Today’s the day.
Day one of the 2026 edition of the SBC Summit in Lisbon is underway, with speeches and insights from the CEOs of the likes of DraftKings, Sportradar, Super Technologies, basketball legend Michael Jordan, and a plethora of legal, technology and business experts from across the realms of betting, gaming, payments and sports.
Stay tuned to this blog for the latest updates from the SBC News team on the ground at Lisbon – Ted Orme-Claye, Patrick Killeen and Ted Menmuir – as well as our colleagues at iGaming Expert.
4:40pm: Did the “biggest sporting event ever” cause any problems?
Reporting by Patrick Killeen
It might have been “the biggest sporting and betting event ever seen”, but that doesn’t mean that the World Cup didn’t have its negatives for sports betting operators.
On the Regulation & Compliance stage, Malachy Rooney, Head of Football Strategy and Pricing at Flutter, is hammering home the importance of focusing on customer friction at such busy times.
“Player prop betting, as well as things like the growth in social media, was a fundamental part of the World Cup being the biggest betting event we’ve ever seen,” he comments.
“But customers want flexibility. They want to bet on the new thing. But we build these and figure out with our compliance teams what we are actually allowed to do to understand what is viable.”
For Fortuna Entertainment Group (FEG), problems can also arise regularly due to slow moving regulations.
Michael Foster, Group Head of Gaming and Commercial Strategy at FEG, explains: “The hinge has always been the lack of consistency in regulation for us. We simply can’t offer products at times we’d like to as regulation moves more slowly. We want to offer a competitive product, not defraud customers.”
Foster also adds that the markets where FEG is active in are becoming more fractured, causing difficulties as the company wants to see a future with a “consistent set of regulations both in sports and gaming for all of our markets in Central Eastern Europe”.
4:00pm: The changing lanes for bookies & broadcasters
Reporting by Ted-Orme Claye
The business of sports broadcasting is changing, and operators need to change with the times, according to Sam Sadi, CEO of LiveScore Group, though the CEO of fellow live scores firm Flashscore, Pavel Krbec, isn’t entirely on the same page.
“I think we can conclude that the traditional linear broadcasting of sport is extinct,” says Sadi.
“There are different ways of consuming the sport, but you can only survive if you are extending your content into YouTube, social, and different areas of the ecosystem.”
However, Krbec believes that broadcasters are adapting, and sees Flashscore as playing its own niche in the wider ecosystem of sports media, and how this sector relates to the betting space.
“Traditional broadcasters like ESPN and Disney are building their own platforms,” he notes, pointing to the continued evolution of the platforms which sports betting companies’ customers watch their favourite sports on.
3:45: Oceania – is anyone happy with Australia’s gambling reform?
Reporting by Ted-Orme Claye
The big news today from the southern seas actually comes from New Zealand, as the auctioning process for online casino licences – 15 are up for grabs under a new framework due to go live next July – went online.
But the main talking point from the conference floor was on Australia’s recent advertising clampdown, and the impact this may have on a market home to some prominent domestic players but also some major European multinationals.
“No one’s happy,” says Jamie Nettleton, Partner at Australian iGaming specialist law from Addidons, part of the International Masters of Gaming Law (IMGL).
While the industry is a bit more content than one may think, because PM Anthony Albanese‘s measure falls short of an outright ban, Nettleton expects the “level of compliance” to weigh on smaller companies.
“Smaller operators are going to feel squeezed,” he says. “There is probably going to be consolidation, and it’s only the big operators who can afford it.”
3:40pm: Evenbeter Gaming rebrand is more than skin-deep…
Reporting by Ted Menmuir
Evenbet announced its rebrand to Evenbeter Gaming in August, the question was how far the change would go. At SBC Summit Lisbon, CEO Dmitry Starostenkov gave a clear answer: “We didn’t just change the name and logo. The whole idea behind rebranding is to transform how we develop products.”
The Malta-based poker software provider has grown rapidly, tripling its headcount to more than 260 people across 20 countries. Starostenkov said the extra “er” in Evenbeter signals a commitment to keep improving: “Whatever we do for the industry, we are doing better.”
Poker remains at the heart of the business, but Evenbeter is building a broader casino offering around it. Its OneClick Poker product puts poker directly into casino lobbies, removing the friction of what Starostenkov described as “complicated” traditional poker interfaces.
The company is also expanding geographically, with new supply licences in Denmark and Sweden and a push into regulated US states. That comes during a difficult year for the industry, Starostenkov said, as operators face rising costs and more complex regulation.
The biggest of ambitions are now set for Evenbeter to “become the “go-to partner” for operators at every stage of growth, with poker providing the foundation for a wider range of casino products.”
3:20pm: CEE: More opportunities?
Reporting by Patrick Killeen
It seems that the Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) panel’s view on retail betting is in ways similar to the views of higher ups in other regions of the UK.
Bojan Scekic, CEO of Balkan Bet, pinpoints the positives of having a retail estate, saying: “The question nobody can answer now is the importance of retail. Having a retail estate is not just cash related, it’s brand related, things like having interactions at the point of sale.”
But for a company like Adjarabet, Flutter’s CEE brand, which has dominated the market in Georgia and more recently Armenia, retail doesn’t seem to be everything. Irakli Asanishvili, CEO of Flutter CEE, offers a more balanced view: “The question is whether there is still a chance to win in areas where retail is still big.
“However, I fully believe that humans operate on convenience. If you can build something that customers think is more convenient, there’s going to be more demand for it. If you can build brand, trust and have a variety of payment channels, I don’t see why you can’t be successful without a major retail presence.”
Ionut-Valeriu Andrei, CEO of Loteria Românǎ, is of the opinion that retail and online can compliment each other, as we have seen with some of the biggest brands in Europe. “The future is omnichannel. Romania sells over 50% of lottery tickets online now. Three years earlier it was 15%,” he states.
“We were nervous about killing the retail. But it is still very important as so many Romanians still use cash.”
On Hungary, a country undergoing significant changes in the gambling sector following the end of Victor Orban’s 16-year rule, Scekic added: “If you’re a CEE operator, and your answer to being interested in Hungary is ‘no’, then you are straight up lying.”
3:00pm: CEE: More hazards?
Reporting by Patrick Killeen
There’s a lot of interest on the Emerging Markets stage for a panel on Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) and where the opportunities lie in the region.
It helps when it’s a start-studded panel, with key figures from major players across the CEE. But the mood is not all positive, with the panel in almost-complete agreement that there is no blindingly obvious market that offers huge opportunities.
Irakli Asanishvili, CEO, Flutter CEE, comments: “There are exciting opportunities across the region, but I can’t pinpoint specific markets. We also need to think about the future of the market from a regulatory standpoint – you’ve seen what’s happened in Brazil.”
For Bojan Scekic, CEO of Balkan Bet, the focus also has to be on regulation. “We are all thinking about stability, because regulators can basically shut us down,” he affirms.
“Markets in the region are also very similar to each other. There are still markets where we can invest in and that are good opportunities to invest in, but I can’t seem a ‘gemstone’ of a market right now.”
Mikolaj Cymerman, CCO, Entain CEE, shares a more positive viewpoint, and points towards the CEE’s elephant in the room. He says: “I think there are a couple of untapped opportunities in CEE markets. I am always keeping an eye on Poland, to see if there is the political will to create a competitive, licensed market beyond the monopoly.”
Cymerman also cited political changes in Hungary which could create ways in for new operators.
2:15: Inside Poland’s battle against the black market
Reporting by Ted Orme-Claye
Maciej Kasprzak, Managing Director Online at Poland’s Totalizator Sportowy, says that while product improvement can always help, the picture is, of course, far bigger.
Reflecting on Poland’s battle against the black market battle, with up to 1.2 million Poles estimated to be gambling illegally, panellists discussed technological advancements and the use of AI, as well as the need to engage authorities in constructive dialogue.
“We do a lot of surveys, a lot of research, and it says that the product is trustworthy,” says Kasprzak, though he adds that investing in and developing responsible gaming is critical to building this trust up.
Justyna Grusza-Głębicka,PhD, Director of the Institute for Gambling Regulation Foundation in Poland, adds that “the will for dialogue” can be found among regulators and policymakers. The task for the industry is figuring how to leverage this.
2:00pm: What can Europe actually do about illegal gambling?
Reporting by Ted Orme-Claye
The entire industry is shouting at the top of its lungs about illegal gambling. Discussing Poland, market stakeholders estimate that over 1.2 million citizens are gambling illegally in one of the CEE’s biggest markets.
With this have come the familiar calls for changes to taxation, as well as “more systemic change”. But for now, what can the industry do?
Pierre Tournier, Senior Director of the European Gaming & Betting Association, says the trade body is “going after the ones (companies) that are facilitating the business (illegal gambling) and profiting from it”, such as payment service providers.
He adds that: “We believe there is a case for the European Commission to start investigating illegal online gambling content across the EU.”
1:45pm: Data continuing to dominate debates
Reporting by Patrick Killeen
“You can have a fancy car, but if it has no fuel, there’s no point.” That’s the parallel that Mario Silva, Head of Product – Trading Intelligence, at Betclic has used to describe the relationship between sportsbooks and data.
“You can build all kinds of flashy tools and all the flashy products. We still require companies in terms of global distribution systems to kind of provide the data to people we need,” he continued.
“So I think moving forward, I think we’ll do more and more because obviously there is much more automation that we can do. I think GDC has already done quite a lot to do the features and made sure that you don’t need a human with the same passive methods because you know that’s simply not what is the norm anymore.”
Hristo Spasov, Trading Director at the Nederlandse Lotterij, added: “Humans cannot be as effective and work as quickly as the AI.
“AI is definitely the future in terms of validating the data and providing or producing platforms’ odds, and predicting behaviours which will drive our platform.”
1:40pm: Heavy lies the crown…
Reporting by Ted Orme-Claye
“A king dies every five or six years, and we’re pretty keen to make sure that’s not us,” says Tom Bowry in a discussion about Flutter’s, and his co-panelists’, long-term ambitions.
Flutter is undeniably one of the kings of the modern gaming ecosystem, but this comes at a cost – largely that of regulatory and taxation exposure.
On this latter topic, Bowry gives his view on the challenge of UK taxes, urging the government to consider the industry’s economic contribution, employment, and betting shop’s place on the British high-street.
1:30pm: Brazil’s ban sparks warnings and disappointment
Reporting by Ted Orme-Claye
Brazil is, again unsurprisingly, high on the agenda for the assembled executive leadership figures from across the iGaming industry.
Tom Bowry, Flutter’s Chief Strategy Officer, remarks that the company is “very disappointed” as it had invested in the market with the intention of creating a “sustainable, regulated, safe place for customers”.
“Prohibition achieves none of those aims,” he says.
Representing Allwyn, which has a stake in the market via its 37% shareholding in Betano owner Kaizen Gaming, Spajic adds that President Lula’s ban took the company by surprise. He also shares his panelists’ skepticism around the government’s plans.
“Making a measure like this doesn’t really help, it doesn’t resolve the problems,” he adds.
Jesper Svensson, meanwhile, whose company is active in Brazil but focuses more on Spanish-speaking Latin American markets like Argentina, describes the government’s decision as a “trust issue” and one which will “have a big impact … for a long period of time”.
1:15pm: View from the top
The CEOs take the stage. In the latest edition of a now long-running SBC Summit tradition, the executive leadership of some of the biggest companies in iGaming take to the Super Stage.
Jesper Svensson, CEO of Betsson; Kresimir Spajic, CEO of Allwyn Digital, Dieter John, CEO of FEG, alongside Albert Simensohn, Deputy CEO of Super Technologies and Tom Bowry, Chief Strategy Officer of Flutter International.
1:00pm: Brazil keeps the heat up
Reporting by Ted-Orme Claye
Unsurprisingly, Brazil has been a major talking point on the show floor at this year’s SBC Summit, with President Lula da Silva announcing a ban on regulated betting just a few days ago.
Both operators and legal experts have opened up on the matter, with the former seeing it as yet another piece of bad news for the industry in 2026. The latter, however, have pointed out that not all hope is lost.
Congress has yet to approve Lula’s proposed ban. The legislative debates that follow could therefore provide the opportunity the industry needs to make its voice heard and put forward its case for greater government action against the illegal market.
12:30pm: The GOAT is here!
Reporting by Patrick Killeen
No more teasing. The much anticipated star of the show is here. Michael Jordan is on stage alongside Sportradar Chief Executive Officer, Carsten Koerl, and Chief Executive Officer of DraftKings, Jason Robins.
The trio is exchanging words on the marketing opportunities and customer expectations in the gaming and betting sector.
As a special advisor to the Board of Directors of both Sportradar and DraftKings, Jordan said: “When I get involved in deals, be it with Sportradar or DraftKings, I need to know it’s authentic to what represents me.
“I know I’ll be used as a marketing vehicle. The consumer has to connect to that. If there’s a disconnect, and I’m not doing my job, then obviously they have not made the best selection in terms of my relationship with them.
“So when I look at things and how the landscape is changing today, it’s a lot different than when I played during my era.”
Jordan’s close work with both Sportradar and DraftKings has also helped him realise how much more deeply sports fans can become immersed in watching their favourite sports.
The basketball legend added: “After my work with both of these companies, I understand that consumers are more focused on the outcome.
“The fans today have a better understanding, and they’re willing to get involved in the outcome. And the way they get involved in the outcome, based on the competitiveness that they have watching the game, is to bet on the outcome.
“I think it’s a good change because how the consumer wants to get involved in the sporting industry is far greater than what it used to be. Before, the fans would live seriously through the athletes. Now the fans are the athletes in terms of how they compete within the game.”
12:10pm: Opening remarks from the Super Stage
Reporting by Patrick Killeen
Andrew McCarron, Managing Director at SBC, Rasmus Sojmark, SBC’s CEO and Founder, and Carlos Moedas, the Mayor of Lisbon are out on stage for the opening remarks.
Sojmark, on his birthday, is donning a Chicago Bulls shirt with ‘Jordan 23’ on the back – quite fitting.
Moedas recalls his plan to create a ‘unicorn factory’ ($1bn valuation business) in Lisbon. He reveals that they have now made it happen, with 18 businesses of that nature in the Portuguese capital.
His message for today is that “he’s learnt so much from the gaming industry”, and that the sector “understands people like no other”.
“Welcome to Lisbon, create purpose, change the lives of people, and we will always be here to have you in this amazing city,” the Mayor concludes.
11:50am: He’s almost here!
People are still gathering in the Super Stage hall at the MEO Arena, eagerly awaiting basketball legend Michael Jordan’s arrival on stage.
The panel starts at 12pm, so make sure to come back for all the highlights from the session! If you’re already in Lisbon, hurry up and make your way to the Super Stage!
11:40am: SOFTSWISS back with another iGaming Trends report
Reporting by Patrick Killeen
SOFTSWISS is a huge presence at the SBC Summit this year. At the company’s sportsbook and prediction markets space, I got a good look at the new 2027 iGaming Trends report.
Ilyas Verdiev, Head of Product at Sportsbook for SOFTSWISS, briefly ran me through the new 155-page report, which shows continued future growth for iGaming.
Online gambling GGR is set to rise from $349bn in 2026, to $377.5bn in 2027 and $415.5bn in 2028. There’s projected year-on-year growth across all continents, notably in North America, where GGR is set to jump by over $18bn to $76.6bn over the next two years.
11:20am: ThrillTech gaining “a lot of early interest” from new product
Reporting by Patrick Killeen
The chaos has arrived and the show floor at the MEO Arena is now packed. There’s a huge amount of exhibitors and there’s been some early clamour around ThrillTech’s new ThrillArena product.
We reported yesterday that the company had launched its unique product to boost prize pools and give new, player-funded revenue opportunities.
I spoke to Giles Potter, Chief Marketing Officer at the firm on the stage floor. “It’s the first day of showing our new product. This is a great first chance to show our new product to a wide range of operators, particularly given it’s a revenue generator with no cost and can drive player engagement,” he said.
“It’s early days but we’re getting a lot of interest already.”
11:00am: Taking you at the centre of the floor stage
Breaking news from our boots-on-the-ground reporters – the floor is packed! Live photos from the ground show a sea of suits and dresses marching up and down the aisles.
You can feel it in the air – the anticipation is building ahead of our keynote event, which starts in less than an hour. Michael Jordan is set to take the Lisbon stage in a rare conference appearance. Don’t miss out!
10:30am: Our international teams join together for an important discussion
Team members from our Latin American and UK-based offices have already taken their battle stations, with our panellists in the hot seats discussing a big topic that you’ll soon be able to tune in to and hear all about on our iGaming Daily episode.
While we can’t fully give away what Fernando Noodt, Patrick Killeen and Christian Lee are talking about, we can certainly give you a hint. It has to do with gambling regulations, has been constantly in the news over the last few weeks, and has the potential to “kill high street betting by 2030”, as one industry leader put it recently.
If you’re a regular reader of SBC News, you’ll probably be able to correctly guess what the topic is. If not, you’ll have to stay tuned and give our next iGaming Daily episode a listen. You win either way!
10:00am: The doors are open, welcome to Lisbon!
The gates are open and the crowds are coming at the Feira Internacional de Lisboa. This year’s event hosts nine stages in total, with the conference agenda set to kick off at 11:55am local time with greetings from SBC leadership and the Mayor of Lisbon.
This is all before sporting icon Michael Jordan takes to the stage alongside the Chief Executives of DraftKings and Sportradar to discuss sports leadership in the modern digital age.
Stay tuned for more…
