As registration opens for iGB Affiliate, ‘Nuevos Horizontes’ (New Horizons) has been unveiled as the creative theme driving the international marketing campaign in support of the 2025 edition which will be the first to take place at Fira Gran Via, Barcelona alongside sister show ICE.

Explaining the thinking behind the creative Naomi Barton, iGB Events’ Global Portfolio Director said: “The iGaming industry is continually evolving, and our 2025 campaign invites affiliates to explore new horizons at our exciting new venue, Fira Gran Via in Barcelona.

“iGB Affiliate is the home of the igaming affiliate community, and it enables connection, growth and shared business success for our audience of affiliates, operators and tech vendors. This campaign will drive our community into uncharted territory, sparking a spirit of exploration that embraces emerging markets, innovative strategies, and untapped commercial opportunities. It equips affiliates with the tools and insights needed to adapt, innovate, and conquer new horizons.”

She added: “With our move to Barcelona we’re setting our sights on an incredibly bright future. The additional space at Fira Gran Via, Barcelona, which is among the largest exhibition venues in Europe, will enable iGB Affiliate to achieve its full potential and continue to connect the best affiliates with the best operators and tech vendors.

“The 2025 edition of the show is set to feature a record 250 exhibitors and sponsors, occupying 15,000 sqm of space. The enhanced facilities in Barcelona will empower the affiliate community to forge new igaming connections, build strategic and trusted partnerships, expand their networks, and explore uncharted territories.”

Hire boots Footballco’s revenue diversification strategy

Global football content and media company, Footballco has announced the appointment of Nigel Leigh as its chief technology officer. Leigh joins Footballco from XL Media PLC where he held the role of chief information officer.

At Footballco, Leigh will be responsible for product design, development and engineering for the company’s portfolio of football media brands, which include global football brand, GOAL and leading women’s brand INDIVISA, as well as local market titles, including MUNDIAL (UK), Kooora (MENA), Voetbalzone (Netherlands), Spox (Germany), and Calciomercato (Italy).

Across its brands, Footballco reaches between 80m – 100m fans a month through its web and app platforms, driving more than one billion user sessions [according to measurement platform SimilarWeb].

Before XL Media, Leigh was chief digital technology officer at Johnston Press and head of commercial platforms (digital) for Telegraph Media Group.

Leigh’s new role will see him join Footballco’s leadership team and report to Footballco CEO Juan Delgado.

Leigh will be responsible for leading design, product and engineering teams across Footballco offices in the UK, Germany, Italy, Poland and the Middle East.

Delgado said, “Since Footballco was spun out of DAZN in 2020, with backing from TPG, we’ve seen significant growth, with 2x revenue as well as revenue diversification, making Footballco less reliant on the traditional ad media model. This has been aided by significant progress across affiliate revenue as well as growth in new markets, such as the Middle East and US.

“Nigel represents an important hire for the company to take this progress to the next level, as demonstrated by his time at XL Media PLC where he played an important role in growing the company’s affiliate business.

Similarly, his time at Telegraph Media Group and Johnston Press demonstrated his ability to lead large teams across global offices and bring publisher brands together into single tech stacks.”

Leigh said: “I’m excited to join Footballco and look forward to working across the company’s suite of football media brands at a time that is both exciting for the company and football in general.

“Footballco’s scale in football is unmatched, but there’s also huge room for growth, in terms of new revenue streams, affiliates and new markets, whether they’re geographical or demographic, such as women’s football.”