SBC Summit Lisbon 2026 opens with record attendance and Michael Jordan keynote
The three-day event features a standalone affiliate summit and new forums on prediction markets and Africa.
LISBON — SBC Summit Lisbon 2026 began on September 29 at the Feira Internacional de Lisboa and MEO Arena, with around 40,000 delegates from more than 150 countries expected across the three-day event.
The opening keynote, titled “Leadership in Sports Business,” featured basketball icon Michael Jordan alongside Carsten Koerl, founder and CEO of Sportradar, and Jason Robins, co-founder, CEO and chairman of the board of DraftKings.
This year’s program includes a standalone Affiliate Leaders Summit and two new specialist forums covering prediction markets and Africa’s gaming sector.
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The event features 800 exhibitors and sponsors and over 600 speakers.
Industry leaders discuss regional challenges
On the Emerging Markets stage, a panel on Central and Eastern Europe discussed opportunities and regulatory stability.
“We are all thinking about stability, because regulators can basically shut us down,” said Bojan Scekic, CEO of Balkan Bet.
Irakli Asanishvili, CEO of Flutter CEE, commented on the region, saying, “There are exciting opportunities across the region, but I can’t pinpoint specific markets.”
Discussing Poland’s battle against the black market, where up to 1.2 million citizens are estimated to gamble illegally, Maciej Kasprzak, managing director online at Totalizator Sportowy, said investing in responsible gaming is critical to building trust.
Pierre Tournier, senior director of the European Gaming & Betting Association, said 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 added that the association believes “there is a case for the European Commission to start investigating illegal online gambling content across the EU.”
On a panel about retail betting, Ionut-Valeriu Andrei, CEO of Loteria Românǎ, stated, “The future is omnichannel. Romania sells over 50% of lottery tickets online now. Three years earlier it was 15%.”
He added that retail remains important as many Romanians still use cash.
Technology and data in focus
At the Technology & Innovation Stage, discussions turned to data and artificial intelligence.
“You can have a fancy car, but if it has no fuel, there’s no point,” said Mario Silva, head of product, trading intelligence at Betclic, describing the relationship between sportsbooks and data.
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.”
Tom Bowry, chief strategy officer at Flutter International, spoke on a CEO panel about regulatory exposure, urging the UK government to consider the industry’s economic contribution and employment.
“A king dies every five or six years, and we’re pretty keen to make sure that’s not us,” Bowry said of Flutter’s long-term ambitions.
The event runs until October 1 and includes a Product Innovation Showcase Stage, four Tech Academies and three Masterclasses.
The evening program features an opening party with a performance by The Script, powered by 1xBet.