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Kindred Group extend six-year Middlesbrough FC partnership and cements long-term community commitment to supporters
The Kindred Group will remain as Middlesbrough Principal front-of-shirt partner for another two years in a move that will significantly strengthen the club’s outreach work in the local community.
Kindred have partnered with Middlesbrough since 2018 – meaning the partnership will be nearly a decade old by the end of the latest deal, making it one of the most successful and long-running in British football.
Significantly, the partnership will continue to fund Middlesbrough FC Foundation’s (MFCF) delivery of Team Talk – a men’s mental health initiative. The Team Talk platform uses the local club and its players, manager and staff as a mechanism to engage with men about their mental well-being.
The logo of gambling operator Unibet adorns first team shirts in what is another record-breaking partnership for the club. “Zero% Mission”, which is Kindred’s Responsible Gambling message, appears on this season’s shirts.
Kindred have also pledged to donate a percentage of their hospitality and merchandising rights to supporters via competitions and giveaways.
Further, Kindred will donate front-of-shirt sponsorship space to MFC through the season – allowing for the promotion of the club’s charitable initiatives.
MFC Foundation works to raise aspirations and improve the life chances of young people and adults across Teesside. Its work is supported and funded, in part, by the club’s commercial partners, including Kindred Group.
Kindred has always played a central role in the club’s ‘Foundation Weekend’. This forms part of an initiative to highlight the Foundation’s life-changing work for participants of all ages in the local community, as well as how people in the area can access its projects and services.
Sam Mead, UK General Manager, Kindred Group, said: “Kindred’s relationship with Middlesbrough is one of football’s longest running and impactful, so far as community outreach is concerned. That is why we were committed to extending the partnership for another two years.
“We recognise that we are in the privileged position to positively influence clubs and their communities – a responsibility we take seriously. That’s why the basis of this latest partnership will be to help showcase the MFC Foundation’s wide-ranging work, including the men’s mental health initiative Team Talk.”
Liam McGuinness, Head of Commercial, Middlesbrough FC, said: “Everyone at the club is absolutely delighted to extend our partnership with the Kindred Group for another two years. Most importantly, we’d like to thank them for continuing their vital support of the club’s Foundation – especially through the Team Talk mental health initiative.
“The health and wellbeing of our local community is very important to ourselves and Kindred. We are all looking forward to the opportunity to continue driving forward new initiatives that will benefit both our supporters and the people of Teesside”.
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Flashscore
Flashscore tops speed rankings in UK fan survey ahead of 2026 World Cup
Flashscore has been ranked the fastest sports results platform by UK fans, according to new research into how audiences consume live sport.
In the UK survey of 2,000 sports fans, 46% identified Flashscore as the quickest platform. Flashscore said the pattern was similar in Italy, where 49% of 2,000 respondents named Flashscore the fastest, and in Brazil, where 53% of 3,300 participants reached the same conclusion.
Respondents also associated Flashscore with reliability. In Italy, Flashscore (known locally as Diretta) was recognised as being more accurate than competitors and national broadcasters’ platforms, while in the UK and Brazil it was recognised as being equal to or close to competitors and national broadcasters’ platforms.
Flashscore Director of Engineering Tomáš Kavka said: “It is not one magic technology that solves everything, it is a lot of small and larger right decisions over time.
“Serving a user in South America from Europe is technically possible, but speed is in our DNA. If we want to be the fastest on every continent, we need to be as close as possible to the user. And the data needs to reach that location the moment it appears in our database.”
The company said it continues to scale globally in its 20th year since launch, reporting more than 125 million monthly users worldwide, more than 400 million app downloads across its portfolio, and approximately 145 billion monthly impressions. Flashscore also reported over four million UK downloads, more than two billion monthly impressions, and average daily time spent close to 30 minutes. On infrastructure, Flashscore said it moved to a new data centre in Prague in 2024, tripling processing capacity, and uses a distributed cloud architecture. It added that during a major Champions League matchday earlier this season it handled 34 million users in a day, delivered 700 million notifications, and processed up to 1.3 million requests per second.
The post Flashscore tops speed rankings in UK fan survey ahead of 2026 World Cup appeared first on Eastern European Gaming | Global iGaming & Tech Intelligence Hub.
executive appointments
Evoplay promotes Diana Larina to Chief Marketing Officer
Evoplay has promoted Diana Larina to Chief Marketing Officer, expanding its senior leadership team. The company said Larina will continue to lead its brand, performance and product marketing teams, with a focus on growth, strategy and market positioning.
Larina joined Evoplay in 2022 as Head of B2B Marketing. She was promoted to Head of Growth Marketing in 2023 and then appointed Head of Marketing in November 2024.
Evoplay credited Larina with leading major campaigns and helping shift the business towards a more B2C-focused approach aimed at strengthening player engagement. The company also highlighted award nominations including Woman Leader of the Year at the AffPapa iGaming Awards, Young Changemaker at the Casino Guru Awards, Marketing Star of the Year at the G Gate Awards, Young Leader of the Year at the WIG Diversity Awards, and a debut appearance on the Top 50 Masters of iGaming Marketing list.
Diana Larina, CMO at Evoplay, said: “I’m incredibly proud of what the marketing team has achieved at Evoplay and I’m excited about what comes next. This promotion is a reflection of the hard work of everyone around me, and I look forward to continuing to push boundaries, build the brand and drive growth as we expand our presence across global markets.”
Ivan Kravchuk, CEO at Evoplay, added: “From the moment Diana joined us, she demonstrated exceptional drive, leadership and ambition. Her journey through the company is a testament to both her talent and dedication, and this promotion to CMO is incredibly well deserved. Diana has consistently delivered impactful results while inspiring those around her, and I’m confident she will continue to play a key role in shaping Evoplay’s future.”
The post Evoplay promotes Diana Larina to Chief Marketing Officer appeared first on Eastern European Gaming | Global iGaming & Tech Intelligence Hub.
Diana Larina CMO at Evoplay
Evoplay promotes Diana Larina to Chief Marketing Officer
Evoplay has promoted Diana Larina to Chief Marketing Officer, expanding its senior leadership team.
Larina joined Evoplay in 2022 as Head of B2B Marketing. She was promoted to Head of Growth Marketing in 2023 and appointed Head of Marketing in November 2024.
Evoplay said Larina has led marketing initiatives spanning brand, performance and partner-focused campaigns, and contributed to a shift towards a more B2C-focused approach aimed at strengthening player engagement.
Diana Larina, CMO at Evoplay, said: “I’m incredibly proud of what the marketing team has achieved at Evoplay and I’m excited about what comes next. This promotion is a reflection of the hard work of everyone around me, and I look forward to continuing to push boundaries, build the brand and drive growth as we expand our presence across global markets.”
Ivan Kravchuk, CEO at Evoplay, added: “From the moment Diana joined us, she demonstrated exceptional drive, leadership and ambition. Her journey through the company is a testament to both her talent and dedication, and this promotion to CMO is incredibly well deserved. Diana has consistently delivered impactful results while inspiring those around her, and I’m confident she will continue to play a key role in shaping Evoplay’s future.”
The post Evoplay promotes Diana Larina to Chief Marketing Officer appeared first on Eastern European Gaming | Global iGaming & Tech Intelligence Hub.
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