Valentina Tranquilli, COO & Co-Founder of Cookies Digital, explains how the Global Carrier Billing & Mobile Payments Summit 2025 went far beyond discussions on monetisation models and compliance. The event highlighted the intersection of sports, esports, and telcos, where discipline, repetition, and performance revealed new opportunities in digital entertainment and customer engagement.
What happens when a Champions League legend walks onto a stage at a carrier billing summit?
Magic.
This year’s Global Carrier Billing & Mobile Payments Summit wasn’t just about monetisation models, compliance frameworks, and mobile revenue trends. It was also — unexpectedly — about grit, repetition, discipline, and how the mindset of elite athletes might just be the key to unlocking new value in digital entertainment.
We at Cookies were proud to contribute to that conversation. Our Chief Product Officer, Leone Crescenzi, took the stage alongside none other than Clarence Seedorf — football icon, global changemaker, and the only player in history to have won the Champions League with three different clubs.
But this wasn’t a hero worship session. It was a conversation — about how performance in sport and performance in gaming follow the same principles. Repetition. Mastery. Focus. Feedback. Pressure.
“You can’t cheat discipline,” Seedorf told the audience. “Whether you’re training for a World Cup or grinding your way to the top of a leaderboard, it’s the same mindset.”
Whether you’re building a sports brand or a telco content bundle, you’re always building for people, not just users. ”
And that struck a nerve with many of the operators in the room. Because let’s face it: telcos are no longer just selling data bundles or SIM cards. They’re selling experiences. And in a world where gaming, streaming, and sports licensing are driving user engagement, the line between entertainment and performance has never been thinner.
Why Esports and Telcos Should (Still) Date Each Other
At Cookies, we’ve bet big on esports and digital sports IP. From Play&Play, our competitive gaming platform, to ATP Tour Golden Pass and Serie A Livestream Pass, we’re building bridges between fans, players, and telcos.
But this summit wasn’t about pitching products. It was about listening.
Listening to the pain points of telcos trying to innovate in tough regulatory environments. Listening to questions about localisation, pricing models, and user acquisition. Listening to excitement around new content formats — and confusion around what “esports” really means for user lifetime value.
That’s why having partners in the room — from Africa to the Middle East to Europe — was so crucial for us. There’s no better place than Amsterdam (and no better excuse than a MEF summit) to co-create strategies, share failures, and debate what “value” really looks like in 2025 and beyond.
Spoiler: it’s not just ARPU anymore. It’s Attention, Retention, Purpose, and Utility. That’s the new ARPU.
Final Thought: Bring the Humans
What made this summit special wasn’t just the sessions, or the metrics, or even the happy hours (though those helped).
It was the human stories.
Hearing Clarence Seedorf talk about pressure, team spirit, and post-career reinvention — while Leone tied that to the evolution of digital competition — reminded us that whether you’re building a sports brand or a telco content bundle, you’re always building for people, not just users.
And maybe that’s the real takeaway from GCBS 2025:
- Stop optimising for transactions.
- Start designing for transformation.
See you at the next summit.
