Former Chelsea and Real Madrid star Eden Hazard has joined Stake as a global ambassador, as the world-leading sportsbook and casino ramps up preparations for this summer’s historic World Cup.

The 35-year-old Belgian winger enjoyed a glittering career, winning the Champions League, two Premier League titles, two La Liga titles, and two Europa League trophies. Hazard made 126 appearances for Belgium, captaining the national team from 2015 to 2023, and helped his country secure third place at the 2018 World Cup. This year’s tournament, hosted across USA, Canada, and Mexico, will be the largest in history, featuring 48 teams.

Hazard boasts a social media following of over 58 million, including 27 million Instagram, 21 million Facebook, 6.3 million X, and 3.75 million Weibo followers, making him one of football’s most globally recognized stars. He joins Stake’s star-studded roster of ambassadors and will play a central role in fan engagement and awareness campaigns throughout the 2026 football season across digital channels.

Akhil Sarin, Chief Marketing Officer at Stake, said:

“With the 2026 World Cup set to be the biggest football tournament in history, this is a defining moment for fans and brands alike. Eden Hazard is a player who embodies creativity, flair, and big-stage performance – qualities that resonate strongly with our global community.

“Eden’s legacy in world football speaks for itself. He has performed at the very highest level and understands what it means to deliver when the world is watching. As we build towards an unforgettable summer of football, we’re proud to welcome him to Stake as a global ambassador.

“His worldwide appeal and deep connection with fans across Europe, Asia, and beyond make him the perfect addition to our ambassadorial roster as we continue to strengthen Stake’s position as the home of football entertainment.”

Hazard added:

“I’m really excited to be joining Stake at such an important time in the football calendar. The World Cup remains the pinnacle of our sport – the dream every player chases – and I’ve been fortunate enough to experience it on some of the biggest stages.

“Football has given me so many incredible memories, from lifting domestic and European trophies to captaining my country and making lifelong friends along the way. Now, in this next chapter, I can’t wait to engage with fans in new and meaningful ways, sharing insights, excitement, and the pure joy of football together with Stake.

“Football fans worldwide are incredibly passionate, and I’m delighted to collaborate with a brand that truly understands and celebrates that energy while delivering innovative, community-focused experiences. Let’s make the journey one to remember!”

Hazard’s appointment underscores Stake’s ongoing commitment to partnering with world-class sporting icons and delivering premium football entertainment to its global audience.

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Boost Casino has teamed up with ZingBrain AI to transform its static, manually curated lobby into a dynamic, personalized game environment. The partnership aimed to enhance player engagement, improve key performance metrics, and reduce ongoing manual management of the lobby.

Working closely, the teams introduced two core personalization features: a Recommendations section on the main casino page and a “Similar Games” pop-up displayed when a player exits a game.

To measure impact, an A/B test was conducted. One group of players continued to see the original lobby, while the other experienced the personalized environment. During the test, Boost Casino observed uplift in both turnover and GGR per player, with a slight increase in the number of unique games played per player. Post-test monitoring confirmed these improvements remained stable over several months, and the recommendation modules gradually became the primary method for players to discover new games.

Collaboration and Implementation

Boost Casino’s main objective was to move away from a uniform lobby layout and provide content tailored to each player. This approach aimed to broaden game exploration, enhance brand loyalty, and improve core revenue metrics.

Through close collaboration, the teams integrated personalization without disrupting the casino’s existing UX. The new sections were strategically positioned to maximize visibility and engagement. Using ZingBrain’s back-office tools, the Boost technical team quickly understood the API structure, personalized outputs, and data requirements. Smooth QA access enabled thorough testing prior to launch.

Despite complex internal architecture and multiple platform dependencies, the integration was completed efficiently and without any critical issues affecting players.

Analytics, including percentile-based analysis and the CUPED method, confirmed the uplift and helped the operator make an objective decision to continue and expand personalization.

Solution Overview

1. Main Recommended Section
This module combines familiar titles players already enjoy with new games tailored to their interests. Each player is assigned a Discovery Score, indicating their willingness to try new games, which adjusts the balance of new vs. known titles. Post-processing ensures recommendations stay fresh and avoid repetition.

2. Similar Games Pop-Up on Game Exit
When players exit a game, a pop-up displays similar titles based on multiple factors: game type, features, theme, volatility, and collaborative filtering. This ensures highly relevant alternatives are presented to each player.

Results Analysis

Due to the volatility of turnover and GGR, results were analyzed using multiple methods: trimming by percentiles, applying CUPED, evaluating median per-player values for long-term players, and checking statistical significance through p-values.

The analysis clearly showed an uplift in turnover and GGR per player, with a modest increase in unique games played. The stability of these results over time validated the positive impact of personalization and supported the decision to expand the initiative.

Expert Commentary

Oleg Smolerov, CPO, ZingBrain AI:

“Personalizing the lobby is a key step for any strong brand. The goals and mindset of the Boost Casino team immediately showed their deep understanding of the topic, which made every stage of the integration fast and seamless — from UX design all the way to evaluating the results. Being able to exchange ideas and test them together with such a strong team is a major driver of success, and I’m confident that we will discover many more effective use cases together in the future.”

Matteo Pacenti, Director of Product Management, Entain Northern and Central Europe:

“Introducing personalization was a major step in evolving the casino experience, and ZingBrain has proved to be the perfect partner. The integration was smooth, the testing rigorous, and the results are clear. The uplift in our core metrics gives us the confidence to expand personalization even further across the product, and we’ll be working closely with ZingBrain to continue to improve the UX for our players.”

Conclusion & Next Steps

The introduction of personalized recommendations has delivered measurable, sustained improvement in Boost Casino’s performance metrics while enhancing the player experience. The success demonstrates that personalization can be implemented quickly, safely, and effectively, even within complex platform architectures.

Looking ahead, both teams plan to expand personalization across additional touchpoints, integrate new real-time signals, and test advanced discovery scenarios, unlocking deeper engagement and creating a continuously evolving, player-centric casino experience.

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