Hub Affiliations has been shortlisted in three major categories at the SBC Awards Americas 2026, confirming the group’s growing momentum across the Americas and the strategic role of Sporticos.com as a key asset for reaching high-intent sports audiences.

The company has been shortlisted for:

• Affiliate of the Year: Latin America
• Affiliate of the Year: North America
• Acquisition & Retention Partner

The SBC Awards Americas recognise excellence across betting, iGaming, affiliate marketing, payments, technology, marketing and supplier services across the American markets.

The awards ceremony will take place on June 10, 2026, at the Broward County Convention Center in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, as part of SBC’s Americas events.

Sporticos.com at the centre of Hub Affiliations’ growth in the Americas

The triple nomination comes at a time of strong acceleration for the Hub Affiliations ecosystem, with Sporticos.com playing an increasingly central role in the group’s expansion strategy across North and South America.

According to GA4 data for the period May 1, 2025, to April 30, 2026, Sporticos.com recorded 9,198,287 active users, 9,027,554 new users and 12,020,873 sessions globally.

Across the Americas, key markets included Brazil with 1,821,969 active users, Argentina with 761,182, Peru with 597,393, Colombia with 481,987, the United States with 306,332, Ecuador with 206,685, Mexico with 122,106, Chile with 96,775 and Canada with 57,519. These figures confirm a broad and increasingly distributed presence across both LATAM and North America.

Sporticos.com has become one of the key assets in Hub Affiliations’ Americas strategy, with its growth focused on transforming international sports audiences into commercial opportunities for operators, brands and regulated partners.

The platform’s strength lies in its ability to capture high-intent users through sports content, match information, data, comparison tools and conversion journeys adapted to the needs of local markets.

Key Sporticos.com markets in the Americas

During the period analysed, the leading markets across the Americas were:

Brazil is currently Sporticos.com’s largest global market by active users, followed by several other strategic Latin American countries. The presence in the United States and Canada is also particularly relevant, as these are more mature, regulated and competitive markets where growth depends on audience quality, editorial credibility, technology and compliance.

Latin America: A strategic growth region

The nomination for Affiliate of the Year: Latin America reflects Hub Affiliations’ growing footprint in one of the most dynamic regions in global iGaming.

LATAM is becoming increasingly important for betting and affiliate marketing, driven by passionate sports audiences, young digital consumers, regulatory development and strong demand for localised content and user acquisition solutions, Hub Affiliations noted.

For Hub Affiliations, Latin America is not simply an expansion region. It is “a strategic laboratory where the group can combine sports audiences, localised content, comparison tools, data and sustainable acquisition models,” it said.

Brazil is particularly significant. With more than 1.82 million active users, it was the leading Sporticos.com market in the period analysed. Argentina, Peru, Colombia, Ecuador, Mexico and Chile also generated relevant volumes, confirming a regional footprint that is not dependent on one single jurisdiction.

This geographic diversification allows Hub Affiliations to build commercial partnerships across multiple markets and offer operators a more integrated regional growth proposition.

North America: Building credibility in mature and competitive markets

The company said that the nomination for Affiliate of the Year: North America carries particular significance because it relates to markets that are complex, regulated and highly competitive.

“The United States and Canada are markets where traffic quality, compliance, editorial reputation, brand trust and technology are all critical barriers to entry,” it noted.

Sporticos.com recorded more than 306,000 active users in the United States and more than 57,000 active users in Canada during the period from May 1, 2025, to April 30, 2026.

“While these numbers are smaller than the leading LATAM markets, they are strategically important because they were achieved in markets where sustainable growth cannot be built on volume alone, but must be supported by audience quality, content reliability, technology and commercial sustainability,” Hub Affiliations added.

In increasingly regulated markets, the ability to combine performance, editorial quality and a compliance-first approach is becoming one of the central elements of the Hub Affiliations model.

A founder-led, execution-based model

One of the distinctive features of Hub Affiliations is its founder-led model: a structure directly guided by entrepreneurs, with strong operational involvement, fast decision-making and a clear focus on execution.

At a time when several affiliate players are facing consolidation, restructuring or increasing organisational complexity, Hub Affiliations “maintains a more agile entrepreneurial structure, capable of moving quickly across editorial, commercial and technological opportunities,” the company noted.

The group operates with an execution-based culture, where strategy, technology, content, SEO, data and commercial development are integrated rapidly to turn market opportunities into measurable results.

This model allows Hub Affiliations to test new markets quickly, adapt content to local needs, integrate digital assets, build direct commercial partnerships and measure the value of the users it generates.

Hub Affiliations and NYCE International

Hub Affiliations’ international positioning is also strengthened by its role as lead investor in NYCE International, a London-listed company active in the gaming and digital entertainment sector.

For the company, this connection adds a further strategic dimension to Hub Affiliations’ growth story, as it reflects the group’s broader ambition “to operate not only as an affiliate and performance marketing business, but also as an investor and strategic partner within the wider iGaming, gaming technology and digital entertainment ecosystem.”

The relationship with NYCE International reinforces Hub Affiliations’ ability to connect media, acquisition, technology, capital and international expansion in a single long-term strategy.

Francesco Maddalena: “This shortlist confirms the direction of our international growth”

Commenting on the shortlist, Francesco Maddalena, co-founder of Hub Affiliations, said:

“Being shortlisted in three categories at the SBC Awards Americas 2026 is a source of great pride for our entire team. This recognition comes at a very important stage in our journey, as we are proving that Hub Affiliations can compete not only in Europe, but also across some of the most dynamic markets in the Americas.”

Maddalena highlighted the central role of Sporticos in the company’s international strategy:

“The numbers generated by Sporticos.com across North and South America confirm that we are building a platform with a real ability to reach international audiences. Brazil, Argentina, Peru, Colombia, the United States, Mexico, Chile and Canada are all strategic markets for our development. The growth of these countries shows that our model, based on content, data, SEO, comparison and conversion funnels, can be scaled effectively beyond our historical markets.”

According to Maddalena, the triple nomination also confirms the evolution of the company’s positioning:

“Hub Affiliations is no longer simply an affiliate business. We are a growth partner for operators. We work on acquisition, but also on user quality, retention, commercial sustainability and long-term value creation. The nomination for Acquisition & Retention Partner is particularly meaningful because it reflects exactly this evolution.”

Maddalena also underlined the importance of entrepreneurial speed:

“Our competitive advantage is speed. Being founder-led means being able to make decisions quickly, test new markets, adapt the model, adjust direction and keep executing. In a sector that changes so rapidly, execution is just as important as strategy.”

Charles Herisson: “Hub Affiliations is entering the Americas with the assets, numbers and speed of a global player”

Charles Herisson, investor and strategic advisor to Hub Affiliations, also commented on the recognition:

“This triple nomination at the SBC Awards Americas 2026 is a very strong signal for Hub Affiliations. It is not only a confirmation of the work already done, but proof that the group is entering a new international phase, with the assets, numbers and ambition of a global player.”

Herisson highlighted the strategic relevance of the Americas:

“The Americas are now one of the most interesting areas for the evolution of our model. In LATAM, we see young, dynamic and fast-growing markets. In North America, we see mature, regulated and highly selective markets. Being shortlisted in both regions means that Hub Affiliations is building a platform capable of speaking to two different worlds with the same strategic quality.”

On the role of Sporticos, Herisson added:

“Sporticos.com is a fundamental asset because it starts from a real user need: knowing where to watch a match, finding useful sports information and navigating content and opportunities. From this perspective, Sporticos is not just traffic. It is intent, context and relationship. That is exactly where a more intelligent acquisition model begins.”

Herisson connected this growth to the entrepreneurial DNA of the group:

“Hub Affiliations is a founder-led business. That means decisions are not slowed down by unnecessary layers of bureaucracy. They are made close to the market, close to operators and close to the data. Our strength is execution: identifying an opportunity, validating it, building the funnel, measuring it and scaling it.”

He concluded:

“Our ambition is not simply to enter the American markets, but to build a growth infrastructure capable of connecting sports audiences, regulated operators, data and local content within a single international ecosystem. This shortlist is not only a recognition of the past. It is the signal of a new phase: Hub Affiliations is entering the Americas with the numbers, assets and speed of a global player.”

Acquisition & retention partner: Beyond traffic

Hub Affiliations stated that the nomination in the Acquisition & Retention Partner category clearly reflects the strategic transformation of the group.

“The market no longer rewards only volume generation,” the company affirmed. “It increasingly rewards companies capable of delivering quality users, building sustainable conversion journeys, improving lifetime value and supporting operators in their long-term relationship with players.”

The nomination recognises Hub Affiliations’ ability to operate across several layers: user discovery, informative content, comparison, conversion, reactivation, CRM and long-term value creation for operators.

For Hub Affiliations, acquisition and retention are closely connected. Quality acquisition begins with understanding user intent, localising content, building editorial credibility and creating conversion funnels aligned with operator needs.

Retention is then built through more relevant experiences, recurring content, useful comparison, data and the ability to accompany the user beyond the first contact.

This approach positions Hub Affiliations not simply as a traffic provider, but as a sustainable growth partner.

Team, technology and international execution

The result at the SBC Awards Americas 2026 also recognises the work of an international team operating across content, SEO, technology, data, commercial development, operations, compliance and partnership management.

Each nomination reflects a different part of the Hub Affiliations ecosystem.

Affiliate of the Year: Latin America highlights geographic growth and local execution.

Affiliate of the Year: North America recognises credibility in mature and regulated markets.

Acquisition & Retention Partner reflects the group’s ability to create value beyond traffic.

The result also confirms the maturity of an international team capable of bringing editorial, commercial, technological and analytical expertise into one operating model.

Maddalena added:

“This shortlist belongs to all the people who contribute every day to the growth of Hub Affiliations. Every international result comes from daily work involving analysis, content, technology, commercial relationships and attention to detail.”

Looking ahead to Fort Lauderdale

The awards ceremony on June 10, 2026, will represent a symbolic moment for Hub Affiliations.

“Arriving in Fort Lauderdale with three nominations means presenting the American market with a concrete growth story: measurable audience expansion, a fast-growing asset in Sporticos.com, a distributed presence across key LATAM and North American markets, a strategic role as lead investor in NYCE International, and an operating model capable of rapidly turning opportunities into results,” the company said in a statement.

“With three nominations at the SBC Awards Americas 2026, rising numbers across the main markets of the Americas and a founder-led model focused on execution, Hub Affiliations arrives in Fort Lauderdale not only as a finalist but as one of the most dynamic affiliate groups in the new global geography of iGaming.”