PLAYBACK has won Best Growth Strategy, sponsored by Deloitte, at the World Football Summit Awards 2026 in Madrid. The award recognises the company or institution that has successfully expanded its business internationally and/or into new sectors within the football ecosystem.

PLAYBACK was selected ahead of "Data-Powered League Growth: Stats Perform x Ekstraklasa" and Mercury13, judged by an independent jury of M&A, consulting and club-executive specialists convened by World Football Summit. It is the second consecutive year the company has been shortlisted in the category. In 2025 PLAYBACK was a finalist alongside West Ham United and Zebras FC (Juventus), which won that year, and was also a finalist for Best Digital Transformation Initiative alongside Al Nassr and Club Brugge.

Since launch, the platform has served 75,000+ players across 25+ partner clubs and academies in 14 countries, delivered an estimated £750,000+ in savings to those partners, recorded 1,300+ matches, and supported 20+ players into professional contracts. All of it self-funded. The entry set out a growth model built to fund itself: elite video, AI and data delivered to clubs at no upfront cost, carried into new markets by local ambassadors who earn a share of the revenue they build rather than a salary, and a single product diversified into four live income streams. "Last year we sat in this category and watched it go to Juventus. This year it is ours," said Karim Fawaz, Founder and CEO of PLAYBACK.

"We did not raise a round to get here. We built a model where growth pays for growth, then took it into new countries and new sports to see whether it would hold. It held. Standing on that list beside a global data company and a multi-club group, and coming out in front, says the model travels." "This one belongs to the clubs, ambassadors, coaches, parents and players who backed us before any of it was obvious." The trophy is presented on 15 September 2026 at Teatro Eslava, Madrid, on the opening day of WFS Madrid 2026.

https://worldfootballsummit.com/madrid/