The SBC Summit opened their doors in Lisbon today and the halls filled up quickly. The event is running at the Feira Internacional de Lisboa (FIL) and the MEO Arena. Organizers expect around 40,000 delegates from 150 countries, with over 11,000 operators and 800 exhibitors spread across four halls.
A slow start with boxing, then a proper welcome
The day began early at 7:30 am, when ‘Behind the Gloves’ group held its biggest morning boxing session yet. It was a different way for industry people to meet before the busy schedule began.
The official opening followed at 12:10 pm. Rasmus Sojmark, Founder, SBC, Andy McCarron, Managing Director, and Carlos Moedas, Mayor of Lisbon spoke to the audience. Moedas said he wants to turn Lisbon into a hub for tech and innovation and he pointed to his Unicorn Factory Lisboa project.
Michael Jordan on the Super Stage
The biggest name of the day was basketball legend Michael Jordan, who appeared on the MEO Super Stage with Sportradar Founder & CEO Carsten Koerl and DraftKings Co-Founder & CEO Jason Robins.
Jordan talked about how his view of sport changed after he moved from playing to owning and investing. In his opinion, fans no longer just watch athletes from a distance. Betting on outcomes makes them feel like part of the contest themselves.
When he looks at a new business, he said, he wants it to feel genuine. He gave his NASCAR investment as an example, saying it grew out of his love for the sport as a young man. He also felt for today’s players, who must build a personal brand, negotiate contracts and live under constant analysis of their numbers.
Brazil is worrying the whole industry
Brazil came up again and again, even in sessions that had nothing to do with Latin America. On the Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) panel, operators said that political and regulatory uncertainty now makes them think twice before entering a new market.
Irakli Asanishvili, CEO of Flutter CEE, said the region still has good openings, but that the events in Brazil are a warning. Bojan Scekic, CEO of Balkan Bet, was blunter. Regulators can shut a business down, he said and he does not see a standout market at the moment.
The fight against the black market
Illegal gambling was probably the most heated topic of the day. Ismail Vali, President of Gaming Compliance International, gave a strong speech asking the licensed industry to take the threat seriously. He claimed that Ukrainian soldiers had their locations tracked through a Russian gambling site they were using. He also said prediction markets cannot stay out of the spotlight for long, because they are part of gambling.
Pierre Tournier of the European Betting and Gaming Association said the group is going after the companies that support illegal operators, since most of them are based outside the EU. One payment provider has already been passed to its financial regulator. He also called the Digital Services Act a handy tool for removing illegal content online.
Ed Birkin of H2 Capital warned that Poland could lose more than 2.2 billion euros by 2030 because illegal operators are filling the gap left by the state monopoly of Totalizator Sportowy.
There was also interest in Romania. ROMBET Chairman, Dan Alexandru Ghita has released an early draft plan to fight illegal gambling across payments, technology, advertising and digital infrastructure.
It suggests a permanent European coordination body and a shared intelligence database. Under the plan, a finding by one national regulator would be shared with others, who would then use their own laws to act.
Prediction markets and betting integrity
Tom Mace of Sportradar said prediction markets bring new integrity risks and that old monitoring methods cannot simply be copied over. He said the industry must work with monitoring firms, sports bodies, regulators and police. Jay Balan of Super Technologies added that fixed alert limits are easy for criminals to stay under. He suggested using AML and KYC checks to spot groups of connected accounts instead.
Finland: no clear rules, so operators must use judgement
A panel on Finland agreed that the regulator will not spell out everything about marketing, so the industry must decide for itself what is reasonable. Brian Forth of Finnplay said aggressive advertising does not suit Finnish culture. He expects companies with big budgets to do best and he sees ice hockey and a little humour as useful tools.
Sverker Skogberg of PAF said beating the black market matters more than fighting for share among licensed firms. Antti Koivula of Hippos ATG criticised the decision to let companies that gained customers illegally keep them after joining the regulated market.
Creators are now central to marketing
At the first stand-alone Affiliate Leaders Summit, speakers said creator marketing has moved from a side activity to a core one. Noah Traisman of Winible said creators perform well and that relying on Meta and Google is risky because of their changing restrictions. Nikita Koshelyuk of Trident Media added that mobile apps make strong affiliate funnels, since they stay on a phone for months while websites are quickly forgotten.
Other moments
Ready Play Gaming launched Blaz’n Buffalo Reel Crash, which mixes slot play with crash-style gameplay. COO Christoph Hartel called it a first for the industry and founder Larry Galansky said crash is for the next generation of players.
FEG CEO Dieter John spoke about bringing lessons from aerospace and defence into iGaming. A panel on Africa said suppliers, regulators and operators work in separate silos and that tax uncertainty is a major problem.
With two more days to go, the mood in Lisbon is busy and serious. The big questions are regulation, illegal operators and the rise of prediction markets.
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