iGB Affiliate Awards 2025 An Affiliate Marketing Celebration

The Most Respected
Affiliate Awards in iGaming

The iGB Affiliate Awards are BACK in the home of iGaming! Inspired by the music of Oasis, Blur, and the Spice Girls, celebrate the shared history of Britpop, iGaming, and the Gen Xers who drove it all with an unmissable night of Cool Britannia.

Known for their integrity and merit-based recognition, the iGB Affiliate Awards are the place to celebrate the achievements and innovations of the iGaming affiliate community over the past 12 months in 20 highly coveted categories.

Nominations are closed

WHEN

Thursday 3 July 2025,
19:00 – 02:00

WHERE

The Troxy,
London E1 0HX

WHO

400 leading affiliates, programmes and vendors

Further details on ticket sales will be announced shortly.

Game of the Year

Have your say on Game of the Year! A public vote where you can cast your vote on what game YOU thought was Game of the Year

No registration is needed, vote on the link below before 3 June 2025!

VOTE

The Vibe

A stunning art deco masterpiece in the heart of East London, the Troxy holds over 80 years of musical heritage, including performances by Liam Gallagher, Jarvis Cocker, Garbage, Morrissey, and the Cure. The lavishly appointed building was previously a movie theatre and training school for the London Opera Centre before being converted to a live events space in 2006.

Enjoy the show with a sparkling drinks reception and a three-course sit-down dinner, followed by dancing into the night!

Dress Code: Black Tie/Lounge Suite/Cocktail Dresses

Schedule:

19:00

Drinks Reception

20:00

Dinner and Awards Ceremony

23:00

Let's party with live music and entertainment

02:00

End of Evening

Meet the Judges

Ben Robinson

is the Co-Founder of RB Capital, a specialist M&A and funding brokerage, combining best-in-breed expertise for growth, investment and M&A across gaming, fintech and media verticals. Ben has more than 20 years’ commercial experience across technology and media, of which the last ten have been deeply embedded in the online gambling and blockchain sectors. Subsequently Ben sits on a number of advisory boards for fintech and igaming companies across Europe, Asia-Pacific and the Americas.

Christina Thakor-Rankin

is co-founder of the All-in Diversity Project, which advocates for a data-driven approach to improving inclusion in gaming, and also runs a consultancy business. Her career in the industry spans 25 years and the whole betting and gambling ecosystem, including land-based, online and mobile gaming. She firmly believes that diversity and inclusion are critical to success in business.

Claire Adamou

With two decades in iGaming, Claire's specialty is within affiliate management. Claire launched her own consultancy business back in 2017 to assist operators with launching and growing their affiliate business within the igaming space. Since then she has expanded to become a Leadership Coach as VP of Development with Saroca.

Corey Padveen

is a Partner at t2 Marketing International, and the author of Marketing to Millennials for Dummies, as well as a contributing author to Digital Marketing All-in-One for Dummies.

David da Silva

is CEO of Easyodds.com and brings a unique combination of commercial strategy, digital marketing and regulated gaming to the judging panel. His interests extend across product innovation and service design to create business platforms that drive commercial success and differentiation.

Elaine Gardiner-Ruddock

is Affiliate Operations Manager, TAG Media. Elaine has over 14 years’ experience in the iGaming affiliate industry, and has held various positions throughout the years from Affiliate Manager to Head of Affiliates and everything else in between.

Erica Anderson

is the VP of Marketing, iGaming & Income Access, at Paysafe Group. Her role
focuses on developing the marketing strategy for the Income Access brand, as well as the
igaming division of Paysafe. Holding over a decade’s industry experience, she also oversees the company’s in-house affiliate management team and its suite of digital marketing
services being offered to leading global igaming brands.

Gareth Mulley

runs the marketing practice within Pentasia across Europe, Latam and the Middle East. He is passionate about affiliate marketing and recruiting the best talent into positions within operators and affiliate businesses focusing on the igaming sector.

Shahar Attias

is a globally recognised igaming expert, CRM strategist and frequent speaker at the industry's leading events. Following a career as a senior executive with 888, Playtech and PokerStars, Shahar founded Hybrid Interaction, a boutique consulting agency of hands-on experienced specialists which has undertaken around 300 successful projects across all verticals and most jurisdictions. These include Greentube & GiG (EU) Hard Rock & PlayStar in NJ (US), Forvana Gaming & Horizons Casino (UK), Starcasino.be (BE), Holland Casino (NL), Casino du Lac (Partouche), Grand Casino Baden & Groupe Barrière (CH), Logrand (MX), Win2day (AT), Crocobet (GE), IGT, William Hill, BetConstruct, Pin-Up Globa and Entain (Bwin.Party/Sportingbet/Bet.pt)

Helen Walton

is founder and CCO of G.Games, an award-winning games supplier that has grown to a portfolio of over 200 games served around the world in lotteries and casinos. She started her career at Unilever and has worked with Boots, Frucor, Tate Britain, PZ Cussons launching new products, brands and finding ways to connect with customers. She is a dealmaker, writer and marketer who enjoys solving problems, trying out ideas and making things happen.

Katy Stafford

With over 15 years’ experience in the online gaming industry, Katy Stafford is a seasoned marketing professional specialising in new player acquisition, predominantly within affiliation. Katy has previously managed the affiliate programmes for ComeOn Group and more recently served as Director of Acquisition at Casumo. She is currently working as an acquisition consultant assisting igaming startups with creating and executing strategic plans for optimal traffic and revenue performance.

Kevin Dale

has spent the last 20 years in online gaming and runs data and advisory company egamingmonitor.com, which covers 70,000 casino games, 500 bingo rooms and 800 lottery draw products from 1,700 suppliers across 4,000 operators. He was previously CEO of online skill gaming company GAN plc and marketing director at Betfair, Sportingbet and Eurobet.

Lee-Ann Johnstone

entered the affiliate marketing industry in the early 2000s when the internet was still new and mobile phones were BIG. She has managed many blue chip and startup affiliate programmes, helping them grow global reach across verticals from retail and ecommerce, payments and fintech, to esports and igaming. Lee-Ann also hosts the award-winning Affiliate Marketing Podcast, which charts regularly in the Top 100 Business News podcasts in the world. She runs a 12-week acceleration programme for affiliate managers (AMPP) and owns award-winning agency Affiverse providing outsourced affiliate programme management services. Inaugurated as a member of the prestigious forbes.com Agency Council (2020) Lee-Ann regularly features in publications such as The Drum, Hello Partner, MartechRecord, GPWA, IGB Affiliate and Forbes.com.

Dr Maris Catania

is a leading expert in safer gambling, specialising in data-driven strategies and cyberpsychology to address gambling harm. She is dedicated to advancing player protection and responsible gaming practices globally. Dr Catania holds multiple advanced degrees, including a PhD from Nottingham Trent University, where her research focused on consumer protection, markers of harm and responsible gambling under the supervision of Professor Mark Griffiths.

Peter Mares

is the founder and CEO of sci:ent, a company focused on delivering technology to the igaming industry through its bespoke technology-at-source business model. He has been involved in the design and delivery of tech for the industry for almost 20 years, having worked
with a number of industry leaders delivering innovative platforms and solutions during his career. He is also a passionate advocate for D&I within the industry (and in general).

Martin McGarry

is a seasoned SEO consultant and affiliate marketer in the iGaming industry since 2010. He has held positions as Head of SEO for WhichBingo, a prominent UK affiliate, and inhouse SEO lead for multiple international iGaming operators. Martin is also the founder of StatsChecker and an affiliate site owner, in addition to being a regular speaker at iGBA conferences.

Sarafina Wolde Gabriel

has over 19 years of experience in digital marketing and more than a decade’s worth of expertise in leadership within the igaming and marketing sectors. Sarafina joined Paysafe’s Income Access, a digital marketing technology and services provider, in 2004 as a leader of its in-house affiliate management team. Going on to serve as Director of Affiliate Marketing, CMO and VP of Strategy over 18 years at the company, Income Access collected six iGB Affiliate awards for Best Affiliate Network, five for Best Affiliate Software and three Best Acquisition Partner awards. In 2022, Sarafina joined geolocation and fraud prevention company GeoComply as a senior director, focused on new business development and international expansion. Sarafina is now Chief Strategy Officer at marketing compliance company Rightlander, where her responsibilities include developing business strategies to help grow and expand into new markets and verticals, evaluate new product opportunities and build strategic partnerships.

Sarah McLean

is Managing Director of B2C at Pretty Technical, where she leads the strategy, growth, and operations of the company’s customer-facing business. With two decades of experience in iGaming, Sarah has launched and scaled successful B2C brands across global markets, with a focus on growth strategy, marketing and platform innovation. She brings a deep understanding of player behaviour, affiliate dynamics and product performance, and is passionate about helping brands connect more meaningfully with their audiences.

Sebastian Jarosch

is an iGaming veteran who has been active in the industry since 2007, driven by a passion for affiliate marketing and backed by a strong track record of growth. He has held several high-profile positions, including Head of Affiliates at Betsson Group and Poker Affiliate Director at Gaming Innovation Group for almost a decade. Sebastian is also the founder of Mithrillium Media Ltd, a fast-growing casino affiliate specialising in high-quality SEO traffic.

Shona ODonnell

With over 15 years of experience in the iGaming sector, Shona has been responsible for the creation and development of some of the industry’s biggest events, including iGB L!VE, LAC (now iGB Affiliate Barcelona), Sports Betting USA and ICE as the portfolio director of Clarion Gaming. As head of strategic events at leading sports betting affiliate Better Collective, she was responsible for developing the Better Collective Bookmaker Awards and delivery of all events and industry marketing. Shona is now working as a consultant in the industry helping clients deliver and develop bespoke events, marketing and brand strategy.

Simon Collins

is a prominent figure in the iGaming industry, with over 25 years of experience launching and scaling successful brands. He co-founded Cashcade Ltd, the company behind Foxy Bingo, which was sold to bwin.party for £96m in 2009. At Cashcade, Collins pioneered affiliate marketing strategies, leveraging early adoption of search engine and social network marketing to forge profitable affiliate relationships that drove significant growth. Following Cashcade, Collins co-founded mobile gaming startup Gaming Realms Plc and served as managing partner of New Game Capital, further sharpening his expertise in affiliate-driven ventures. From 2019 to 2021, he was Managing Director of Betting & Gaming at News UK, overseeing brands like Sun Bingo. There, he managed affiliate marketing campaigns that boosted traffic and engagement. Today, Collins chairs platform and casino content provider Jogo Global and advises ClearStake, a FinTech startup focused on iGaming compliance while his investments in ventures like Daymade and Spinfinite highlight his ongoing commitment to innovation. With a career rooted in affiliate marketing - from pioneering strategies at Cashcade to steering affiliate-reliant brands at News UK - Collins brings unparalleled expertise to the iGB Affiliate Awards.

Simon Pilkington

has 17 years’ experience within the igaming industry with a specific focus on affiliation and content strategy. Previously the CEO of super affiliate KaFe Rocks (now Time2Play Media), Simon now runs his own consultancy business, SMPL Consulting. He also recently launched a JV recruitment business, Wander, aimed at helping improve standards within the industry one person at a time.

Thies Petersen

is a seasoned software engineer whose career began in 2005. His journey started in usability consultancy and BI development, establishing the foundation for his eventual entrance into igaming in 2017. At prominent affiliate WIS, Thies played a crucial role in founding and developing the engineering department, where he managed frontend and backend development, QA, IT, DevOps and emerging technologies. In July 2022, Thies took on a new challenge as the Group Head of Software Engineering at Catena Media, where he leveraged his extensive experience and leadership to further his impact in the tech domain. Thies' career progression continued as he joined Blexr in January 2024, where he now applies his deep expertise as the Head of Engineering to lead and drive innovation within the engineering team.

Vicki Reed

After spending more than a decade working for Gala Coral Interactive, Betfred and GentingBet, Victoria Reed saw firsthand the devastation caused by gambling addiction and decided she had to act. As a recent alumna of Harvard Business School, she teamed up with her fellow classmate and together they started Better Change. By challenging the status quo and truly partnering with operators to help them raise standards through improved compliance, innovative social responsibility strategies and robust safer gambling tools designed to maximise player protection, she is determined to sustain the industry and deliver clear, sustainable and progressive results for their partners and their players.

FAQs

Why enter?

The iGB Affiliate Awards is the UK’s premier recognition platform for businesses of all sizes in the online gaming affiliate industry. The benefits of entering extend far beyond simply picking up one of the prestigious trophies.

Here are some of the reasons why your organisation should take part:

Offers a platform to differentiate your business and stand out from competitors
Grants greater recognition for you and your organisation within the industry, perhaps leading to additional business as a result
Encourages improved business relationships
Affords superior marketing and PR opportunities
Provides excellent motivation for your team
Demonstrates to current and future staff that you’re a leading company, plus as an added bonus it will help you attract excellent and talented employees
Publicises your personal credentials to your clients, existing employer and future employers
Presents an ideal opportunity to measure your current performance, consider what has contributed to your success and to look at where you can go from there
Gives you the motivation to sustain this performance in order to retain your title/beat your competitor to the award for the following year!

Who can enter?

Anyone working in the iGaming affiliate industry can submit nominations to the iGB Affiliate Awards. They can nominate themselves or their organisation, or they can nominate another individual or organisation across Affiliate, Programmes, Networks, and Service Providers

How do I enter?

First read through the information and criteria for each category by clicking on the 'Info + Nomination' button. Once satisfied that you have fully understood the requirements, click on the 'Start Submission' button to proceed to the entry form or resume an existing entry.

Please note that following the instructions will give you the best possible opportunity of making it onto the shortlist.

The judges and the criteria will cover the 12 months from 1 January 2024 to 31 December 2024, and not before, so please ensure your submission only includes the assessment period.
Nominations will be assessed based on quality and not quantity. Submitting multiple entries or doing so on behalf of the same company or person will not increase their chances of making it through to the shortlist.
Submitting one comprehensive and detailed entry which fully addresses all the criteria and questions, backed up by relevant and compelling supporting documents, will achieve greater cut-through with the judges and increase chances of progression.
A primary purpose of the iGB Affiliate Awards is to showcase fast-growing and disruptive businesses.
While the scale of nominees is taken into account when assessing the quality of submissions against the criteria, managing to successfully demonstrate and convey the growth, innovation and momentum of your business via your submission is likely to exert an equal if not greater influence on the judges’ final decision.

Is there a cost for entering?

Entering the iGB Affiliate Awards is free of charge for all categories, however, if shortlisted, you will be required to purchase a minimum of one ticket to the ceremony.

When is the deadline for submitting nominations?

The deadline for submitting nominations for the 2025 iGB Affiliate Awards is Wednesday 2 April 2025. Shortlists will be announced the week of 5 May 2025. Any applications received for a non-relevant category and all duplicate submissions will be void. If you have any questions, please contact awards.support@clariongaming.com

What is the judging process for the iGB Affiliate Awards?

Once submission forms are received, our judging panel will evaluate each nomination against the category criteria in order to select the shortlists and final winners.

iGB Affiliate’s panel of external industry judges is selected for its expertise on both the iGaming affiliate sector and in specialist areas pertaining to individual awards, such as safer gambling. All judges joining the panel are required to sign an NDA to keep all submitted information confidential and the winners' names secret until the event has taken place. They are also obliged to declare all potential conflicts of interest prior to judging.

Judges are allocated categories aligned to their areas of industry experience and knowledge, and to avoid potential conflicts of interest. Judges’ access to submissions is restricted to their allocated categories.

Shortlists are formed and awards presented only in categories where three or more judgeable submissions are received. A non-judgeable submission is one which includes incomplete/insufficient information for the judges to fully assess the submission against all the criteria for that category. The number shortlisted in each category is calculated on a sliding scale based on how many judgeable nominations are put forward to the judges.

The judges read every judgeable submission alongside all supporting materials. They provide an overall score for each entry based on their assessment across all the criteria for that category. The judges also give a brief explanation of their rationale for providing this score. Once all the judges' scores are submitted for all the entries in each category, an average of the scores is calculated for each entry with this converted to a score out of 10.

If there is no clear winner from the first round (a minimum one-point margin between the top submission(s) and second-placed entry or entries is needed), the category goes to a second round of judging. A conference call is then held between the allocated judges to decide the winner. The judges may exercise their discretion to award a Highly Commended in these instances.

An explanation of how the shortlist and winners were arrived at in each category can be provided on request. Judges' comments will be anonymised and average scores given in these instances. Individual judges’ scores and comments will not be shared externally. Please address any questions or requests regarding the judging process to internal judging lead Stephen Carter at stephen.carter@clariongaming.com.

How do I buy tickets for the big night?

The iGB Affiliate Awards is a paid-to-attend event. You will be able to book tickets/half tables via our registration platform for iGB L!VE or VIP and VIP+ tables with your account manager.

Individual Ticket: £475+VAT

Unlimited beer, wine and soft drinks for three hours
Sparkling wine reception
Three-course meal
Entertainment until 2am

Half Table Bundle: £2,215+VAT

Table of 5 guests (joint with another half table)
Unlimited beer, wine and soft drinks for three hours
Sparkling wine reception
Three-course meal for 5 guests
Entertainment until 2am
One bottle of spirits and mixers

VIP Table: £4,430+VAT

Table of 10 guests
Unlimited beer, wine and soft drinks for three hours
Sparkling wine reception
Three-course meal for 10 guests
Entertainment until 2am
Two bottles of spirits and mixers
Listed as table sponsor on all Awards branding
Include company logo on table

VIP+ Table: £5,870+VAT

Table of 12 guests
Unlimited beer, wine and soft drinks for three
hours
Sparkling wine reception
Three-course meal for 12 guests
Entertainment until 2am
Four bottles of spirits and mixers
Listed as table sponsor on all Awards branding
Include company logo on table

What is the dress code?

We recommend Black Tie/Lounge Suite/Cocktail Dresses. No trainers, jeans, sportswear such as shorts, joggers or vests or flip-flops will be allowed.

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The Most Respected Affiliate Awards in iGaming