Latest News
Real Madrid and Barcelona neck-and-neck as world’s most valuable football brands in the face of COVID-19
- Real Madrid remain world’s most valuable football brand, but Barcelona narrow the gap to just €6 million
- COVID-19 causes total brand value of top 50 clubs to decrease for the first time in 6 years – €751 million or 3.7% is knocked off
- English clubs dominate the ranking with six brands in top 10 and 19 in top 50
- Liverpool inches two spots up into 4th place, following historic Premier League win
- Bundesliga’s 1. FC Köln is this year’s fastest-growing brand, followed by Leicester City and RB Leipzig – all recording over 40% growth
- Tottenham Hotspur’s new stadium takes top spot in Buro Happold’s Venue Performance Rating
Real Madrid remain the most valuable football club brand in the world for 2020, according to the latest edition of the Brand Finance Football Annual. Boosted by winning the LaLiga title for the first time since 2017, the club retained its position at the top of the table in the football industry, but against a backdrop of economic and social disruption, caused primarily by the COVID-19 pandemic, Real Madrid’s brand value has declined by 14% to €1,419 million.
Real Madrid’s disappointing on-pitch performance prior to 2019-20, which saw an earlier-than-normal exit from the UEFA Champions League in 2018-19 and a second successive season adrift of LaLiga champions Barcelona, eroded the club’s dominance of the Brand Finance ranking. The situation was exacerbated by COVID-19, along with a lack of stability around the management of the team. Barcelona, Real’s fierce rivals, are just €6 million behind Real with a brand value of €1,413 million, supported by strong and diverse revenue generation and continued domestic performance in Spain.
COVID-19 knocks off €751 million of brand value
Real Madrid is not the only club to see a drop in brand value this year. COVID-19 has caused the total value of the top 50 football brands to decrease for the first time in 6 years. Through its effect on the three main revenue streams – Matchday, Broadcasting, and Commercial – €751 million or 3.7% has been knocked off the cumulative brand value of the world’s top 50 most valuable football clubs.
The COVID-19 pandemic has challenged professional football worldwide and across all levels. Matchday income for the 501 games remaining in the big 5 leagues dropped to zero, but it is often the smaller clubs and leagues which are more reliant on this revenue stream – in Scotland it makes up 43% of total revenue, compared to only 13% in England.
There have been some positive signs, as Southampton vs Manchester City on BBC broke the Premier League TV audience record with 5.7 million viewers, but the longer-term damage to the game’s economic structure has yet to be revealed.
Richard Haigh, Managing Director of Brand Finance, commented:
“Top-level football has been confronted with the largest existential threat since the Second World War. Loss of income, coupled with health concerns about mass gatherings, have raised question marks about the future of the industry and the financial resilience of clubs across all levels. The full damage of the COVID-19 crisis has yet to unfold and it is not inconceivable there will be casualties in the form of club bankruptcies and changes in ownership.”
Despite the huge implications of COVID-19 for football clubs and their financial results, the majority of the brand value is secured by the clubs’ long-term future – provided they can survive the initial shock. For example, only 21% of Real Madrid’s brand value is delivered by the next five years’ financial results.
Premier power
Real Madrid and Barcelona are followed by a cluster of English Premier League clubs in the Brand Finance Football Annual 2020 ranking, with Manchester United in 3rd position after their brand value fell by 11% to €1,314 million. Liverpool, who won their first league title since 1990 in runaway style, are in 4th spot jumping above Manchester City in terms of brand value, rising from €1,191 million in 2019 to €1,262 million, a 6% increase. Chelsea dropped one place in the table to 8th after their value fell for the fourth consecutive year to €949 million. This was arguably due to the club being absent from the UEFA Champions League and also suffering a transfer ban after being charged with breaking Financial Fair Play Regulations.
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Booming Games
Booming Games Introduces Instastrike, the Latest Diamond Hits Trio
- Featuring a 5×3 layout, the game presents a highest win potential of 12,500x
- Players can gather red, green, and blue diamonds to activate three bonus features.
Booming Games, a top supplier of high-quality gaming content, has officially released Diamond Hits Trio: Instastrike. The game features a 5×3 layout, incorporating cutting-edge elements and stunning diamond graphics that deliver a high-end experience for players.
The game presents a strong new Instastrike function, delivering immediate rewards of up to 1,200x. Instastrike symbols can emerge unexpectedly, creating a feeling of thrill. Additionally, players who gather red, green, or blue Diamonds will activate one of three new bonus features aimed at further improving the gameplay experience.
The three bonus elements, each aimed at maintaining the excitement, include enlarged reels, enhanced Instastrike payouts, and extra free spins. Participants have the ability to activate each of these bonuses separately or merge them for an enormous winning potential of up to 12,500x. Featuring various instant payout levels, the game is anticipated to attract a broad audience of players.
Craig Asling, Director of Games at Booming Games, said: “Diamond Hits Trio: Instastrike is the latest example of Booming Games’ commitment to delivering high-quality, innovative games that provide an ultimate experience for players. Fast-paced gameplay and massive win potential is the perfect combination for anyone seeking high-stakes thrills. Power up and strike it rich with Diamond Hits Trio: InstaStrike!”
The post Booming Games Introduces Instastrike, the Latest Diamond Hits Trio appeared first on Eastern European Gaming | Global iGaming & Tech Intelligence Hub.
Latest News
How Mobile Ad Fraud Drains In-App Budgets — and How to Avoid It
Mobile ad fraud is a hidden drain on your app marketing spend. Traffy, a performance marketing agency specializing in mobile anti-fraud, shares strategies to safeguard your ad budget and maximize ROI.
Most advertisers don’t lose money because of weak creatives or poor funnels — they lose it because a significant portion of their in-app traffic is invalid from the very start.
The Scale of the Problem
In Q3 2025, mobile apps experienced approximately 33% IVT (Invalid Traffic), meaning roughly one-third of traffic was fraudulent or invalid. (Source: Pixalate — Q3 2025 Global Ad Fraud Benchmark Report).
These numbers aren’t just statistics — they reveal that a huge portion of advertising budgets is being spent not on real users, but on fake traffic, fabricated clicks, and bot-generated installs.
Depending on traffic sources and buying models, particularly in programmatic (DSP) environments, fraud levels can vary dramatically. In some cases, IVT may be as low as 5%, while in others it can exceed 50% where controls are weak. This means many advertisers are making campaign decisions based on data that was never real to begin with.
What IVT Really Means — And Why It’s Critical
IVT isn’t just “low-quality traffic.” It is traffic that can never convert into a real user or paying customer.
It includes:
- Bots and automated scripts
- Click farms and device emulators
- Hidden impressions and background clicks
- Fabricated installs and in-app events
When 33% of traffic is IVT, every third dollar spent is paying for actions that will never generate revenue. Multiple studies show IVT in mobile advertising frequently exceeds 20–30%, and can be even higher for certain platforms, GEOs, or traffic types. Fraud is not an edge case — it is a structural risk in in-app advertising.
Why Mobile Ad Fraud Is Getting Smarter
Despite widespread adoption of anti-fraud systems, techniques continue to evolve. Basic bot filtering is no longer enough. Common schemes include:
- Bot Installs & Bot Activity: Automated installs and simulated engagement mimicking real users.
- Click Injection / Click Hijacking: Apps intercept last clicks before installation and claim attribution.
- Click Spamming / Click Flooding: Mass fake clicks inflate activity signals and steal organic installs.
- Device Farms & Real Device Spoofing: Hundreds of devices generate fake installs and events, rotating identifiers.
- SDK Spoofing & Postback Fraud: Fake install or in-app event data sent directly to attribution systems.
- In-App Event Spoofing: Fabricated postbacks make reports appear normal, but no real users exist behind them.
How to Avoid Wasting Your In-App Budget
Fraud prevention is systematic verification and disciplined traffic management, not paranoia.
- Use an MMP With Advanced Anti-Fraud Protection
- Rely on trusted mobile measurement partners (Adjust, AppsFlyer).
- Enable built-in fraud detection — attribution without fraud protection is incomplete.
- Analyze CTIT (Click-to-Install Time)
- Extremely short CTIT → potential click injection
- Extremely long/uniform CTIT → potential click flooding
- Unnaturally consistent timing → possible automation
- Monitor CTCT (Click-to-Click Time)
- Short CTCT (<100 ms) detects script bots and click farms
- Check New Device Rate
- If 90%+ of devices are “new,” this indicates device farms resetting IDFA/GAID
- Track Assisted Installs
- High percentage of assists → organic hijacking (Click Flooding)
- Monitor Behavioral Anomalies
- Retention curves: bots may fabricate “perfect” retention
- Payments and cards: bots use virtual cards or $0 balances to bypass checks
- Key metrics: rebill rate, actual payment success
- Additional metrics: event depth, session duration, purchase timing, LTV distribution
- Work With Blacklists and Whitelists
- Build placement-level blacklists
- Identify reliable publishers via whitelists
- Audit sub-publishers continuously
- Remove suspicious sources early
- Check Infrastructure Signals
- Datacenter IPs (AWS, DigitalOcean, Hetzner) → block 100%
- Geo mismatch (click from India, install from US) → fraud
How to Win Against Fraud
With up to 33% of in-app traffic being invalid, advertisers aren’t just underperforming — they’re paying for illusions. Fraud can masquerade as growth, but the real advantage comes from knowing which traffic is real.
At Traffy, we specialize in mobile anti-fraud and help advertisers ensure every dollar reaches real users. A comprehensive fraud audit or traffic safeguard can protect ROI, reduce wasted spend, and provide predictable, scalable growth.
The post How Mobile Ad Fraud Drains In-App Budgets — and How to Avoid It appeared first on Eastern European Gaming | Global iGaming & Tech Intelligence Hub.
AI
PEC.BET Partners with Tugi Tark to Strengthen Sportsbook Offerings
AI-driven customer support company Tugi Tark has revealed a collaboration with PEC.BET, a recently established sportsbook and online casino operator that offers players access to various bookmakers via a single account. The collaboration integrates Tugi Tark’s customer support system and iGaming-focused AI agents into PEC.BET’s player assistance operations as the operator launches in the market.
PEC.BET functions on a cutting-edge multi-bookmaker sportsbook system that embraces winners. Grounded in transparency and accessibility, PEC.BET recognized customer service infrastructure as a critical operational focus from the outset and chose Tugi Tark for this purpose to create its support system.
“As a new operator, it was important for us to put the right operational foundations in place from the beginning,” said a spokesperson PEC.BET. “Our multi-bookmaker model means we welcome winners, which shapes how we approach player relationships. Working with Tugi Tark allows us to support players efficiently while ensuring our internal team remains focused on more complex player matters and VIP care.”
Tugi Tark’s AI platform for customer service offers PEC.BET a unified space to oversee player assistance through various channels. AI agents help with initial resolutions, while more complicated issues are forwarded to support personnel. This method allows PEC.BET to uphold consistent service while adjusting to rising demand as the operator expands.
“PEC.BET is entering the market with a clear focus on transparency and accessibility for players,” said Harpo Lilja, CEO of Tugi Tark. “Our role is to provide a support layer that can operate consistently from day one and scale alongside the platform as it grows.”
The post PEC.BET Partners with Tugi Tark to Strengthen Sportsbook Offerings appeared first on Eastern European Gaming | Global iGaming & Tech Intelligence Hub.
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