Hub Affiliations awarded at Le Fonti Awards 2026 as Excellence of the Year for Innovation & Leadership in iGaming

Hub Affiliations has received the “Excellence of the Year – Innovation & Leadership – iGaming” award at the Le Fonti Awards 2026, adding a new recognition to its growth path built over the past years within the iGaming and affiliate marketing industry.

The award was presented during the Signature Milano ceremony on May 19, 2026, with organizers recognizing Hub Affiliations’ "ability to stand out in a highly competitive market through a model based on innovation, leadership, technological development, performance marketing, and the creation of an increasingly integrated ecosystem."

Hub Affiliations called the recognition at Le Fonti Awards "a further confirmation of a long-term trajectory: from the growth of its network to the development of editorial projects, from technological solutions to the strengthening of processes, quality standards, and international positioning."

Le Fonti Awards: the context of the recognition

The Le Fonti Awards are among the most recognized awards in Italy. The awards celebrate companies, professionals, and brands capable of standing out in their respective sectors, giving visibility within an international business community. 

The Milan edition held on May 19, 2026, was part of the 16th edition of Le Fonti Awards, in a context dedicated to excellence in business, entrepreneurship, and professional services. The ceremony took place in Milan, at Palazzo Mezzanotte, the historic headquarters of Borsa Italiana. 

Le Fonti Awards position themselves as a platform dedicated to highlighting companies capable of expressing leadership, innovation, growth, and the ability to make an impact in their reference market. 

Innovation and leadership: two key pillars in Hub Affiliations’ journey

The award received by Hub Affiliations highlighted two core dimensions of the company’s journey: innovation and leadership.

"In the iGaming industry, innovation does not only mean introducing new tools or launching new projects," the company stated. "It means building models capable of adapting to a rapidly changing market, where affiliate marketing, content, performance, technology, data, and responsibility must coexist within a coherent vision."

"Leadership, in the same way, is not measured only by brand visibility but by the ability to guide an ecosystem, create value for affiliates and partners, develop sustainable projects, and maintain a clear direction even in an increasingly competitive environment," Hub Affiliations added.

The company further called the Excellence of the Year – Innovation & Leadership – iGaming award an important step: Hub Affiliations is not being recognized for a single result, but for a broader journey that integrates strategy, execution, and growth capacity.

An ecosystem built across multiple levels

Over the past years, Hub Affiliations has developed an ecosystem operating across multiple levels of the market: affiliate marketing, editorial projects, vertical content, performance, technology, training, creator economy, and network development. 

This structure has enabled the group to move beyond the fragmented logic typical of many operators in the sector, building instead a more integrated model in which each component contributes to overall growth: from vertical media to technological solutions, from operator partnerships to the quality of internal processes.

The award at Le Fonti Awards reinforces this interpretation, said the firm, recognizing Hub Affiliations’ ability to operate with a broader vision, connecting innovation and leadership in an industry where differentiation is increasingly complex.

The editorial network and the role of media assets

A central part of Hub Affiliations’ growth is represented by its editorial network, which includes DerbyDerbyDerby and Milanisti Channel, both journalistic outlets partnered with La Gazzetta dello Sport, together with 123Scommesse, ScommesseSerieA, Betadvisor, Sporticos, and Sbostats.

This network reflects the group’s ability to operate across different audiences and verticals, from sports news and football communities to betting analysis, sports data, affiliate content, and performance-driven media projects.

Hub Affiliations noted that the strength of its editorial ecosystem lies in its capacity to combine content, audience engagement, credibility, and conversion. "In the current iGaming and affiliate landscape, media assets are no longer simply traffic channels: they are strategic platforms capable of building trust, shaping communities, and supporting sustainable acquisition models," the company stated.

Within this structure, each project contributes to a broader positioning. Sports-focused media properties strengthen the group’s editorial authority, betting-oriented platforms support user education and acquisition, while data-driven assets such as Sporticos and Sbostats reinforce the analytical and performance side of the ecosystem.

SportMediaAcademy: training the next generation of sports journalists

The ecosystem also includes SportMediaAcademy, Hub Affiliations’ training platform dedicated to sports journalism and digital media education.

SportMediaAcademy was created to help users transform their passion for sport into professional skills, with training paths focused on sports storytelling, digital writing, SEO, social media, WordPress, and multimedia communication. The platform describes its mission as training the next generation of sports journalists through practical skills, updated tools, and a modern vision of sports reporting. 

A distinctive element of SportMediaAcademy is its practical approach. The courses are designed not only as theoretical training, but as a laboratory of writing, method, and editorial vision, with the opportunity for the most deserving students to access editorial experience within DerbyDerbyDerby. 

SportMediaAcademy adds an educational layer to the Hub Affiliations ecosystem, not only building media and performance assets, but also developing new skills, new talent, and new professional paths in sports journalism.

From performance marketing to technology: an increasingly structured growth path

The company further noted that its evolution has been characterized by its ability to combine performance marketing and technology. In today’s iGaming market, growth can no longer depend solely on the ability to generate traffic.

"What matters now is the quality of acquisition, the sustainability of business models, data analysis, the strength of content, and the ability to create solid relationships with partners and users," the company said.

Hub Affiliations has progressively built its positioning around this integration, developing an approach oriented not only toward measurable results, but also toward the quality of the model itself.

"It is precisely this combination of execution, innovation, and entrepreneurial vision that makes the recognition received particularly consistent with the group’s journey."

A recognition that fits into a broader trajectory

The award at Le Fonti Awards adds to other recognitions, certifications, and results achieved in the affiliate and iGaming landscape. 

For Hub Affiliations, being awarded as Excellence of the Year in a category dedicated to Innovation & Leadership means further strengthening its reputation at a time when the industry increasingly requires reliable, structured models capable of generating long-term value.

The company also said the recognition confirms the group’s ability to position itself not simply as an affiliate network, but as an entrepreneurial ecosystem capable of connecting different areas of expertise: digital publishing, technology, performance, partnerships, business development, innovation, and training.

Francesco Maddalena, Founder and CEO of Hub Affiliations, commented: “Receiving the Excellence of the Year award for Innovation & Leadership in the iGaming sector is an important recognition for our entire ecosystem.

It is an award that values the work built over time, but also the ability to continue innovating in an industry where competition is increasingly high, and the quality of the model makes the difference.

For us, innovation means building tools, processes, and projects capable of generating real value. Leadership means maintaining a clear direction, working on quality, and continuing to develop a sustainable ecosystem over the long term”.

Charles Herisson, Founder of Hub Affiliations, added: “This recognition has a particular value because it rewards two central elements of our journey: innovation and leadership.

Over the past years, we have worked to build an ecosystem capable of integrating different skills: technology, performance marketing, content, business development, strategic partnerships, and training.

Being awarded at Le Fonti Awards confirms that the path we have taken is being recognized even beyond the strictly affiliate perimeter. It is an important signal because it reflects the maturity of a model that does not simply aim to grow, but to build value in a structured way”.