PLAYBACK has been named a finalist for Best Growth Strategy, sponsored by Deloitte, at the World Football Summit Awards 2026 in Madrid. It is the second consecutive year the company has been shortlisted in the category.

The three finalists are "Data-Powered League Growth: Stats Perform x Ekstraklasa", Mercury13, and PLAYBACK.

The award recognises the company or institution that has successfully expanded its business internationally and/or into new sectors within the football ecosystem, judged by an independent jury of M&A, consulting and club-executive specialists convened by World Football Summit.

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.

In 2025, PLAYBACK was a finalist in this same category alongside West Ham United and Zebras FC (Juventus), and in Best Digital Transformation Initiative alongside Al Nassr and Club Brugge.

"We came back having done what growth finalists are supposed to do next, which is execute and scale. New countries, new sports, four income streams live, and every pound of it funded by the business. Being on that list beside Stats Perform and Mercury13 with a young company tells us the model travels", said Karim Fawaz, Founder and CEO of PLAYBACK.

Winners are announced on 3 September 2026, with trophies presented at the awards ceremony on 15 September 2026 at Teatro Eslava, Madrid.

https://worldfootballsummit.com/madrid/