A couple of points;

Growth in the sports gaming portal business was severely damaged in 2007 by a combination of the global banking meltdown and anti gaming laws world wide but especially in the US. Some portals like Covers and the Rx charged ad rates that were beyond the break even return for advertisers. But advertisers didn't mind the -EV ad campaigns because of the branding. After 2007 sportsbooks who were buying branding suddenly wanted to fly under the radar and in some cases asked to be taken off sites that left them up for free to make it appear they had advertisers.

You know things are tough when clients you used to charge $5000 a month for a banner campaign are demanding that you take down their banners that you are showing for free. It's that exact environment that convinced Covers and all the other portals to cut everything possible and hope for the best.

We decided to remain creative and take advantage of competitors who were no longer investing in their base. During those dark years we invested and developed poker, new odds site, loyalty program, video productions, original content writers, sportsbook & casino, geo targeting and a lot more. It was a gamble that paid off.