For years, iGaming affiliate marketing competed almost exclusively on numbers, with revenue share percentages, CPA rates, payment terms and hold periods defining every pitch.
That landscape has shifted dramatically in 2026, as payout benchmarks have become largely standardised across most major GEOs worldwide.
Tatiana Chaplia, CMO of 1win B2B, argues that brand strength and community are now the defining factors that separate leading affiliate programmes from the rest.
Community building has become one of the key priorities for 1win Partners this year, strengthening trust and giving the team clearer insight into what affiliates actually need.
For affiliates themselves, a genuine community creates an environment where useful contacts, market knowledge and joint launches become accessible far more quickly.
Events have become central to delivering that community experience, with 1win Partners designing activations around shared experiences rather than simple prize lists or agendas.
In the first half of 2026, the programme ran affiliate promotions around the IPL and the FIFA World Cup, two 1win Padel Day tournaments, title sponsorship of Traffic Football in Warsaw and a new merch collection launch.
The IPL: 1win Partners Edition campaign targeted affiliates working with Indian traffic, offering a Formula 1 Monaco Grand Prix trip, a MacBook Pro, an iPhone 17 Pro Max and Louis Vuitton accessories as prizes.
“A trip to Monaco is an unforgettable experience, but the value of the campaign goes further than that,” Chaplia says. “Affiliates see a direct line between traffic quality, volume and reward.”
The 1win World Cup, built around the 2026 FIFA World Cup, split participants into separate CPA and RevShare leaderboards, with a total cash prize pool of $100,000 and daily standings updates throughout the campaign.
First place on each leaderboard took $30,000, second place received $12,000 and third place earned $8,000, with custom 1win packs awarded to affiliates finishing fourth through tenth.
Together, the IPL and FIFA campaigns drew more than 1,000 participants, with winners and leaderboard leaders coming from India, Africa and Latin America.
1win Padel Day became one of the programme’s most talked-about formats, with 1win cited as the first brand to establish padel tournaments as a recognised iGaming industry gathering format.
The first edition took place in Limassol on 15 April, drawing 150 players split into skill-level categories so both competitive and recreational participants could enjoy a full tournament experience.
The second edition returned in Tbilisi on 24 June, growing significantly to more than 500 registrations and 228 players across 22 tournament groups, with representatives from Legends, 100HP, TrafficStars and G GATE attending.
“We are always looking for formats that reflect what our community is actually into,” Chaplia says. “Our job was to bring them together, get the atmosphere right and turn that shared interest into a proper event.”
Winners received premium Louis Vuitton gifts, while branded padel rackets, custom trophies and medals reinforced the professional feel of the competition across both editions.
Also launched in 2026, WINNING CODE is a merch collection inspired by Formula 1 and racing culture, built on scarcity and earned through performance, participation or genuine contribution to the community.
“Good merch has a story,” Chaplia says. “An affiliate remembers the moment attached to an item, a campaign, a trip, a win. Over time those stories become the community’s visual code.”
“1win Partners brings together people who want to grow faster, alongside others who think the same way,” Chaplia says. “With us, affiliates earn, get recognized, compare notes and find their next opening.”
