When ParlayPlay came to Valiant in September 2025, their goal was clear: secure 5 partnerships in month one, then scale to 15-20 by the end of Q4. But behind that goal was a bigger problem they needed solved.

ParlayPlay had spent months trying to break into the sports betting affiliate space on their own. They had a competitive product, solid economics for partners, and a clear value proposition, but they couldn't get anyone to respond. Cold outreach was going nowhere. The partners they wanted most had seen a hundred pitches from apps just like them, and ParlayPlay's emails were landing in the same pile as everyone else's. They needed a way in.

That's where we came in.

We started by aligning on their ideal partner profile. Not just any affiliate who could drive downloads, but the right affiliates who could drive quality users and long-term retention. We mapped out three distinct tiers: established sports betting communities with 20K+ members and proven track records of audience trust, mid-size betting groups with high engagement rates and loyal followings, and emerging content creators with growth potential who could scale alongside ParlayPlay's expansion. Names like GoldBoys, PropFellas, and Beat the Books topped their wishlist. These were partners with real credibility in the space, not just inflated follower counts.

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The advantage we brought to the table was simple but decisive: we already had relationships with the partners they wanted.

This wasn't about sending better cold emails or crafting more persuasive pitch decks. We'd spent years building genuine connections across the sports betting ecosystem, attending the same conferences, collaborating on campaigns, and earning trust through repeated delivery. When we reached out on ParlayPlay's behalf, we weren't strangers in their inbox. We were a known quantity vouching for a product we believed in. That changes everything about how a conversation starts.

Within the first 30 days, we finalized their partnership strategy, built out their affiliate infrastructure, launched targeted outreach to priority prospects, and secured 2 initial partnerships: PropFellas and Bet Bettor Sports. Both deals moved from first conversation to signed agreement in under three weeks, a timeline that would have been impossible without existing relationships smoothing the path. We also established ParlayPlay's positioning in the market, helping them articulate why partners should choose them over more established competitors with deeper pockets.

By the end of month two, momentum was building. We closed deals with GoldBoys (a group ParlayPlay had been chasing unsuccessfully for months before working with us), Official Picks, and Capper Collective. The GoldBoys partnership was particularly significant. They're notoriously selective about who they work with, and ParlayPlay had already been turned down twice through direct outreach. Our relationship with their leadership team opened the door for a fresh conversation, and the deal closed within two weeks of our introduction.

Beyond just making introductions and closing deals, we also began building a "dream team" list of high-value targets for future expansion. This included Spanish-speaking influencers to help ParlayPlay tap into the rapidly growing Latino sports betting market, YouTube creators with dedicated audiences in NFL, NBA, and MLB content verticals, and emerging TikTok personalities who were building followings among younger bettors. We mapped out a 6-month roadmap for partnership development, prioritizing targets based on audience quality, geographic reach, and strategic fit with ParlayPlay's growth plans.

The results speak for themselves: in just over two months, ParlayPlay went from struggling to get responses to having multiple signed agreements with some of the most respected names in the sports betting community space, with a healthy pipeline of additional deals in progress. More importantly, they now have a repeatable system for partnership development and a team that knows the landscape inside and out. They're not just reacting to opportunities anymore; they're engineering them.

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