iGB Affiliate Awards: 2026 shortlist revealed

Following the 2025 Rising Star winner are BetAffiliation and LatAm-focused first-time entrant MoveUp Media, each securing five shortlist places.

Gambling.com Group and Better Collective are back defending their titles in casino and sports respectively, while the latter also earned a spot in Innovator of the Year. Casino Guru – now owned by Genius Sports following its $1.2 billion Legend acquisition – returns to Safer Gambling Initiative to guard its multi-year streak.

The Best Streaming Affiliate category has seen 125% year-on-year growth in submitted entries, bringing influencer Brian Christopher, Clever Advertising, Famesters, Fruity Slots and 2024 winner Kingbet Media onto the shortlist. Christopher has also landed finalist spots in the casino category and Affiliate Campaign of the Year for his BetMGM collaboration.

Other entrants receiving three shortlisted nominations include last year’s double winner OLBG and Best Newcomer Big Betty Partners, with Blask returning in the tech category and SlotCatalog competing for the first time.

Debuting this year, Best New Programme welcomes Coolbet Partners, Evo Affiliates and JungleAff to the shortlist. Best Affiliate Programme remained the most contested category, with total entries also growing by 5% year-on-year and finalists featuring previous winners bet365 Partners and Novi Affiliates, while the best network category sees a raft of new names alongside BetAffiliation, which will also be going head-to-head for the title against dot.it rival DT9.

Also new for 2026, the igaming affiliate community will also be able to vote for their favourite from the judges’ top 10 highest scoring candidates from Round 1, as well as for their Game of the Year, over on the official iGBA Awards page.

Headline sponsored by PartnerMatrix, this year’s winners will be announced at the Aqua Shard, located on the 31st floor of Western Europe’s tallest building, on the evening of 2 July, the second day of iGB L!VE.

Tickets can be booked via https://forms.reg.buzz/igb-live-awards  

AFFILIATE CATEGORIES

Affiliate Campaign of the Year: Brian Christopher x BetMGM; Checkd Group – No Tippy Tappy Football; Hub Affiliations – DerbyDerbyDerby.it; iGamingNuts; MoveUp Media – Lebi launch; OLBG’s Principal Partner sponsorship of Dorking Wanderers FC; SlotCatalog.com – CrossyRun™ campaign with Evoplay; Sporting Live/Sporting Life Plus

Best Bingo Affiliate:
BingoPort; FTD Digital; TopRatedBingoSites.co.uk; WhichBingo

Best Casino Affiliate:
Brian Christopher’s FlipTheSwitch.com; Casino Guru; Catena Media; Gambling.com Group; Kasinoseta.com; Kongebonus; OLBG; SlotCatalog.com

Best Poker Affiliate:
Big4Play; GipsyTeam; PokerListings; PokerNews; Worldpokerdeals

Best Sports Betting Affiliate:
Better Collective; Checkd Group; Gambling.com Group; Hub Affiliations; JohnnyBet; MightyTips; MoveUp Media; OLBG; Skores Media; Spotlight Sports Group

Best Streaming Affiliate:
Brian Christopher Slots; Clever Advertising; Famesters; Fruity Slots; Kingbet Media

Safer Gambling Initiative of the Year:
Casino Guru; Gamblers Connect; Hub Affiliations; WagerWire

INDIVIDUAL CATEGORIES*

Best Affiliate Manager:
Darren Newmark – Red Edge Partners 
Gennaro Fiorito – Hub Affiliations 
Giovanni Galantino – BetAffiliation 
Jonathan Chirico – Income Access 
Jussi Säkö – Coolbet Partners 
Kasper Jensen – Entain 
Kshitij Gupta – Venture Affiliates 
Muhil Arunachalam – Fair Sky Partners 
Nika – Big Betty Partners 
Shakyra Jonsson – Betsson Group

*Affiliate Idol is selected by an in‑house panel and does not have a published shortlist.

PROGRAMME / NETWORK CATEGORIES

Best Affiliate Network:
BetAffiliation; DT9 Group Srl; Hub Affiliations; LGaming; Matching Visions; Titans; Touchdown Traffic by Cape Media; Vault Network

Best Affiliate Programme:
Aff Republic; bet365 Partners; Betsson Group Affiliates; Boomerang Partners; Excel Affiliates; Gamesys Group Partners; Linebet Partners; N1 Partners; Novi Affiliates; VL Partners

Best New Programme:
Coolbet Partners; Evo Affiliates; JungleAff

Programme / Network Campaign of the Year:
Hub Affiliations – Creator‑Powered Live Streaming Rollout; BetAffiliation; N1 Partners – N1 Puzzle Promo; Big Betty Partners

SUPPLIER CATEGORIES

Best Affiliate Management Platform:
Aff.Tech; Affilka; Income Access; MAP™; MyAffiliates; RavenTrack; ReferOn

Best Digital Agency:
Basher Agency; BetAffiliation; Famesters; SEOBrothers; TAG Media; Toucan International

Game of the Year:
3 Hot Chilli Peppers (1X2 Network); 3 Luxor Pots Hold and Win (Playson); Buffalo Hold and Win Extreme 10000 (Booming Games); Gates of Olympus Super Scatter (Pragmatic Play); Hot Slot 777 Gold Crown (Wazdan); Le Viking (Hacksaw Gaming); Legion Gold Victory! (Play’n GO); Race Track (Evolution Gaming); The Tipsy Tourist Beach Bonanza Hold and Win (Betsoft Gaming); Tropicool 4 (ELK Studios)

FOR ALL SECTOR COMPANIES

Best Newcomer:
JungleAff; Master Affiliates Network; tablrr

Best Tech:
BetAffiliation; Better Collective; Blask; First Look Games; G.A.I.N. by Hub Affiliations; Kadam; PayDo; Traffic Nomads – FTD Magnet AI

Employer of the Year:
01.tech; C24; Clever Advertising; iAffiliate; iGamingAffiliates.io; JohnnyBet; MoveUp Media; RedCore

Innovator of the Year:
Better Collective; Blask; Clever Advertising; DataRankr by SlotCatalog; Famacs Agency; Hub Affiliations; MoveUp Media; Onlyplay; Pepper Partners

Rising Star:
Blask; Media 24; iGamingAffiliates.io; Big Betty Partners; MoveUp Media; Trident Media; Fortuna Edge Media; Rocks Partners