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Sportsbook Affiliate Application Checklist (Zero-Budget Revision 2026-04-21)

All sportsbook affiliate programs are FREE to apply. No affiliate program charges upfront. Affiliates only take a cut of (or pay CPA on) referred depositing players. This aligns 100% with the zero-budget policy.

Cost of this entire phase: $0

Until we drive traffic into states that require affiliate registration (Colorado $350 is the lowest), there is no cash outlay. Skip CO + NJ affiliate licenses until at least one sportsbook approves us AND we actually drive traffic to that state.

Prerequisites (all already being set up for free)

  • NuroPicks LLC (filed 2026-04-20, confirmation expected 2026-04-22 to 2026-04-23)
  • EIN (apply once LLC confirmed, FREE via irs.gov)
  • Mercury business bank (FREE)
  • nuropicks.com live site (already shipped)
  • Traffic demo (Discord member count + X followers + content history; we already have this)
  • hello@nuropicks.com email (FREE via Cloudflare Email Routing)

Chrome MCP-driven application sequence

Once LLC + EIN are in hand (2026-04-23 expected), use Chrome MCP to walk through:

Priority 1 - apply this week

  1. DraftKings (draftkings.com/affiliates or email affiliates@draftkings.com)

    • Fill: LLC name, EIN, Mercury routing, nuropicks.com, Discord invite, X profile
    • Expect: $100-$150 CPA approved initially (scale up to $300 at volume)

  2. FanDuel (affiliate.fanduel.com)

    • Apply: same materials
    • Pulse affiliate network handles some geos

  3. BetMGM (affiliates.betmgm.com via Income Access)

    • Same materials

Priority 2 - apply weeks 2-3

  1. Fanatics, Caesars - same materials, submit after DK/FD/BetMGM responses

Priority 3 - niche, optional

  1. Pinnacle (international) via rebate affiliate networks - FREE, sharp-friendly

Pitch one-pager (single source of truth for all applications)

Draft at docs/AFFILIATE_PITCH.md (to create). Must include:

  • What NuroPicks is: AI-powered sports picks + education + Discord community
  • LLC + EIN + business contact (Wyoming LLC, David Olverson, hello@nuropicks.com)
  • Audience profile (Discord member count, X followers, content cadence)
  • Traffic sources: organic X, content, build-in-public community
  • Why complementary to sportsbooks: picks service, not competitor; refers users to book their own bets
  • Compliance: entertainment only, 21+, 1-800-GAMBLER on every surface, immutable public record, no guarantees

Tracking + attribution (already wired)

/api/funnel/track already supports clicked_discord_invite, started_checkout, paid_pro events with UTM cookie persistence. Once affiliate links are approved, store tracking URLs in Vercel env:

DK_AFFILIATE_URL=https://dkng.app/...
FD_AFFILIATE_URL=https://www.fanduel.com/...
BETMGM_AFFILIATE_URL=https://betmgm.com/...

Wire into web/src/app/sportsbooks/page.tsx + bot /picks embeds with UTM params per funnel.ts utmUrl() helper.

State affiliate registration (defer until traffic justifies)

Trigger to register in a state: a sportsbook approves us AND we're about to drive paid/unpaid traffic to their product in that state.

  • NJ: $0 (do this first, cheapest)
  • CO: $350 (do this second)
  • PA, MI, NY: $100-$2,500 + annual fees (defer to month 3+)

Wyoming LLC does NOT exempt from per-state registration. Research confirmed this 2026-04-21.

Kill criteria for this channel

  • 45 days from first application with zero approvals: audience too small. Pivot to affiliate aggregators (StatsDrone, Affnook) that bundle small publishers.
  • Any approved affiliate with $0 referred deposits after 90 days: low-signal channel for our audience; deprioritize.

21+ only. Not financial advice. 1-800-GAMBLER.

affiliate application checklist - NuroPicks Docs