
This year marked a historic shift for the gaming and affiliate industries as ICE and iGB Affiliate made their debut in the vibrant city of Barcelona, hosted at the iconic Fira Barcelona Gran Via. We had the pleasure of speaking with Taras Pasechnik, COO of BetDaddy, to hear his insights on this groundbreaking event, his key takeaways, and how BetDaddy is leveraging opportunities to drive its business forward in this exciting new chapter!
Q: Hello Taras, thank you for taking the time for this interview! So, ICE moved to Barcelona this year, a monumental change for the event. How did you find the new location compared to previous years, and what unique opportunities do you think the new city and venue bring to the industry?
Thank you for having me! The move to Barcelona was definitely a positive change for ICE. The Fira Barcelona Gran Via venue is much larger and more modern, providing an incredible atmosphere for networking and showcasing innovative solutions. The location itself is also a benefit; Barcelona is a vibrant and international city with unique architecture and vibes, which creates a lot of exciting opportunities for global partnerships and exposure.
From BetDaddy's perspective, the new city and venue have opened up more opportunities for collaboration, just because of a bigger scale, having 5 halls in total spread across the whole conference area!. The accessibility of Barcelona, means that we were able to engage with a wider range of potential clients and partners. The networking potential is off the charts, meaning approximately 55,000 industry leaders all in one place, which allows for richer conversations and stronger business relationships.
Q: What were some of the moments or innovations you observed at ICE and iGB Affiliate that stood out the most? Was there anything that particularly surprised or inspired you?
There were several moments that really stood out at ICE and iGB Affiliate this year! Among the first things that could be observed was the development of AI-driven tools and technology at a rapid rate especially in affiliate marketing areas, such as personalized customer experiences and predictive analytics. It is clear that AI is now impacting the ways that operators and affiliates engage with their audiences and these innovations are undoubtedly going to enhance the gaming experience. Another thing that really caught my attention was the increasing emphasis on responsible gaming and the integration of more effective tools to support player protection. It is crucial to apprehend the need to address player welfare therefore the discussions and real outcomes are now centered among all the parties.
Q: Could you tell us more about BetDaddy’s goals for these events, and how you approached presenting the brand to potential partners and clients?
The particular purpose for participating in ICE and iGB Affiliate was to increase and strengthen our media partnerships, especially when it comes to collaborating with operators and service providers. We are currently growing media coverage of BetDaddy.win to be a desired and reliable partner for operators and service providers to showcase their companies and products. It is a great event to meet potential partners who are seeking to cooperate with a reputable and targeted site to promote their brand to a very active target audience. For game providers, we have been focusing on establishing strong partnerships for game displays, qualitative game reviews, and in-depth articles. We think that by providing rich, engaging content like detailed news, game reviews and highlights, we can assist to acquire the recognition they need to succeed, as well as providing useful information for players and potential partners. We have a very selective approach to the games we feature on the platform, and every game featured on our platform is accompanied by meaningful commentary and clear, informative reviews. As for the media strategy, we would like to set BetDaddy as the go-to platform for operators and providers to get new customers and boost their visibility and growth. We believe in forming these media partnerships in order to not only benefit our partners and help them succeed, but also in order to contribute to the overall success of the iGaming industry.
Q: ICE and iGB Affiliate are known as industry trends and networking powerhouses. Did you identify any emerging trends in iGaming or specific collaborations that could shape BetDaddy’s growth in 2025?
Without a doubt, both ICE and iGB Affiliate are fantastic events to pinpoint future trends and build essential relationships, and this year was no different.
An emerging trend that caught our attention was the growing demand for more granular and analytics-based experiences in iGaming. At BetDaddy, this trend is something we are closely monitoring and we intend to incorporate the latest advancements in analytics and AI to improve the business interaction and increase player activation.
Regarding collaborations, the one that most excites us is the increasing partnership between game providers and affiliate platforms. They have realized that affiliates are vital in driving traffic and increasing brand recognition. We are already observing a shift towards more integrated and data-driven partnerships that allow affiliates to promote games and operators in a more effective and informed manner. We started having some of these conversations at ICE and iGB Affiliate, and we anticipate that these collaborations will be very significant in our growth in 2025.
Q: After such a dynamic experience at these events, what’s next for BetDaddy? How do you plan to integrate the insights and connections from Barcelona into your strategy for 2025 and beyond?
Having had such a dynamic experience at ICE and iGB Affiliate, we are very much looking forward to strengthening the contacts made in Barcelona into BetDaddy's plans for 2025 and beyond. One of our first priorities is to increase the effectiveness of our partnerships with operators and service providers by offering more specific and relevant collaborations options on BetDaddy.win. We have received useful input from our discussions at the event and plan to use this input to development steps with new functions and tools that will help partners promote their services and products to the right target market.
In regard to the media partnerships, we will be focusing on enhancing collaboration with operators, affiliates and service providers in order to present more quality information on the platform. We have actually begun to develop new collaborations right after the event in Barcelona and are interested to see how they will evolve into beneficial partnerships. The general vision is to make sure that BetDaddy continues to be part of the future of iGaming, so that our partners can grow and thrive while providing their business services to customers.