Let me tell you something, brother: wrestling affiliate programs are a fantastic way to earn money.
The wrestling community is huge and hungry for content (and products). As of 2017, there were 1.9 million wrestling participants across the US, while more than 247,000 boys and 21,000 girls of high school age in America were involved in the sport as of the 2018-19 academic year.
Not only that, but World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) — the world’s most popular and best known professional wrestling franchise — creates seven hours of original programming watched by 11 million US wrestling fans every single week.
From wrestling merchandise to Greco-Roman wrestling equipment, there are any number of ways to monetize the wrestling niche.
So without further ado: for the thousands in attendance and the millions watching around the world, let’s get ready to reveal our 10 favorite wrestling affiliate programs.
Wrestling Affiliate Programs
- WWE
- Championship Productions
- MMA Overload
- GSports Wrestling
- Scientific Wrestling
- JRwrestling
- FITE
- Defense Soap
- Amazon Associates
WWE
Whether you know anything at all about wrestling, there’s approximately a 0% chance you’ve never heard of World Wrestling Entertainment, the media giant behind the Smackdown, Raw, and NXT wrestling brands.
The WWE affiliate program — run through the CJ affiliate network — has two distinct “angles”.
For most affiliates, the best option will be to promote the franchise’s online shop (WWEShop.com), which stocks a vast range of seasonal wrestling merchandise showcasing its various TV shows and wrestlers. Affiliates earn a flat 5% on all sales.
Alternatively, you can promote the WWE network, which features a wealth of promotional content, archive footage, and live and on-demand programming from across the WWE universe. Monthly subscriptions cost $9.99 a month and affiliates earn $1 per new subscription.
- URL: WWE affiliate program
- Commission rate: 5% on WWE Shop sales; $1 on WWE Network subscriptions
- Cookie duration: 30 days
Championship Productions
Championship Productions has been creating instructional videos and DVDs for a host of sports for more than four decades, during which time it’s forged a reputation for excellent customer service.
Established by Bill Bergan, former men’s track and cross country coach at Iowa State University, it boasts an extensive catalog of old and new videos, DVDs, and books for coaches, parents, and athletes offering advice and instruction on over 20 sports, including wrestling.
Managed in-house, the Championship Productions wrestling affiliate program pays a flat 10% commission on all sales within the 14-day cookie window.
Unlike many affiliate programs, Championship Productions allows PPC bidding. However, affiliates are excluded from bidding on the brand name, as well as any misspellings or variants.
- URL: Championship Productions affiliate program
- Commission rate: 10%
- Cookie duration: 14 days
MMA Overload
MMA Overload is an online shop selling products targeted squarely at the MMA industry — think apparel, training gear, and supplements. So it’s not technically a wrestling affiliate program, but it definitely fits into the wider niche.
The website stocks thousands of products from big-name brands like Adidas, Everlast, and Reebok, as well as more specialist companies such as American Fighter and Bad Boy MMA. It ships worldwide (excluding high-risk countries) and has more than 100,000 satisfied customers from all around the globe.
MMA Overload runs two affiliate programs — one on ShareASale and the other on the Ebay Enterprise Affiliate Network. Whichever you choose, you’ll earn 7% per sale.
According to ShareASale, the affiliate program has a 30-day average ticket price of almost $100 and an average commission of close to $7.
Affiliates can access a bunch of useful affiliate marketing assets, including banner ads, up-to-date data feeds, and text links.
- URL: MMA Overload affiliate program
- Commission rate: 7%
- Cookie duration: 30 days
GSports Wrestling
GSports Wrestling is committed to providing its audience with the highest-quality wrestling gear at the most competitive prices.
It stocks equipment and apparel from brands like Adidas, Brute, and Cliff Keen Athletic, and offers free shipping on all team apparel orders.
The website also urges customers to ask for a quote before buying wrestling singlets or apparel from any other retailer. If its estimate doesn’t beat the competition, GSports promises to lower its pricing.
The GSports Wrestling affiliate program offers a standard 5% commission rate on all product sales, which is neither brilliant nor dreadful.
However, it’s one of a handful of wrestling affiliate programs to feature a lifetime cookie window, which is always nice to see.
- URL: GSports Wrestling affiliate program
- Commission rate: 5% on product purchases
- Cookie duration: Lifetime
Scientific Wrestling
Scientific Wrestling offers membership programs for fighters looking to hone their catch-as-catch-can (CACC) wrestling skills.
For the uninitiated, CACC wrestling was developed in the late 19th century in Great Britain, where it became a popular form of wrestling characterized by unique submission holds or hooks.
Subscribing to Scientific Wrestling gives you uninterrupted access to world-class instruction from Jake Shannon, the website’s founder and head coach.
It also includes a 20% discount on DVDs and opens up the site’s back catalog of articles, dating back to 2003.
The Scientific Wrestling affiliate program pays a 30% recurring commission on all memberships — so the longer your referrals keep paying, the more money you earn.
The website also runs an online store selling Scientific Wrestling apparel, which pays up to a 50% commission on purchases.
- URL: Scientific Wrestling affiliate program
- Commission rate: 30% recurring on memberships; up to 50% on purchases
- Cookie duration: Lifetime
JR Wrestling
JR Wrestling is the brainchild of Jeff Lathrop, who has more than three decades of experience as a wrestler, coach, and official.
The website is a one-stop-shop for high-quality products in the wrestling niche, from knee pads and shoes to accessories and apparel.
Its catalog features renowned brands like Adidas, A4, Brute, Asics, Champion, and Pennant.
The site also offers worldwide shipping options, so wherever your audience is based, they’ll be well catered to by JR Wrestling. That’s a relief for all your international wrestling affiliates.
Sign up for the JR Wrestling affiliate program and you’ll get a flat 5% commission on all sales.
- URL: JR Wrestling affiliate program
- Commission rate: 5%
- Cookie duration: Unknown
FITE
FITE is a global streaming platform that predominantly focuses on the combat sport niche — think Mixed Martial Arts, boxing, and wrestling.Â
It also screens a host of other events, including motorsports, tennis, soccer, and even certain concerts. The platform features more than 1,000 live events every year, all of which are available on a pay-per-view basis.
FITE can be accessed via its official website, as well as through mobile apps and on a variety of streaming devices, including Chromecast, Xbox, PS4, and more than 7,000 smart TV models.
Wrestling affiliates can earn a 7% commission on pay-per-view sales and 15% on subscriptions through the FITE affiliate program. Affiliate signup is via the Commission Junction network.
- URL: FITE affiliate program
- Commission rate: 7% on pay-per-view sales; 15% on subscriptions
- Cookie duration: 30 days
Defense Soap
Defense Soap is the work of Guy Sako, a man with almost 30 years of experience as a wrestler and coach.
During that time, Sako realized the sport is rife with skin infections, which is hardly surprising given all that rubbing against one another.
So he set to work creating a line of soaps made with pharmaceutical-grade essential oils that have anti-viral, anti-bacterial, and anti-fungal properties.
The company has even invented a spray designed to clean even the most stubborn mat funk from your wrestling gear. Nice!
Another wrestling affiliate program that’s managed in-house, Defense Soap pays a solid 10% commission on all sales. Sign up via a simple form on the Defense Soap website.
- URL: Defense Soap affiliate program
- Commission rate: 10% per sale
- Cookie duration: Unknown
Amazon Associates
With approximately 350 million products listed at any given time, Amazon is the world’s largest online retailer. So you won’t be surprised to learn it sells plenty of wrestling-specific products.
Search “wrestling” on Amazon and you’ll find more than 30,000 results, from movies, films, and books to wrestling shoes and apparel.
The website is also highly trusted, which makes it a little easier for you to earn commissions.
Speaking of commissions, let’s take a look at the Amazon affiliate program. It’s the most popular program out there — 58.5% of affiliate marketers use it, according to our affiliate marketing statistics.
Commissions vary across categories — for instance, you’ll get 4.5% on physical books, but just 3% on toys and sports products. So your earnings will depend on the types of products you recommend.
Whichever category (or categories) you focus on, you’ll have to deal with Amazon’s distinctly ungenerous 24-hour cookie window.
Hint: only send highly qualified traffic its way if you want to earn decent money.
- URL: Amazon Associates affiliate program
- Commission rate: Varies
- Cookie duration: 24 hours
Conclusion: Are Wrestling Affiliate Programs Right For You
On the face of things, wrestling affiliate programs aren’t the most profitable of any niche. The commissions aren’t the highest, the products aren’t the most expensive, and the audience isn’t the largest.
Still, the wrestling community is nothing if not dedicated. If you can cement yourself as part of that community, using your knowledge and love of the sport to recommend high-quality products, there’s good money to be made here.
Of course, if you’re going to do that, you’ll need to start by building an affiliate website that ranks strongly and converts.
Which is where we come in. Sign up for our free training and we’ll reveal the five simple steps needed to create an authority website in 2024 and beyond. See you there!
