourites for their stability. Having sold off all US assets, he agrees with many peers who say the US market is “incredibly difficult to scale into”.
“I think you need a very deep pocket and a very good product to stay in the market,” he says. “Gambling.com’s acquisition of OddsJam is a good example, because they bought an actual product, not just a publishing business that comes and goes. Audiences have a reason to engage with it, so you don’t need to overthink about Google Updates.”
I think you need a very deep pocket and a very good product to stay in the US market
Decentralised leadership
The camera-shy CEO who leaves his LinkedIn profile photo blank is also a thoughtful boss. OneTwenty Group consists of teams from Catena Media, Seven Star Digital and Moneta Communications, each bringing a unique background and way of working. The biggest challenge so far, Russell says, has been uniting brand identities. To help his teams bond, he took them on a week-long ski trip last year and “had a lot of fun”.
“When you bond on a personal level, people really start to work together and synergise,” he says. “And what does that mean for us? The business is much more profitable now that we’ve put them all together, probably a hundred percent more profitable than when they were separate.”
No micromanagement is key to the group’s restructuring success. Russell says OneTwenty is built on a decentralised leadership model that gives teams the autonomy to make their own decisions. He describes himself more as a mentor than a watchful supervisor.
With a headcount of 75, Russell has no plans to grow the team this year. Both he and CTO Jakub Pieczonka prefer keeping things lean, believing that with AI, automation and positive work culture, they can achieve “the capability of 1000 people”.
One thing that won’t change is Russell’s commitment to his apprenticeship scheme, which he’s now run for six cohorts to “give back to the local community”. Each year, he takes in two young people fresh out of high school, funds their tuition and offers them real work experience. Though he never intended it to be a monetary investment, the scheme has proven “super rewarding” and has made a “massive impact” on the business.
“About half of the people who’ve gone through it are still working with us, and the others have either gone into further education or are pursuing careers in related fields,” he says. “It turns out to be a profitable venture as well as doing a good thing.”
In 2025, Russell will keep focusing on growing audience engagement, particularly in the UK market. He doesn’t have a set EBITDA target yet, but believes everything will naturally fall into place once the fandom is thriving. Above all, he will continue to dedicate 120% of his passion to OneTwenty Group, driving innovation in the igaming space.