8+ Best American Football Affiliate Programs and Networks [2024]

American football is super famous with the American audience. This is one of the top sports in the United States, and if you know anything about it, you know that it’s definitely worth promoting them as an affiliate, because it can provide lucrative offers and great deals for you to make money. Plus, this is an Evergreen topic that will always have fans watching out for the news, tickets, merchandise, etc.

That is exactly why we’re exploring American football affiliate programs in this article, talking about what they are, how you can promote them, plus the top traffic sources that are great for promoting these offers. Plus, we'll be sharing some tips and tricks for you to become more successful in promoting such offers.

What Are American Football Affiliate Programs and How Do They Work

American football programs are businesses that produce American football products. In order to gain popularity and find customers, they need affiliates to connect them with potential customers. You can find the audience interested in this type of content among the young male audience in the United States.

You should share the American football products from the programs, with which you’re affiliated, with your audience, and when they make a successful purchase, you will earn a commission. This commission can be in different models, depending on the type of product strictly. In the later sections, we will talk about the different types of products you can promote and the American football affiliate programs.

What Types of Products Can You Promote

Now, let’s check the most common type of products you can promote in the American football niche.

1. Athletic Apparel: You can promote athletic apparel from sportswear brands that cater to American football players and fans. These brands offer high-quality jerseys, shorts, socks, and other accessories that are designed to enhance performance and style on the field.
2. Footwear: Football players need specialized footwear that provides support, traction, and comfort during games. You can promote cleats, spikes, and other football shoes from popular sports brands to your audience.
3. Training Equipment: Football players need to train extensively to improve their skills and performance. You can promote training equipment such as agility ladders, resistance bands, tackling dummies, and cones to your audience.
4. Sports Nutrition: Proper nutrition is essential for football players to maintain their energy, stamina, and muscle mass. You can promote sports nutrition supplements like protein powders, energy bars, and electrolyte drinks to your audience.
5. Sports Medicine: Injuries are common in football, and players need access to proper medical care and equipment. You can promote sports medicine products such as braces, wraps, and recovery tools to your audience.
6. Game Tickets: Football fans are always looking for ways to watch their favorite teams play live. You can promote game tickets from official sources or secondary marketplaces to your audience.
7. Merchandise: Fans love to show off their team spirit by wearing merchandise such as hats, jerseys, and other accessories. You can promote official merchandise from the NFL or individual teams to your audience.
8. Fantasy Sports: Many football fans participate in fantasy sports leagues and competitions. You can promote fantasy sports websites, apps, and services to your audience.
9. Streaming Services: Some football games are only available through streaming services, and many fans prefer to watch games online. You can promote streaming services such as ESPN+, NFL Game Pass, and Sling TV to your audience.
10. Sports Betting: Sports betting is a popular activity among football fans, and you can promote online sportsbooks and betting platforms to your audience. However, be sure to check the legality of sports betting in your target audience's location before promoting such products.

Payment Models in American Football Affiliate Programs

There are various types of payment models in American football affiliate programs since there are businesses, both focusing on teaching American football, and providing services related to it, and businesses that sell the equipment and clothing for this sport.

Revenue Share

The first and most common payment model in this niche has got to be the revenue share model since most of the products here are physical products that people can order online and receive. Their revenue share model basically provides a way for you to earn a commission percentage of the product's value. This means that if the product is $1000, and the commission rate is 5%, you’ll be making $50 from one simple order. This requires you to refer a potential customer and then complete a transaction by purchasing a product successfully on that website. The lower the price of the products, the store offers, the lower your chances of earning a high commission.

Cost per Lead (CPL)

This next payment model is mostly available in programs that have some sort of online service that requires your referrals to become potential customers. This means that they start a free trial, at the payment information, etc. The conditions are usually stated by the affiliate program from the beginning, so make sure you read through all of those.

Cost per Sale (CPS)

The cost per sale affiliate payout model refers to the reward you make based on a flat rate every time somebody purchases a product successfully. Keep in mind that, even though this is very similar to the revenue share model, in which the referral earns you a percentage of the purchased product, in this model, you’ll mostly be getting a flat rate for every purchase, regardless of the product's value. Therefore, if you’re going for a program like this, make sure that the product they are selling makes sense, considering the rate they are paying you.

Cost per Action (CPA)

The cost per action model is for businesses that require you to refer a visitor that completes a certain action defined by the program on the program terms. In return for every referral that completes that action, like downloading an app, signing up on the website, etc., you will receive a flat rate. This rate is usually lower than other payment models because getting someone to complete an action is much easier than getting them to purchase a product.

What to Consider When Choosing an American Football Affiliate Program

When selecting an affiliate program in the American Football niche, it's essential to focus on programs that offer the best return on investment. This means analyzing factors such as commission rates, product quality, and market demand to determine which programs are most likely to yield favorable results. By prioritizing these key factors, you can streamline your decision-making process and increase your chances of success.

Your Familiarity with the Products

When promoting a product as an affiliate, it is essential to have some familiarity with it. Recommending a product without any knowledge of it can lead to a loss of audience trust. It is crucial to conduct research about the product, read reviews, and watch videos to gain some understanding of the product. It is also vital to have experience with the product or similar products to provide genuine and trustworthy recommendations. As an affiliate, losing audience trust can be detrimental to one's reputation and affect the potential for future sales. Therefore, promoting a product without any familiarity should be avoided at all costs.

Commission Rate

When choosing an affiliate program, the Commission rate is a crucial factor to consider. A higher Commission rate can lead to more earnings, but this isn't always the case. The average order value also plays a significant role in revenue share and Commission earnings. For instance, if the program's average order value is $10, even a 90% Commission rate won't yield much money. However, if the average order value is $1,000 and the Commission rate is only 10%, the earnings would still be $100. Thus, when assessing the Commission rate, it's vital to also evaluate the program's average order value. A higher average order value could ensure better earnings, even with a lower commission rate. Therefore, it's important to consider both factors when choosing an affiliate program.

Brand Recognition

The credibility of the brand you intend to work with is crucial. You should avoid promoting brands with poor reviews or that leave a negative impression on customers. It is important that the brand is of high quality as this ensures customer satisfaction and prevents them from blaming you for their purchase. To assess the credibility of a brand, search for reviews online, check unbiased websites, and ask on forums like Quora and Reddit to learn more about the brand. Additionally, you can go on affiliate forums and ask peers if they have any experience with the affiliate program. After reviewing all the information, you can make a better decision about working with a brand. By promoting a reputable brand, you can build trust with your audience and establish a positive reputation for yourself and your business.

Cookie Duration

The duration of a cookie is an essential factor in promoting an offer. Cookies track a visitor's activity on a website, and the cookie duration is the time for which the program tracks that activity. This allows programs to count any purchases made by the visitor during that time, even if it's not their first visit. A longer cookie duration increases the chances of earning a commission. Most affiliate programs have a 30-day cookie duration, but it can be longer, such as a lifetime, or even shorter, even one day.

It's important to note that cookies can be first-party or third-party. First-party cookies are set by the website a visitor is currently on, while third-party cookies are set by a different domain. Some web browsers, like Safari, now block third-party cookies by default. This can have an impact on the effectiveness of affiliate marketing, as third-party cookies are used to track users across multiple websites. As a result, some affiliate programs are adopting new tracking methods, such as fingerprinting, to continue tracking users. It's essential to stay up to date with cookie policies and industry changes to ensure the success of affiliate marketing efforts.

Payment Frequency

Waiting for a long time to receive your commission can be frustrating, especially if you rely on affiliate marketing as your primary source of income. Typically, most affiliate programs pay commissions on a monthly basis, but some programs may have terms that require you to wait longer before receiving your payout. For instance, some programs may pay every two or three months or even every six months. It's important to carefully consider these terms before joining a program, especially if you need a steady stream of income. Some programs may have these terms due to their policies regarding product returns. They may avoid paying commissions until the warranty period has expired. Therefore, it's essential to read the terms and conditions of an affiliate program carefully before signing up to ensure that the payment frequency aligns with your financial goals and needs.

Minimum Payout

In order to receive payment from an affiliate program, you may need to meet a minimum payout threshold. This threshold can vary depending on the program, but it is often set at $50. If you don't want to wait to reach this threshold, you can look for programs that do not have a minimum payout requirement. Keep in mind that some programs may also have a maximum payout limit, so it's important to read the terms and conditions carefully before signing up. Additionally, you may want to consider the payment methods offered by the program, as some may charge fees or have longer processing times than others.

Affiliate Trackers

Affiliate trackers are web-based software provided by affiliate programs to monitor and track the performance of your visitors on their platform. These trackers automatically generate data and statistics about clicks, signups, commissions, sales, bonuses, and more. This data helps you gain insights into your marketing campaigns and optimize them for better results. If the program works on a network, the affiliate tracker is readily available on your dashboard. Affiliate trackers are essential for affiliates to understand their audience's behavior and make informed decisions to increase their earnings. By analyzing the data collected by affiliate trackers, affiliates can refine their marketing strategies and campaigns, leading to better conversion rates and higher commissions.

Marketing Assets and Resources

Affiliate programs these days offer a range of resources to help their affiliates promote their products, such as logos, banner ads, text links, pre-written content, visuals, imagery, icons, and even ready-made landing pages and websites. While most affiliate programs provide these resources, there are some that don't provide any or only provide a link. If you want to make your job easier, it's a good idea to opt for a program that gives you a variety of imagery and content. This is especially important for programs that are very visual about their products.

If you don't have access to images of the products, it would only make sense for the program to provide them to you. Some affiliate programs even offer product samples to their affiliates, allowing them to test the product and write a review or make a video about it. This is a great way to provide valuable content to your audience and increase your chances of making more money through the program. It's important to note that some affiliate programs may require you to disclose that you received a product sample in exchange for your review or video.

Affiliate Support

If you are new to affiliate marketing, finding a program with active and accessible support can be very helpful. Look for programs that have a dedicated affiliate manager, who can provide regular emails and tips to increase your income. Some programs even offer newsletters to promote their latest products and opportunities, including seasonal events and occasional promotions. To ensure that the program you're interested in has good affiliate support, you can ask other affiliates for their experiences on a forum. Remember that having a supportive affiliate program can make a big difference in your success as an affiliate marketer.

Application Process Time

If you're eager to start an affiliate program, it's important to find one that won't take forever to process your application. Some programs can take weeks to review and ultimately reject your application, wasting your time and effort. To avoid this, look for programs that have a quick and efficient application process. Some programs will even give you immediate access to their affiliate area so you can start earning right away. Keep in mind that while a fast application process is important, it's also crucial to choose a program that aligns with your interests and values. Don't rush into something just because it's quick and easy; take the time to find the right fit for you.

Performance-based Bonuses

Affiliate programs offer incentives for their top-performing affiliates who refer a lot of sales. These incentives may come in the form of higher commissions or bonuses when a certain sales milestone is reached. We've highlighted the affiliate programs on our list that offer performance-based bonuses, so be sure to keep an eye out for them if you're interested. Don't miss out on the chance to earn some extra rewards for your hard work.

Promotions and Discount Codes

If you're an affiliate who wants to offer incentives to your audience, look for affiliate programs that provide custom discount codes. These codes are unique to you and can be used by your audience to get discounts on products or services. Some programs even help you create your own discount code, while others offer seasonal discounts to all their affiliates. However, some programs don't have any policy on discount codes and won't provide you with one. To increase your chances of getting a discount code, choose programs that prioritize this feature. Discount codes can be a great way to attract and retain customers, so it's worth considering when choosing affiliate programs.

Top Traffic Sources for American Football Offers

Now that you know what American football affiliate programs are, and how you can choose one, let’s move on to the top traffic sources in this niche. After all, when you have signed up for a program and been approved for it, you need to start promoting.

Social Media

For American football, which means only a US-based audience, you need to go to social media platforms where Americans are mostly talking about this. YouTube, TikTok, and Instagram might be great places to start, but you need to find the specific community for it. You can even have a website related to sports, and then you can have all of your content on social media refer to your website.

Website Content

So now, if you have a website, you’re already set to earn a lot of money, simply through offers and deals that are mainly digital, like betting, and similar categories. By the way, if you want to promote betting offers on your sports-related or American football-related website, you should also consider betting affiliate programs.

On your website, you can post lots of different types of content. This can be interactive content, like widgets from the affiliate program, content related to American football, its rules, news, etc. You can also have articles written about the products in American football programs along with the affiliate links. In order to do so, you need to write a product review and show your own first-hand experience with the products. At least, you need to show that you know what you’re talking about, and you need to explain to your audience based on what you think each product is good for that niche.

You need to remember that your audience is mostly made up of young men, so you need to appeal to that audience mainly. Plus, there is usually lots of news around the subject, so the best way to get traffic is to write about the latest trends, news, and upcoming events. This is a great way for you to get on the first page of search results and get a lot of traffic, and hopefully backlinks.

Paid Ads

Another great way to quickly get a lot of traffic towards your affiliate website where you hold the offers and deals about American football programs is to post ads on different platforms. Facebook ads, Instagram ads, TikTok ads, Google ads, etc., are all great ad platforms. If you’re mostly thinking about getting traffic on Google, you should go for Google ads, and if you’re thinking about traffic on social media, you should go for those ones. Before going for advertising, though, make sure you learn about advertising, and check some ad spy tools so you can analyze your competitor's strategies and choose the best way to promote your offers.

Tips to Promote American Football Affiliate Offers Successfully

Now that you know the top traffic sources for American football affiliate programs, it’s time to talk about some of the best tips and tricks to follow for increased revenue.

Find Effective Platforms

First and foremost, make sure you find an effective platform. Social media and websites are great, but you should look out for where exactly you can find the most number of people interested in American football or even just sports.

Keyword Targeting

If you have a website, you should make sure to target certain keywords. If you’re writing about gnus, knowledge, base articles, or just affiliate product reviews, you should incorporate certain long-tail keywords in your Content.

Unlike generalized keywords like “best American football shoes”, long tail keywords narrow down the quarry to the exact type of product, and a user may search with commercial intent. This means that you should think just like a person who wants to buy the product. They will definitely not search for something generalized, but something narrow down like “best American football cleats for ankle support”. This is just an example, but the idea is to write about the same exact product. The user is looking for.

Here are some suggested keywords for the American football niche. Keep in mind that these are just examples, and for proper keyword research, you should go to the right resources like Google Trends, SEMrush, Ubersuggest, and similar tools.

1. Best football cleats for wide feet
2. Top-rated football helmets for safety
3. Durable football gloves for linemen
4. High-quality football shoulder pads for linebackers
5. Affordable football training equipment for beginners
6. Comfortable football compression pants for running backs
7. Top-performing football kicking tees for kickers
8. Reliable football referee gear for officials
9. Lightweight football mouthguards for youth players
10. Innovative football training aids for quarterbacks

Write about News

Remember when we talked about writing about the news? They are great for getting traffic if your website is new. The moment an upcoming Muse about American football or out, make sure to write about them and target the keywords so when anybody searches about that specific event, you have a chance of being one of the top websites to talk about that. Plus, if your content is good enough, and you show up and search results often, you get to promote your own affiliate links through other sorts of articles. The most important thing is to get the traffic you need through any means possible and just drive them to your website and attract the audience with other types of content on your website.

Review Products

Here are a few tips to write a killer product review to convince your readers to purchase the products.

• Know your audience: You should try to understand who is your audience, what they are looking for, and their problems. This will help you tailor your review to them.
• Use the product: If you can't use it, read some reviews and do extensive research to understand the product's features, benefits, and drawbacks. This will help you write an authentic and compelling review that is tailored to your audience.
• Be honest: Mention any flaws, but balance your criticism with positive aspects of the product as well. This builds trust with readers and helps them make informed purchasing decisions.
• Mention pros and cons: Highlight what makes it unique or better than other options available in the market and describe in detail the features of the product that solve problems.
• Use visuals: Using visuals, such as photos or videos, can make your product review more engaging and help readers visualize the product. This is particularly important for American football products, where visuals can showcase the product's design and functionality. High-quality images and videos should be used to show the product in action. Including visuals even if you do not take them, can lead to higher conversions.
• Include a call-to-action: Encourage readers to take action by using CTAs such as "Buy" or "Get a discount". This can help increase your commissions and drive conversions. Keep your CTAs clear and straightforward, and provide easy-to-follow instructions. Using a strong CTA can make your review more effective.
• Format it well: Use headings, bullet points, and short paragraphs to make it easy to skim and understand. Headings can divide your review into different sections, bullet points can highlight important features and benefits, and short paragraphs can make it more visually appealing. Plus, a well-formatted review can help you organize your thoughts and make the writing process easier.

Engage with Your Community

In this community, it’s important for you to engage and talk with the audience. Post often and ask them about their favorites, so you can give them the deals they’re looking for. If you look for what they need, you won’t need to ask them to purchase anything, because they will do it by default.

Conclusion

American football affiliate programs are great to promote to an American audience that is also interested in any other types of sports. If the traffic mainly consists of people interested in sports offers, then this might be a great opportunity to promote American football offers to them as well. Make sure to check out other affiliate programs and affiliate networks to find the best deals and offers for your own audience and use the tips and tricks mentioned here to become successful.