Visitors to the Partners.io stand (L50) at iGB Affiliate London (8th – 11th February, show open days 9th – 10th February, ExCeL London) will have the opportunity to meet and have their photos taken with former Arsenal legend Ray Parlour and Francis Benali MBE who made a total of 389 appearances for Southampton over a 16-year spell with the south coast club.

Visitors will be able to discuss all things football including the Gunners prospects of lifting the Premier League title for the first time since 2004 with Ray on Thursday 9th when he will be on the stand between 13.00 – 14.30 hrs. Francis will be on hand to reflect on the season so far and Southampton’s chances of retaining their Premier League status the following day also between 13.00 and 14.30 hrs.

Confirming the celebrity appearances, Agni Raitar at Partners.io said: “We are both delighted and excited to have Ray and Francis on our stand at the forthcoming edition of iGB Affiliate London which will be the biggest on record. We will kick-off on Thursday 9th with Arsenal legend Ray Parlour who in a fantastic career played 466 games for Arsenal winning everything along the way including three Premier League titles, four FA Cups, one League Cup, one European Cup Winners Cup and was also capped 10-times for England. Ray subsequently went on to play for Middlesbrough and Hull City before forging a highly successful career in the media.

“On Friday 10th we welcome another club stalwart, Francis Benali MBE who clocked-up 389 first team appearances for his beloved Southampton Football Club. As well as enjoying a highly successful football career Francis also undertook a number of gruelling physical challenges for charity including running and cycling to all 44 Premier League and Championship stadiums in two-weeks and completing five Ironman races within seven days – in the process raising an amazing £1m for Cancer Research UK. As a result of these endeavours, he was appointed Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in the 2020 New Year Honours for services to cancer patients. Both Ray and Francis have great stories to tell about their time in football and I look forward to welcoming them to our stand and introducing them to the industry at iGB Affiliate London 2023.”

Partners.io is the home of leading and crypto pioneering brands Bitcasino.io and Sportsbet.io. With language support in 11 different languages, customer service from over 35 countries and unparalled player experience, affiliates can expect high conversion with up to 45% revenue share, and personalised affiliate support. Bitcasino.io, and Sportsbet.io are supported in 11 different languages and service customers from over 35 countries.

The 2023 edition of iGB Affiliate London will be the biggest edition on record occupying just under 12,000 square metres of floor space across three halls of ExCeL London. The show will feature a business-centric seminar programme and curated networking opportunities as well as the 2023 iGB Affiliate Awards (February 9th). The black-tie event, three-course sit down dinner and after-party is recognised as being one of the key social and networking events on the igaming affiliate calendar.

The organisers of iGB Affiliate London (8^th – 11^th February, show open days 9-10 February, ExCeL London) have announced the launch of iGB INTRODUCING, a new at-show initiative which has been created to help facilitate thousands of meetings across two days of the sector-leading show. Open to all show stakeholders iGB INTRODUCING is designed to physically connect all attendees, exhibitors, sponsors and suppliers who are active in the igaming affiliate space, live at the event.

Explaining the background to and purpose of the initiative, Naomi Barton, Portfolio Director responsible for the iGB events brand said: “iGB INTRODUCING is  a considered response to the findings of our post-show research conducted amongst stakeholders attending the 2022 show. From our perspective research is all about identifying gaps and then providing creative solutions to meet the needs of our customers. The independent research which was conducted by Explori found that whilst iGB Affiliate London scored extremely well with visitors and exhibitors alike there was a need to help facilitate and encourage new connections and relationships.

“Whilst nearly 7 out of 10 attendees met new customers, partners and suppliers as a result of iGB Affiliate London there is significant appetite for more connections to identify products, solutions, industry trends and establish new business relationships.  The Journey of Connections will start in mid-January using the Swapcard App and culminates onsite courtesy of  the iGB INTRODUCING networking hub and the numerous business and social networking events which are a central part of the iGB Affiliate London experience.”

The simple four step process involves (1) Completion of an online profile on the official Swapcard Show app (2) Select meeting targets using the online filters and contact lists. (3) Review and accept on-site meetings and then (4) Meet connections in the signposted networking areas at show.  The App will go live in mid-January when those registered to iGB INTRODUCING will be contacted by a dedicated member of the iGB Affiliate Customer Success team to support and help generate onsite meetings.

Looking ahead to February’s event Naomi Barton added: “The 2023 edition of iGB Affiliate London will be the biggest on record and as the show continues to grow it’s imperative that we help visitors and exhibitors by providing curated networking opportunities which connect the numerous audiences whose support has helped to make iGB Affiliate London the pre-eminent global live event in the igaming affiliate space. iGB INTRODUCING is part of that ongoing commitment.”

42% of registrants operating in the United States

The 2022 edition of iGB Affiliate London (13-14 April, ExCeL London) will have a pronounced North American accent. The latest show data reveals 42% of industry professionals who have registered are operating in the US. The figure is part of the latest dataset released by event organisers Clarion Gaming. This also highlights the seniority of delegates, with close to eight in ten (78.9%) categorised as final decision makers.

Commenting on the data, Naomi Barton, portfolio director responsible for iGB Affiliate said: “We are still 10 weeks from going live and I’m delighted that the figures are looking strong, and positive for both our exhibitor and visitor communities. Lead events such as iGB Affiliate London serve to reflect the dynamics of the industry sectors that they serve and the uptick in US pre-reg figures is a manifestation of the market dynamics impacting the affiliate sector in North America. Figures from iGB’s principal data partner H2 Gambling Capital forecast 200% growth in the total addressable revenues for affiliates in North America over the next five years, compared to the global figure of 68%. Add the new states either launched or launching such as NY which had $1bn staked in 16 days and you get the picture of an extremely buoyant market.”

She added: “We are tracking comfortably ahead of the pre-reg figures for 2020 which represents positive news for the 160+ exhibitors already confirmed for iGB Affiliate London, who will be occupying 6,265 sqm of net floor space across three halls at ExCeL London. The Affiliate market is upbeat about the year ahead and I’m looking forward to a repeat of the positivity that we all experienced at iGB Affiliate Amsterdam and iGB Live! staged five months ago.”

iGB Affiliate London (13–14 April, ExCeL London) connects affiliates to a 360-degree experience of igaming via networking and business lead-generation opportunities, content and learning.