Why Top Affiliates Choose a Brand, Not Just a Payout Rate: the 1win Partners Story

Why top affiliates choose a brand, not just a payout rate: the 1win Partners story

Tatiana Chaplia, CMO of 1win B2B, on how the affiliate program builds long-term relationships with its partners — and why a network, an events calendar and a merch drop now sit alongside payouts in the pitch to top affiliates.

For a decade, iGaming affiliate marketing has competed mainly on numbers: revenue share percentages, CPA rates, payment terms, hold periods. That competition has now largely evened out.

In 2026, payout rates alone are no longer enough to stand out. Everyone knows the competitive benchmarks for each GEO. What increasingly sets an affiliate program apart is the strength of its brand and the community built around it.

Community building has become one of the key priorities for 1win Partners this year. For the brand, it strengthens trust, builds loyalty and gives the team a sharper read on what affiliates actually need. For affiliates, it creates an environment where they can make useful contacts, compare notes on what is working, discuss new GEOs and move from a first conversation to a joint launch faster.

Events do much of the work in that system. 1win Partners builds them to be worth attending for more than the agenda or the prize list. Padel Day, private gatherings, sports tournaments, large-scale promotions and limited merch drops bring people together around a shared experience while delivering something practical: direct access to the team, new business contacts and greater visibility across the market.

“Affiliates today look beyond the numbers in their dashboard. A strong product, reliable payouts and solid conversion rates are the foundation. The brand shapes everything built on top of it: how quickly people listen to you, who they introduce you to, which ideas they back and what doors open. We want 1win Partners to stay a place where affiliates grow, earn and feel the full scale of what they are building,” says Tatiana Chaplia, CMO of 1win B2B.

In the first half of 2026, that thinking played out across several initiatives: affiliate promotions around the IPL and the FIFA World Cup, two 1win Padel Day tournaments, title sponsorship of Traffic Football in Warsaw and the launch of a new merch collection.

The formats differed, but the brief behind them was the same. Every initiative should leave affiliates with more than a good photo op: contacts, business opportunities, a reason to scale and, of course, something worth remembering.

Promotions built around global sporting events

Sport remains one of the few universal languages in the global affiliate community. It brings different markets together, creates natural peaks in user interest and gives affiliates a clear window to scale.

Last spring, 1win Partners launched IPL: 1win Partners Edition for affiliates working with Indian traffic. The grand prize was a trip to the Formula 1 Monaco Grand Prix, with a Platinum VIP ticket, flights and accommodation included. Other prizes included a MacBook Pro, an iPhone 17 Pro Max and a Louis Vuitton backpack and duffel bag.

“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. We created an extra incentive to scale at the moment when the market offered the most room for growth.”

Next came the 1win World Cup, a global affiliate tournament built around the 2026 FIFA World Cup. Participants were split by partnership model, with separate leaderboards for CPA and RevShare. Qualifying required a minimum of 50 FTDs.

The total cash prize pool was $100,000. On each leaderboard, first place took $30,000, second place $12,000 and third place $8,000. Affiliates finishing fourth through tenth received exclusive custom 1win packs. Standings updated daily, so participants could track their position throughout the campaign.

Together, the IPL and FIFA campaigns drew more than 1,000 participants, with winners and leaderboard leaders coming from India, Africa and Latin America.

The promotions serve a wider purpose than handing out prizes. A major sporting event opens a narrow window of heightened demand, and clear mechanics plus an extra incentive help affiliates make the most of it.

The focus on sport carried over offline. In Warsaw, 1win Partners took title sponsorship of Traffic Football, a tournament featuring leading companies from the affiliate industry. The 1win Padel Day series, though, deserves a closer look.

1win Padel Day

Padel is growing fast worldwide, and 1win was the first brand to bring it into iGaming and establish the format within the industry — an entirely new reason for the community to gather. The result was a series of large padel tournaments for affiliates and invited guests, combining professional organization, a strong field of players and space to talk outside a meeting room.

“We are always looking for formats that reflect what our community is actually into,” Chaplia says.

“Padel is already part of everyday life for a lot of people in the industry. Our job was to bring them together, get the atmosphere right and turn that shared interest into a proper event.”

The first 1win Padel Day took place in Limassol on April 15 and drew immediate interest across the industry. The team capped the field at 150 players and split them into categories by skill level. Affiliates could enter the tournament or come as spectators, focusing on meeting people and supporting the players.

The first 1win Padel Day, Limassol, April 15, 2026.

“It was important that the event work for everyone,” Chaplia says. “Some people train regularly and step onto the court with real ambitions; others first picked up a racket a few months ago. Splitting players into categories kept the competition close and gave everyone a full tournament experience.”

The response led straight to a second edition. 1win Padel Day returned in Tbilisi on June 24, ahead of G GATE CONF, and ran bigger: more than 500 registrations and 228 players in the final lineup across 22 tournament groups.

The second edition of 1win Padel Day, Tbilisi, June 24, 2026.

The tournaments brought together representatives of leading iGaming companies, including Legends, 100HP, TrafficStars and G GATE. Founders, senior executives, media buyers, affiliate managers and product teams all ended up on the same courts.

Winners received premium Louis Vuitton gifts. The 1win Partners team also produced branded padel rackets as exclusive merch for participants, along with custom trophies and medals for the series — details that gave 1win Padel Day the feel of a professional competition.

The wellness shift

Step back, and the choice of a sports format reflects a broader change across the industry. Traditional evening events are still part of conference culture, but affiliates are increasingly drawn to formats built around sport, well-being and more intentional downtime.

People want to hold their energy, stay in rhythm and spend time somewhere they can reset and build useful contacts at the same time.

The Limassol and Tbilisi events helped set a trend other companies are now trying to recreate. 1win Partners plans to bring similar events to affiliates in more countries, extending the project’s reach and linking up local iGaming communities.

Each new edition will keep the concept’s core elements: sport, a strong guest list, premium gifts, exclusive merch and room for open conversation.

“What matters most is the long-term effect,” Chaplia says. “People stay in touch, set up meetings and start discussing joint projects. Padel Day became part of our partnership ecosystem this year, and we can already see those introductions turning into concrete projects.”

WINNING CODE

In 2026, 1win Partners introduced WINNING CODE, a merch collection inspired by Formula 1 and racing culture. The idea is scarcity by design: items are earned through performance, participation, a strong idea or a real contribution to the community.

The collection is already built into affiliate campaigns. Custom packs formed part of the 1win World Cup prize structure, and the winner of the FIFA Creative League — a companion creative contest run alongside the tournament — received a cash prize and an exclusive piece from the new collection.

WINNING CODE, the 2026 merch collection inspired by Formula 1 and racing culture.

The merch also gives community members a way to identify each other at conferences, tournaments and in transit. Limited production runs preserve that, with a specific story behind every item.

“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, and people spot one another without an introduction.”

A community has to help affiliates earn more

Events, trips and gifts create an emotional connection. At 1win Partners, that connection sits inside a wider commercial system.

Sports promotions push affiliates to scale during peak demand. Offline events speed up communication and surface new areas for growth. Editorial and speaking opportunities give participants visibility. Merch marks achievements and reinforces belonging. Affiliate earnings sit at the center of all of it.

That is why 1win Partners initiatives can look so different from one another. The Formula 1 trip is tied to results on Indian traffic. The Warsaw football tournament builds relationships face to face. Padel Day generates introductions and direct access to the team. Every piece of merch marks something worth remembering.

Through the rest of the year, the affiliate program will keep developing sports campaigns, private events, local meetups and promotions with major prizes. The focus will be on regions where the affiliate market is growing faster than the infrastructure around it. In those markets, direct contact, local expertise and a strong connection to a global brand count for the most.

“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. Everything we do centers on the affiliate — their ambition, their results and their drive to keep moving with a strong community behind them.”