Key takeaways

• The Affiliate Leaders Awards 2026 entry deadline is approaching for the Lisbon event.
• Applicants need evidence of performance, compliance and measurable industry impact.
• Affiliate Leaders Awards 2026 recognition should reflect more than campaign scale or brand visibility.

Contents

1. What the awards cover
2. What a strong entry requires
3. What credible judging requires
4. Lisbon outlook

The Affiliate Leaders Awards 2026 give affiliates, agencies, networks and technology suppliers an opportunity to document their work before an industry audience. The strongest entries will connect creative execution with verifiable commercial results and responsible marketing.

A deadline-driven awards process can encourage rushed submissions. Applicants should therefore focus on evidence, clear chronology and the specific category criteria rather than filling an entry with unsupported superlatives.

What Affiliate Leaders Awards 2026 covers

Affiliate Leaders Awards 2026 Nears Entry Deadline Ahead of Lisbon Ceremony

Companies and individuals have less than one month left to submit nominations for the Affiliate Leaders Awards 2026, with entries closing on Thursday, 11 June.

Taking place on Wednesday, 30 September, the ceremony will welcome 400 professionals to Lisbon's MEO Arena, located directly next to the Feira Internacional de Lisboa, home of the Affiliate Leaders Summit 2026 and SBC Summit 2026.

The Affiliate Leaders Awards launched in 2025 to honour the companies and individuals shaping the future of affiliate marketing across global sports betting and iGaming.

In just one year, the ceremony has established itself as a standout industry event, giving shortlisted nominees high-profile exposure and recognition in front of leading operators, affiliates, and suppliers from around the world.

“The Affiliate Leaders Awards were a personal highlight of 2025 for me. It was fantastic to see so many deserving winners recognised, but what really stayed with me was the feeling that the affiliate community had finally come together to celebrate its own achievements, rather than being limited to just a couple of categories,” said Rasmus Sojmark, CEO and Founder of SBC.

“With the Affiliate Leaders Summit expanding into a standalone event in 2026, affiliate marketing is going to be a major focus in Lisbon this September. The awards give companies the chance to properly recognise the people, campaigns, and teams behind their success, and to be seen for the work they've delivered over the past year,” he added.

This year, TV presenter and reporter Alison Bender will return as host, presenting awards across 20 distinct categories.

Designed to recognise excellence across the entire affiliate ecosystem, the awards will celebrate achievements from affiliates, operator affiliate programmes, and supplier-side companies supporting the affiliate marketing space.

Categories range from individual honours such as Affiliate Content Manager of the Year and Affiliate Marketing Manager of the Year, to wider vertical accolades including Best Affiliate Network, Sports Affiliate, Casino Affiliate, and Crypto Affiliate of the Year.

Previous winners include names such as Clever Advertising, Flashscore, Gentoo Media, Odds Scanner Group, and bet365 Partners. Individual achievements were also recognised, with Alina Famenok (Ex-CEO, Already Media) and Jesper Søgaard and Christian Kirk Rasmussen (Co-founders and Co-CEOs, Better Collective) each receiving the coveted ‘Affiliate Leader of the Year' award.

To ensure the awards reflect genuine industry impact, shortlisted nominees will be selected by an independent judging panel, with the final winners chosen through a public vote.

The evening will begin with a welcome drinks reception, followed by a three-course dinner, live entertainment, a DJ, and an open bar throughout the night.

Individual tickets and tables can be reserved here:

Sponsorship opportunities for the Affiliate Leaders Awards are still available, including headline, premium, and supporting partnership packages. To enquire about sponsorship, contact the sales team at sales@sbcgaming.com.

Nominations for the Affiliate Leaders Awards close on Thursday, 11 June. Companies and individuals can submit their entries here. To support entrants, SBC has also prepared a dedicated guide outlining best practices for crafting award-winning submissions, including insights into what judges look for when evaluating entries.

The Affiliate Leaders Awards form part of Affiliate Leaders Summit 2026, the new standalone event for performance marketing and acquisition professionals taking place alongside SBC Summit at Feira Internacional de Lisboa from 29 September to 1 October 2026.

The event will feature its own exhibition floor, conference agenda, Affiliate Leaders Academy, dedicated networking opportunities, and the Affiliate Leaders Awards ceremony. More information is available at the Affiliate Leaders Summit website.

FAQs

What are the Affiliate Leaders Awards 2026?
The Affiliate Leaders Awards 2026 is an industry event that recognises outstanding companies and individuals in affiliate marketing across the global sports betting and iGaming sectors.

When is the deadline for award nominations?
The deadline for submitting nominations is Thursday, 11 June 2026.

Where will the Affiliate Leaders Awards 2026 take place?
The ceremony will be held at the MEO Arena in Lisbon on Wednesday, 30 September 2026.

How many professionals are expected to attend the event?
Around 400 industry professionals are expected to attend the awards ceremony in Lisbon.

Who created the Affiliate Leaders Awards?
The awards were launched by SBC in 2025 to celebrate excellence in affiliate marketing within sports betting and iGaming.

Who will host the Affiliate Leaders Awards 2026?
TV presenter and reporter Alison Bender will return as the host for the 2026 ceremony.

What categories are included in the awards?
The awards include categories such as Best Affiliate Network, Sports Affiliate of the Year, Casino Affiliate of the Year, Crypto Affiliate of the Year and several individual achievement awards.

How are the winners selected?
An independent judging panel will shortlist nominees, while the final winners will be chosen through a public voting process.

What activities are planned during the awards evening?
Guests will enjoy a welcome drinks reception, a three-course dinner, live entertainment, a DJ performance and an open bar throughout the night.

What is the Affiliate Leaders Summit 2026?
The Affiliate Leaders Summit 2026 is a standalone event focused on performance marketing and acquisition professionals, taking place alongside SBC Summit 2026 at the Feira Internacional de Lisboa from 29 September to 1 October 2026.

What a strong entry requires

An Affiliate Leaders Awards 2026 submission should identify the starting problem, the strategy, the execution period and the measured outcome. Claims about revenue, acquisition or conversion need enough context to show whether improvement was genuinely meaningful.

Compliance evidence matters in gambling marketing. Entries should explain age targeting, consent, advertising review, responsible-gambling messaging and the treatment of restricted markets. A successful campaign that creates avoidable regulatory risk is not a complete success story.

Applicants should also distinguish team performance from favourable market conditions. Judges need to understand what the entrant actually changed and why the result would not have happened without that work.

What credible judging requires

Affiliate Leaders Awards 2026 judging should use published criteria, appropriate conflict declarations and consistent scoring. Judges with commercial relationships to entrants should disclose them and step away where independence could reasonably be questioned.

Organisers can strengthen credibility by giving judges enough time, protecting confidential data and explaining whether public voting influences the final result. Transparency does not require revealing proprietary information, but it should make the process understandable.

Malta Media covers related gatherings through its events and conferences section and affiliate developments through its affiliates and marketing coverage.

Lisbon outlook

The Affiliate Leaders Awards 2026 can highlight strong work and create useful commercial visibility in Lisbon. The value of an award will depend on the quality of entries, judging independence and the industry’s confidence in the process.

Readers can consult SBC Events for official event and entry information and the Advertising Standards Authority for guidance relevant to marketing claims.

Affiliate Leaders Awards 2026 checklist

• Affiliate Leaders Awards 2026 entries need measurable evidence.
• Affiliate Leaders Awards 2026 claims require clear context.
• Affiliate Leaders Awards 2026 judging needs conflict rules.
• Affiliate Leaders Awards 2026 submissions should document compliance.
• Affiliate Leaders Awards 2026 categories need consistent criteria.
• Affiliate Leaders Awards 2026 recognition should reward sustainable impact.