Liliia Sudachenko, Boomerang Partners: “Our strategic goal is to become the number one sports affiliate program”
Liliia Sudachenko, Affiliate Team Lead at Boomerang Partners, discusses the company’s sports-led growth strategy and its upcoming attendance at iGB Affiliate Barcelona.
Exclusive interview.- As performance marketing continues to evolve within the igaming ecosystem, affiliate programs are placing greater emphasis on long-term value, transparency and sector specialisation. In this exclusive interview with Focus Gaming News, Liliia Sudachenko, affiliate team lead at Boomerang Partners, outlines the company’s objectives for iGB Affiliate Barcelona 2026, its sports-focused growth strategy, and how initiatives such as the AC Milan partnership and the upcoming Sports Marketing & Betting Calendar 2026 aim to deliver scalable opportunities for affiliates worldwide.
iGB Affiliates Barcelona is one of the main global hubs for performance marketing in igaming. What role does this event play in Boomerang Partners’ affiliate strategy, and what are your main objectives for the 2026 edition?
We have significant plans tied to our participation in iGB Affiliate Barcelona 2026. We’ll be attending the conference with our own booth, 81-L10, and would be delighted to welcome both new and potential affiliate partners. We see this event as a key moment to align our strategy with the market: we plan to discuss with partners our roadmap for developing the affiliate program, our latest initiatives, the TIME TO WIN concept guiding our 2026 strategic partnership with AC Milan, and approaches for boosting campaign effectiveness. Furthermore, we are preparing to present our strategic project, the ‘Sports Marketing & Betting Calendar 2026’, which is set to become a must-have tool for sports-oriented affiliate teams.
Affiliates today demand transparency, detailed analytics, and predictable monetisation models. How has Boomerang Partners refined its reporting tools and commission structures to respond to these expectations?
We take a personal approach to every partner, allowing both us and them to benefit from a win-win collaboration. Our affiliate program is constantly evolving. We analyse the market and industry trends to adapt to new realities and, in some areas, even stay ahead of them.
Our in-house analytics is something! We rely on a team of seasoned professionals who provide our affiliate partners with access to detailed data. However, we don’t just supply reports; we help partners interpret the data, identify growth opportunities, and scale successful approaches. This approach transforms analytics from a mere formal tool into a practical foundation for informed decision-making.
“Our affiliate program is constantly evolving. We analyse the market and industry trends to adapt to new realities and, in some areas, even stay ahead of them.”
Liliia Sudachenko, affiliate team lead at Boomerang Partners.
Furthermore, we place significant emphasis on the transparency and predictability of our commission models. Partners always understand how their earnings are calculated, which metrics form the basis of the calculations, and how strategic changes affect the outcome. We offer flexible collaboration models and are ready to adapt terms to specific goals and traffic types.
Sports betting has become one of the fastest-growing verticals for affiliates. What concrete opportunities does Boomerang Partners offer sports-focused affiliates looking to scale their traffic in 2026?
We have repeatedly stated our strategic goal: to become the number one sports affiliate program. Our partnership with AC Milan is a clear demonstration that Boomerang Partners is deeply connected to the world of sports. We are currently in the second year of our partnership with the Club, which allows us to offer our affiliate partners unique VIP experiences (such as fully funded trips to Milan, including flights, accommodation, and tickets to AC Milan home matches at the iconic San Siro Stadium). And that’s just one example. The centrepiece of the TIME TO WIN concept, which I’ve already mentioned, will be the AC Milan Hub. This is a dedicated web resource that will provide updates on our collaboration, along with various quizzes and giveaways for VIP experiences, Club match tickets, and unique merchandise.
I mentioned the ‘Sports Marketing & Betting Calendar 2026’ in my answer to the first question. It’s our unique, exclusive guide for sports-focused affiliate teams. It’s packed with analytical insights on how they can effectively structure their work in 2026, which will be the Year of Sports, thanks to two top-tier events – the FIFA World Cup 2026 and the Olympic Winter Games Milano Cortina 2026 – as well as numerous other tournaments. Our guide features a detailed calendar of these events, highlighting traffic peaks and specific regions where these competitions are most popular. Additionally, it provides affiliates with valuable data for planning campaigns across different tournament phases (pre-, during, and post-event), information on benefiting from our AC Milan partnership, and much more. The calendar will be launched at iGB Affiliate Barcelona 2026 and will subsequently be available for free download on our official website.
And, of course, we always have a wide range of attractive offers for affiliate teams working with sports traffic. This applies to both industry leaders and newcomers.
With a network of more than 3,000 affiliate partners worldwide, how do you balance growth with quality, and what type of affiliates are you especially interested in connecting with at iGB Affiliates Barcelona?
Every partner is valuable to us, and having over 3,000 of them doesn’t mean we’re just chasing numbers. We build a long-term collaboration strategy based on a clear understanding of how a partner can benefit us, and in turn, how they can benefit from working with us. And here, I’m not just talking about a wide choice of monetisation models, but also about the ‘money can’t buy experiences’ we provide to partners thanks to our partnership with AC Milan. This extends to our annual traffic tournament, the Golden Boomerang Awards, as well. Participating allows affiliates to showcase their expertise on a global stage and gain well-deserved recognition.
As part of our participation in iGB Affiliate Barcelona, we will be particularly interested in forming new sports-affiliate partnerships. We look forward to welcoming anyone interested in collaborating at our booth. Rest assured, we have a lot to offer!
You often emphasise long-term relationships over short-term performance. How does an event like iGB Affiliates help strengthen trust and collaboration with both existing and potential partners?
We view our participation in iGB Affiliate Barcelona as an opportunity to achieve several goals simultaneously. For instance, we’ve already scheduled a series of meetings with our current affiliate partners. This will allow us to exchange operational updates, discuss the 2026 strategy, align expectations, and ensure we are all moving in the same direction. Face-to-face meetings are particularly valuable for building trust, as they foster a more open and transparent dialogue than online communication.
Furthermore, iGB Affiliate Barcelona is an effective platform for forging new partnerships. Interacting with potential affiliate partners in person helps us gain a deeper understanding of their business model, traffic sources, and long-term objectives, moving beyond just evaluating short-term performance metrics. This makes it easier to assess our strategic compatibility.
Looking ahead to 2026, which markets, products, or incentive programmes will be key to Boomerang Partners’ growth?
I wouldn’t want to reveal all our secrets, but I can assure you that our strategy for 2026 is thoroughly crafted to drive our growth. Beyond the third season of the Golden Boomerang Awards, we have other initiatives and projects in the pipeline designed to boost our industry value, visibility, and trust. We are focused on expanding our base of affiliate partners, strengthening our presence in various geographic regions, and deepening our expertise, particularly in the sports sector. Every project we plan to launch in the coming year will bring us closer to our overarching goal: becoming the number one sports affiliate program in the industry.
“We are focused on expanding our base of affiliate partners, strengthening our presence in various geographic regions, and deepening our expertise, particularly in the sports sector.”
Liliia Sudachenko, affiliate team lead at Boomerang Partners.
