Latest News
Flutter’s Sky Bet and EFL Launch Transformational “Building Foundations” Football Fund
Flutter Entertainment’s leading UK sports betting brand Sky Bet, the title partner of the English Football League (EFL), and the EFL are launching the “Building Foundations” Fund to provide £6m of vital funding for community projects across England and Wales.
The “Building Foundations” Fund represents the largest multi-year sponsor-backed fund dedicated solely to community activity and will give the 72 EFL clubs a chance to bid for grants of up to £100,000 to invest in ongoing programmes or to develop new initiatives.
From the current 2023/24 season, Sky Bet will invest £1 million per year into the Fund. A panel of industry experts, including Sky Bet ambassador Jeff Stelling, will agree the winning bids across a range of categories, such as improving local sporting facilities or promoting the physical and social benefits of the game. To mark the start of the “Building Foundations” Fund, Club Community Organisations (CCOs) at each of the 72 EFL Clubs will have the opportunity to spend an initial £10,000 grant.
Dan Colton, Managing Director at Sky Bet, said: “We’re incredibly proud of our long-standing partnership with the EFL – it’s a relationship that has gone from strength to the strength over the past decade and we wanted to raise the bar further still with the ‘Building Foundations’ Fund. The Fund is a core pillar of our new agreement with the EFL and we’re very excited to see the impact the £6 million will have on such important projects across England and Wales.”
EFL chair Rick Parry said: “Unrestricted funding for community activity on this scale is hard to find and presents an exciting opportunity for EFL clubs to further enhance the impact in the areas they are located. We are extremely grateful to Sky Bet for its ongoing support to the professional game in this country and this new investment via the ‘Building Foundations’ Fund will create a long-lasting legacy for the EFL and Sky Bet partnership.”
Jeff Stelling, former Sky Sports Soccer Saturday lead presenter, said: “Everybody knows my love of the English Football League. I also know all too well how lower league clubs and the communities around them struggle for financial support. I’m delighted to play a part in the ‘Building Foundations’ Fund and I truly believe it presents a great opportunity to make a real difference.”
Former Leicester City, Liverpool and England star Emile Heskey joined Sky Bet Managing Director Dan Colton and EFL chair Rick Parry at Barnsley’s 3G pitch to meet participants from its walking football programme, an existing community scheme for over 35’s that will benefit from the 2023/24 funding.
Blackburn Rovers plan to use the initial £10,000 to grow its “Remember the Rovers” programme which holds weekly sessions at Ewood Park, bringing people living with dementia together, who may otherwise be in social isolation, through the power of footballing memories.
Major findings from the newly launched report include playable ads having the potential to deliver impression-to-install rates 16 times that of non-playable formats for emerging gaming apps and a 20% increase in spending on interactive ads year over year.
Liftoff, a leading AI-enabled growth platform for the mobile app economy, has published its seventh annual Mobile Ad Creative Index. The report explores top creative trends that are attracting and scaling in ad spend across consumer apps and games. It also highlights the expanding role of AI in creative production, testing, and optimization.
This year’s Mobile Ad Creative Index specifically analyzes creative concepts that have excelled in scale for Liftoff’s highest-spending advertisers over the past 12 to 48 months. It is based on findings from over 4.7 trillion impressions, 263 billion clicks, and 1.1 billion installs between 1 January 2023 and 31 May 2025.
Highlights from the report include:
Top consumer apps are investing in interactive ads to compete for engagement
In 2024, the share of spend on interactive ads for top apps increased by 20% year over year. The share of spend increased by 2% for spenders outside the top tier. Top-spending apps differentiate their campaigns by adding innovations to evergreen concepts such as social scrollers, carousels, and scratch-offs.
Playable ads deliver returns across ad budgets for mobile game advertisers
In 2024, the share of spend on playable ads for top games averaged 35% higher than other games. Across all ad budgets, however, playable ads delivered higher conversion rates. Impression-to-install rates were 8 times that of non-playable formats for top spenders and 16 times that of non-playable formats for other game advertisers.
Tailoring “metaplay” elements to motivations can improve performance
“Metaplay” elements—gameplay that diverges from an app’s core design to appeal to a broader audience—are widespread, but top games gain an edge by tailoring their metaplay ads to the publisher audience. The report found that aligning “metaplay” creative with publisher audiences resulted in a 93% increase in installs-per-mille.
UGC is becoming a key differentiator in driving scale for consumer apps
The share of spend on user-generated content (UGC) increased 11% for top-spending apps, with social and utility apps seeing the most significant jump of nearly 30% between 2023 and 2024.
Widespread adoption of Gen AI leads to more customized ad experiences
Creative teams increasingly leverage AI to enhance top-performing assets with 3D and motion and to create and test variations. Top advertisers also use AI to recombine their assets in customized ad experiences that break away from standard video to playable formats.
Yann Zeller, Chief of Staff, Creative at Liftoff, said: “Today’s creative landscape is shaped by a single, powerful truth: attention is the commodity, and brands, games, and influencers are all vying for it. Great mobile ad experiences can earn attention by aligning context with behavior. As ad formats become richer and AI expands our ability to personalize and adapt creatives at scale, we’re able to unlock new insights into user behavior and motivation. We see users spend meaningful stretches with the right content, sometimes 60 to 90 seconds when the ad feels personal or prompts meaningful participation. This isn’t just a better way to advertise—it’s a better way to tell stories and the most exciting brief we’ve had in years.”
Soren Steelquist, Director of Creative Production, said: “The proof is in the data—more and more consumer apps are incorporating UGC into every stage of their marketing, and programmatic is no different. UGC works because it’s authentic and relatable, and users are more likely to be influenced by ad when it’s coming from a trustworthy source. To see higher impact from UGC creatives, work with a partner that can match the right creator with your brand and develop winning concepts that resonate with audiences.”
The post Liftoff’s 2025 Mobile Ad Creative Index Reveals UGC Is a Key Differentiator for Top Apps appeared first on Gaming and Gambling Industry in the Americas.
Affilka by SOFTSWISS, an affiliate management software platform, has secured the title of Affiliate Software Supplier at the prestigious EGR B2B Awards for the second consecutive year. The awards ceremony took place on 3 July at London’s iconic The Roundhouse, where the iGaming industry gathered to celebrate the most successful and innovative companies of the past year.
The consecutive win reinforces Affilka’s growing leadership in iGaming affiliate marketing software. Over the past 12 months, the product has consistently evolved, launching a series of powerful new features.
Among the recent updates is the Cross-Brand Player Duplicate Detection tool, which identifies overlapping player accounts across different casino brands within a single affiliate program. The platform also introduced the new Traffic Report, which provides real-time, click-to-registration and click-to-FTD metrics with multi-dimensional filters. Another new feature allows affiliates to access data on their marketing campaigns and tracking links directly via API, enabling automated data extraction and custom integrations.
At the end of last year, Affilka rolled out the Geo-Distributed Redirect feature, which boosts site visits by reducing redirect times from 1.5 seconds to 300–500 milliseconds, and the Cohort Analysis Report, which offers deeper insights into player behaviour.
Anastasia Borovaya, Head of Affilka by SOFTSWISS, commented on the recognition: “Winning this award two years in a row is an incredible achievement for our team. It reflects our hard work, creativity, and deep commitment to the continuing improvement of our platform. What makes this win special is knowing that the tools we build are already helping our partners solve real challenges. Whether refining traffic strategies or making smarter, data-driven decisions, we’re proud Affilka plays a part in their success.”
Thanks to ongoing updates and the introduction of new innovative features, Affilka by SOFTSWISS now supports over 450 brands, 400 thousand affiliate accounts, and 98 million player registrations.
Earlier in June, SOFTSWISS won two prestigious trophies at another EGR Ceremony – Marketing & Innovation Awards 2025. The company’s marketing department received the Marketing Team of the Year Award for its bold creative approach and effective use of new technologies and data analytics. In addition, Valentina Bagniya, CMO at SOFTSWISS, was named B2B Marketer of the Year for transforming the company’s marketing function into a powerful brand engine within the iGaming industry.
About SOFTSWISS
SOFTSWISS is an international technology company with over 15 years of experience developing innovative solutions for the iGaming industry. SOFTSWISS holds a number of gaming licences and provides comprehensive software for managing iGaming projects. The company’s product portfolio includes the Online Casino Platform, the Game Aggregator with over 30,000 casino games, the Affilka Affiliate Platform, the Sportsbook Software and the Jackpot Aggregator. In 2013, SOFTSWISS revolutionised the industry by introducing the world’s first Bitcoin-optimised online casino solution. The expert team counts over 2,000 employees.
The post Affilka by SOFTSWISS Wins at EGR B2B Awards for Second Year Running appeared first on European Gaming Industry News.
As summer reaches its peak, so do the opportunities for operators partnering with Spinmatic. The premium Slot developer has launched two new exclusive offers as part of its ongoing Rock the Month campaign – a high-impact promotional series featuring targeted incentives, exclusive discounts and seasonal themes designed to support long-term operator growth.
After a strong debut in July with Fruit Fiesta and Summer Splash, Rock the Month has quickly become a key initiative for many partners, offering unique commercial advantages each month, exclusively to Spinmatic clients.
For August, the provider turns up the heat with two new offers: Summer Crash and Freespin Hype. Both are available to apply for until July 25 and designed to help operators during the summer’s most critical weeks.
This August’s promotions offer Spinmatic’s partners the chance to unlock up to 60% off in Revenue Share, depending on the offer selected. Full activation details – including game selection and placement requirements – are reserved exclusively for Spinmatic’s operator network.
“Our goal with Rock the Month is to bring consistent value to our partners,” said Norbert Mathies, Managing Director at Spinmatic. “We know operators are constantly under pressure to keep players engaged, so with our monthly promotions, we aim to offer something that’s genuinely useful. With two offers available each month, operators can choose the one that best fits their market. At the same time, we’re helping them get more out of their campaigns and explore new games with reduced risk.”
Spinmatic encourages operators and industry stakeholders to stay tuned, as new Rock the Month promotions will continue to be rolled out monthly. For those looking for innovative ways to increase player loyalty and revenue, now is the perfect time to get involved.
The post “Rock the Month”: Spinmatic’s monthly promos to power operator growth appeared first on European Gaming Industry News.
-
Africa6 days agoDRC Signs MoU for Public-Private Partnership with Burundi’s East African General Trade Company
-
Compliance Updates6 days ago
The Danish Gambling Authority Blocks 178 Illegal Gambling Sites
-
Baltics5 days ago
HIPTHER Community Voices: Interview with the CEO and co-founder of Nordcurrent Victoria Trofimova
-
Baltics4 days ago
Lithuania Implements New Restrictions on Gambling Advertising
-
Compliance Updates5 days ago
MGM Yonkers Submits Commercial Casino License Application in New York
-
Central Europe4 days ago
FC Bayern and Betano Sign Partnership Agreement
-
Central Europe5 days ago
GGL Publishes its 2024 Activity Report
-
Africa4 days ago
SOFTSWISS Report: South Africa’s Gambling Revenue to Hit €3.63 Billion by 2025
