Customer Acquisition Cost (CAC)
The total marketing and sales spend divided by the number of new depositing players it produced over a period.
Definition
CAC measures what an operator pays, on average, to turn a stranger into a first-time depositor. It sums every acquisition cost over a window — paid media, affiliate commissions, welcome-bonus cost, creative and staff — then divides by the count of newly acquired players. 'Blended' CAC mixes all channels together, while channel-level CAC isolates one source so teams can compare, say, paid search against affiliates. CAC only means something next to the value a player returns, so it is read alongside lifetime value and payback period to judge whether a channel is sustainable. Because a large share of acquisition cost is bonus spend, aggressive CAC targets can push teams toward promotions that attract bonus-seeking, low-value, or vulnerable players rather than durable ones.
Worked example
An operator that spends 500,000 EUR on paid media, affiliate fees and welcome bonuses in a month and acquires 5,000 first-time depositors has a blended CAC of 100 EUR per player.
Why it matters
For a learner, CAC is the clearest single number for whether growth is profitable or just expensive. For a professional, it disciplines channel budgeting and exposes the trade-off between hitting volume targets and acquiring players who can genuinely afford to play.