SBC Summit Lisbon 2026 opens with record 40,000 delegates

The three-day event adds a standalone Affiliate Leaders Summit and two new regional forums this year.

Key takeaways:

• SBC Summit Lisbon 2026 runs from September 29 to October 1 at Feira Internacional de Lisboa (FIL) and MEO Arena, its third consecutive year in the Portuguese capital.
• SBC expects around 40,000 delegates from more than 150 countries, including over 11,000 confirmed operators and 800 exhibitors and sponsors.
• The Affiliate Leaders Summit becomes a standalone, co-located event for the first time, with its own ticketing, conference programme, expo and awards ceremony, and a new partnership with Conversion Conf.
• Two new forums debut this year: the Global Prediction Markets Forum and the African Gaming Forum, the latter developed with GRAF, iGaming Afrika and GHASBO.
• The rebuilt networking programme adds speed networking, show floor tours, 20 Regulatory Gaming Meetups with IAGR and IMGL, and a curated matchmaking service called Smart Connect.

Portugal.- SBC Summit Lisbon 2026 began today (September 29) at Feira Internacional de Lisboa and MEO Arena, marking the event’s third consecutive year in the Portuguese capital, with around 40,000 delegates from more than 150 countries and over 11,000 confirmed operators expected across the three-day event.

This year’s programme includes a standalone Affiliate Leaders Summit, two new specialist forums covering prediction markets and Africa’s gaming sector, and a rebuilt networking schedule alongside a new Product Innovation Showcase Stage. The event runs until October 1 and features 800 exhibitors and sponsors on the show floor.

Among the companies that have a stand at the event are: 1spin4win, 1xBet, Alea, Altenar, Amusnet, BC.GAME, BETBY, BetConstruct AI, BGaming, BlueOcean Gaming, Blueprint Gaming, Booming Games, CreedRoomz, CT Interactive, DELULU Gaming, Digitain, DSTGAMING, EGT Digital, Evenbeter, EveryMatrix, Evolution, Fast Track, FeedConstruct, FIRST.bet, Galaxsys, GR8_TECH, Greentube, ICONIC21, Imagine Live, Kerma Games, MelBet, N1 Partners, Onlyplay, Pascal Gaming, PopOK Gaming, Pragmatic Play, Pronet Gaming, ReferOn, Relax Gaming, Royal Partners, RubyPlay, Slotegrator, Soft2Bet, SOFTSWISS, Sportradar, SYNOT Games, TaDa Gaming, Uplatform and Zenith, among others.

Focus Gaming News is media partner of the event and, as always, visitors are able to visit the media outlet at stand ME210 to find out about the latest industry news and innovations.

What to expect from SBC Summit Lisbon’s conference programme

This year’s SBC Summit Lisbon agenda is divided into five stages: the Super Stage at the MEO Arena, the Global & Emerging Markets Stage at Stage 2, the Technology & Innovation Stage at Stage 3, the Payment Expert Summit at Stage 4, and the Regulation & Compliance Stage at Stage 5. There are also the AI, Player Experience, Digital Marketing & CRM, and the Web 3 and Crypto academies, a dedicated Product Innovation Showcase Stage and the Sportsbook Trading, Electronic Gaming and Responsible Gaming Marketing masterclasses.

Against the backdrop of significant regulatory changes across different regions, debates on advertising and the boom in prediction markets, not to mention the recent news that President Lula has decided to ban online casino gambling by decree, the agenda for SBC Summit Lisbon takes on even greater significance. The industry’s major players must be prepared for what lies ahead in these increasingly challenging times.

Shortly after the opening remarks, where Carlos Moedas, the mayor of Lisbon, and Rasmus Sojmark, SBC’s CEO, and Andrew McCarron, SBC’s managing director, will welcome guests to SBC Summit 2026, the headline keynote, titled “Leadership in Sports Business”, will take place at the Super Stage – MEO Arena.

The keynote lineup is headlined by basketball icon Michael Jordan, appearing alongside Carsten Koerl, Founder & CEO of Sportradar, and Jason Robins, Co-Founder, CEO and Chairman of the Board of DraftKings. Together, they will explore the evolution of sports, technology, media, data, and fan engagement from the perspective of three leaders who have helped shape the modern sports ecosystem.

Then, the “Super CEO Panel: The Industry Speaks” will bring together seven senior industry figures: Jesper Svensson (CEO, Betsson Group), Kresimir Spajic (CEO, Allwyn Digital), Albert Simsensohn (Deputy CEO, Super Technologies), Dieter John (Group CEO, FEG), Aris Dimarakis (Deputy CEO, Kaizen Gaming), Tom Bowry (Chief Strategy Officer, Flutter International) and Dinos Stranomitis (Director & CEO, Altenar).

With discussions covering the practical advantages of AI technology, global regulation and the rise of prediction markets, the session will tackle many of the decisions currently sitting at the top of the industry’s agenda.

At the Global & Emerging Markets Stage – Emerging Markets – Stage 2, at 13:20, a panel called “The Africa Advantage: High Growth, Fast Regulation, Huge Potential” will take place, followed by “IMGL Masterclass: Prediction Markets Under Scrutiny – Comparing Regulatory Approaches Across Europe and the Americas”.

SOFTSWISS will host an expert panel to examine five years of change in igaming and what businesses should focus on next. Drawing on five editions of the iGaming Trends Report by SOFTSWISS, the discussion will look at which trends have endured, which have faded, and how market shifts have changed operator priorities.

The panel, “2027 SOFTSWISS iGaming Trends Report | Five Years of igaming: Which Trends Endured, Which Faded, and What Comes Next,” will take place today from 16:10 to 16:50.

At the Technology & Innovation Stage – Sports Betting Innovation – Stage 3, a panel titled ‘Modern Manipulation: Are Today’s Integrity Tools Built for Yesterday’s Threats?’ will take place at 15:30, followed by the Ibero-American Sports Betting Integrity Forum at 16:40.

At the Payment Expert Summit – Fintech – Stage 4, the following talks and panels on the first day are highlighted: “From Click to Cashout: Building Reliable Payment Infrastructure”, “Solving Payments at Scale in Regulated Markets” and “Beyond ID Checks: The New Role of Identity in Gaming”.

Finally, the Regulation & Compliance Stage – Global Regulations – Stage 5 will feature special panels dedicated to Romania, Poland, Finland, Canada and Austria.

Tomorrow, on Stage Two, Alexandre Tomic, founder of Alea, will be doing a solo presentation titled “Beyond the Hype: What the Data Really Says About Sweepstakes”, examining how sweepstakes compare with traditional real-money gaming and where growth is coming from, as well as what this means for new studios and live casino providers.

Later, at midday, there will be a panel discussion focusing on the new Italian gaming landscape. At 14:20, Ed Dickerson, product director at Fast Track, will give a conference entitled “Beyond GGR: How Much Is a Player Really Worth?”, in which he will analyse the benefits of the industry’s standard measure of value, the ways in which it can lead to misleading conclusions, and how operators’ decisions might differ if they could see the value of the game from the very first session.

Prediction markets will be the focus of discussion at the panel session “Prediction Markets: The Future’s Not Near, It’s Here”, which will feature Dmitry Starostenkov, CEO of Evenbeter, and Anton Lishchuk, prediction markets commercial strategist at SOFTSWISS. This panel explores the dynamic regulatory environment in the States while hypothesising how other jurisdictions might follow and react.

Also tomorrow, at 15:50 on Stage 3, there will be a panel discussion titled “AI Agents in Action: Autonomous Systems Transforming Modern Workflows”. Dr Eyal Loz, CPO at RubyPlay, will participate in the discussion.

On Stage 5, there will be a panel discussion titled “The Start of the Journey: Building Trust for Long-Term Success in Player Protection and Safer Gambling”. Using the launch of 1xCare, an independently governed non-profit dedicated to player protection, as a case study, the panel will explore what credible player protection looks like in practice — from transparent research and earlier intervention to local education and support.

On the third day of SBC Summit Lisbon 2026, the agenda will focus on the next phase of growth and regulation across LatAm, with sessions examining Mexico’s proposed market reset, Peru’s rapid expansion and the varying levels of certainty emerging across Chile, Paraguay and Ecuador. Discussions will consider how rising taxes, acquisition costs, tighter advertising rules and evolving compliance requirements are reshaping operators’ strategies, while industry leaders assess which markets offer sustainable opportunities and where caution is still needed.

Technology and compliance will also dominate the final day, with sessions exploring agentic AI, AI-driven advertising risks, digital identity and EUDI Wallets, cybersecurity, bonus abuse and fraud prevention. The programme will also examine the practical use of blockchain beyond payments, faster crypto settlement and the role of data in acquisition and creative decision-making, alongside the SBC First Pitch competition, which will showcase emerging solutions and startups for the betting and gaming industry.

SBC Summit Lisbon masterclasses: hands-on training in sportsbook trading, electronic gaming and responsible marketing

The Sportsbook Trading Masterclass is a three-session, hands-on workshop led by Jonathan Smith, founder of Sportsbook Training Services. It is designed to close the knowledge gap for professionals working with trading teams, sportsbook products or sports data who lack a full understanding of how odds are priced and markets are created. Over the course of the sessions, attendees will progress from covering the fundamentals of probability and odds compilation to learning how sportsbooks generate revenue. They will then move on to practical techniques for assessing and creating their own prices before building NBA-focused pricing models for moneyline, spread, totals and player props in Excel and Python. By the end of the course, attendees will have acquired the skills needed to compile more accurate odds, manage liability and make better pricing decisions under pressure.

The Electronic Gaming Academy Masterclass is an intensive five-hour workshop led by casino consultant Lucien Wijsman. It challenges two assumptions that are deeply rooted in the industry: the use of broad player categories such as ‘Fun’, ‘Time-on-Device’ and ‘Gambler’, and the overreliance on technical metrics such as RTP (return to player) and volatility to explain customer behaviour.

During the workshop, attendees will learn to distinguish between land-based-only, hybrid and online-first players, who have distinct psychological profiles. They will also learn how to apply Expected Session Volatility (ESV) to model and compare real player sessions. This will enable them to make more informed decisions regarding game selection, portfolio strategy, CRM and customer communication.

The Responsible Gaming Marketing Masterclass is a two-hour session led by experts. It is designed to show operators how to incorporate responsible gaming into their core marketing, CRM and player engagement strategies, rather than treating it as a compliance exercise.

Led by Arjan Korstjens of the Casino Marketing Academy, the workshop covers practical ways of balancing commercial goals with player protection, enhancing customer education and communication, and employing player monitoring to intervene at an earlier stage. The ultimate goal is to develop a more sustainable customer base and achieve long-term business growth.

The event also includes two dedicated industry awards ceremonies, the SBC Awards and the Affiliate Leaders Awards, recognising the very best of the betting, igaming and affiliate marketing sectors.

Frequently asked questions (FAQs)

• When is SBC Summit Lisbon 2026? SBC Summit Lisbon 2026 runs from September 29 to October 1 at Feira Internacional de Lisboa and MEO Arena.
• How many people are attending SBC Summit Lisbon 2026? SBC expects around 40,000 delegates from more than 150 countries, including over 11,000 confirmed operators. The event also features 800 exhibitors and sponsors. Focus Gaming News is the official media partner of the event.
• What is new at SBC Summit Lisbon 2026? The 2026 edition introduces a standalone Affiliate Leaders Summit, the Global Prediction Markets Forum and the African Gaming Forum, alongside a rebuilt networking programme.
• Where is SBC Summit Lisbon 2026 taking place? The event is being held at Feira Internacional de Lisboa (FIL) and MEO Arena in Lisbon. It is the third consecutive edition of SBC Summit to take place in the Portuguese capital.