Interview with Anton Eshtokin

“TIME TO WIN" is launching just as the 2026 sports season enters its first peak. Can you walk us through the strategic move behind this concept? Is this just a tournament, or does it signal a wider shift in how Boomerang Partners approaches affiliate activations?

The TIME TO WIN tournament aligns with the strategic launch of our initiatives for the 2026 sports season. As an Official Regional Partner of AC Milan, we aim to continuously evolve our joint projects year after year. This tournament is a significant milestone within the new TIME TO WIN concept, which we’ve developed to span the entire season.

This isn’t just another affiliate tournament; it represents a shift in how we engage with our affiliate partners as one of the leading betting affiliate networks. By introducing new mechanics, we aim to drive deeper involvement from participants. Additionally, it allows us to gather crucial feedback and insights, which is essential for refining our future campaigns and better understanding what drives success in affiliate activations.

In our previous conversation, you mentioned a shared mindset between Boomerang and AC Milan. How does this philosophy translate into the actual opportunities available to your partners during the tournament?

The partnership with AC Milan brings real opportunities for our affiliate partners, from tickets to the Club’s home matches and merchandise to truly exclusive experiences. For instance, we held the Golden Boomerang Awards 2025 ceremony at San Siro Stadium, and also showcased the Supercoppa Italiana trophy at the SiGMA exhibition in Rome. Additionally, AC Milan Legends Andrea Pirlo, Serginho, and Massimo Ambrosini have supported Boomerang at various events.

These aren’t just typical prizes – they’re experiences that set us apart and reflect our commitment to offering something truly special. AC Milan’s active involvement in our projects helps us deliver initiatives that go far beyond standard activations. Together, we’re creating moments that our affiliate partners won’t find anywhere else.

From time to time, we see other affiliate tournaments in iGaming. What makes the mechanics or the scale of "TIME TO WIN" different from the standard leaderboards we see?

Well, they are the unique prizes we offer. Thanks to our partnership with AC Milan – one we regard as strategic –, we’re able to offer rewards that others simply can’t match.

Additionally, the tournament’s mechanics go beyond just typical activities that are used in our industry. While the typical leaderboards focus primarily on gaming-related achievements, we’ve expanded the scope to include PR and SMM tasks, user feedback collection, and more. It’s not about reinventing the wheel, but about enhancing our participants’ experience. We aim to make their journey more engaging and diverse, creating opportunities for deeper interaction and involvement. And already now, just a few days after the tournament’s start, we can see that partners are engaging with these kinds of activities.

As expected, a tournament of this scale comes with an increase in traffic and activity. Can you tell us about how the Boomerang team prepared behind the scenes to make sure everything ran smoothly on your end, so that partners experienced no issues during this time of peak demand?

First and foremost, we have an excellent team that is the backbone of everything we do. Their expertise and dedication ensure that we deliver on our promises, especially during peak times like this.

Our goal is to make our initiatives as operationally efficient and streamlined as possible. While we plan thoroughly, we also acknowledge that unforeseen situations can arise in any industry. Life is often more unpredictable than we can plan for.

That being said, we approach our work every day with the highest level of quality. While nobody is immune to mistakes, we believe in learning from them.

A key part of this launch is the new "AC Milan Hub." It looks so different from typical sponsorship deals we see in the market. What exactly is the Hub, and how will it change the way your affiliates interact with such a massive global football brand?

The AC Milan Hub isn’t a completely new concept in the industry, but it does mark a significant evolution in how we interact with our affiliates. Our goal with the Hub is to better inform our affiliate partners about our joint projects with AC Milan and to engage them in exclusive activities on a more foundational level.

The Hub serves as a centralized platform where affiliate teams will easily access all the latest updates about our partnership with AC Milan activities. It’s a place for them to stay informed on what’s happening, find out about upcoming initiatives, and gain access to unique experiences. By offering this centralized resource, we aim to provide partners with a more streamlined and enriched experience, making it easier for them to get involved and stay connected with everything related to AC Milan.

We’re used to having ambassadors in the industry, but you are integrating the club into the core of your brand activation. How does access to the "AC Milan ecosystem" reflect to your partners?

When you partner with a Club like AC Milan, it would be odd not to make their involvement central to everything we do. Naturally, we wanted to integrate numerous aspects of our partnership into our activities. After all, if we didn’t leverage the full potential of this collaboration, what would be the point?

This year’s calendar is packed with many major events from the World Cup and the Winter Olympics to the Champions League knockouts. How does "TIME TO WIN" fit into this broader context? Is your objective here to help affiliates capture short-term spikes, or are you rather focusing on long-term retention?

TIME TO WIN is the core concept for this season, and it’s already proving effective. It’s a long-term slogan that we’ve developed with sustainability in mind – meaning it doesn’t end with the conclusion of this sports season. Our aim is to create a consistent brand presence that partners can engage with over time.

When it comes to specific events, it’s important to be strategic. We need to avoid blending too many contexts and stay within the partnership’s guidelines. We also want to make sure that our communication strategies don’t exist just to stick to the concept, but truly resonate with each unique moment.

The TIME TO WIN slogan works because it aligns perfectly with the spirit of sport and major events, like the FIFA World Cup or the Winter Olympics. This approach ensures we stay relevant, connected to the biggest moments, and continue to engage partners in a meaningful way.

How is Boomerang Partners helping affiliates to prepare for this busy year with sports events? Specifically, how do tools like your 'Sports Marketing & Betting Calendar 2026' work in tandem with your tournament?

The Sports Marketing & Betting Calendar 2026 is a key project for our affiliate partners and us. We’ve packed it with our expertise to create a comprehensive resource that helps affiliates plan their activities around key sports events. We hope it becomes a go-to tool for our partners, including online casinos with sportsbooks, guiding them through the busy sports year.

In addition to the Calendar, our affiliate managers play a crucial role. They are always available, providing continuous support to our partners. Each case is handled with care, ensuring that every opportunity is maximized for mutual benefit.

I'd like to end on a personal note: As CMO, you have been in charge of many campaigns. What would you say is the one specific element of the 'TIME TO WIN' project that you are the most proud of to introduce to the market?

TIME TO WIN brings together the competitive spirit of AC Milan and affiliate marketing in a way that provides lasting opportunities for growth. The ability to offer our partners access to exclusive experiences and high-impact events not only strengthens the partnership but also enhances the overall affiliate journey. It’s rewarding to see how much this has resonated with our community.