A safe bet in London

Betting on Sports 2019 is preparing for the September launch with new content and a focus on Italy Everything is ready for Betting on Sports 2019, the event that will take place at the Olympia London from 17 - 20 September.

Gioco News caught up with Jaap Kalma, Group Chief Commercial Officer at Sbc (Sports Betting Community), who previously held senior positions at Ac Milan and Ferrari, and he told us what’s new and what to look out for. “The event is established as the world’s leading sports betting industry conference and exhibition, but has now expanded to include other parts of the online gambling industry with the addition of CasinoBeats Summit, Payment Expert Forum, Digital Marketing Forum and Responsible Gambling Forum”. Betting on Sports 2019 “will be Sbc’s biggest event yet, with more than 3,500 delegates joining us at Olympia London. We’ve put together our best ever speaker line-up, with 300 renowned industry experts set to share their knowledge on a range of key issues facing the sector. This expansion can also be seen on the exhibition floor, which will be 25% larger than in 2018. Sports betting remains the largest element of the event, with content focusing on issues in a range of territories, particular sports markets, technology and regulation. We have an all-star line-up for it, with names like Marco Castaldo (Microgame), Carmelo Mazza (Betaland) Jason Robins (DraftKings), Paris Smith (Pinnacle), Jesper Svensson (Betsson) and Sergey Portnov (Parimatch). Running alongside Betting on Sports for a second year, we have the CasinoBeats Summit, an event focused on the online casino industry. 1,000 delegates can look forward to three specialised content tracks, with speakers including Melvin Ritsema (Royal Panda), Shelley Suter-Hadad (Mansion Group), Jesper Karrbrink (Green Jade Games) e Tomas Bachman (Hero Gaming). We also have a Digital Marketing Forum, organised by Affiliate Insider, for affiliates and operators in the iGaming casino and betting industry. Its agenda looks at the very latest in customer acquisition and marketing techniques. And following its popularity at Sbc’s Betting on Football event in March, we have added the Payment Expert Forum to Betting on Sports. Aimed at payments specialists from both operators and suppliers, its content includes panels on topics such as the role of Fintech in betting, establishing robust payment systems in emerging markets and cryptocurrencies. Our bumper content offering for the event also includes the Sbc Responsible Gambling Forum, a brand new track that takes an in-depth look at how the industry can cope with responsible gambling and staff management challenges”. In addition to the conference content and exhibition, “we have organised a number of high-level networking opportunities in some of London’s more unusuall venues. They’re a chance for people to talk business and build relationships in memorable surroundings”. What are the main subjects that will be addressed? “One of the things that sets Betting on Sports apart is the effort we put into ensuring the content is both current and useful to delegates. We spend a lot of time researching what subjects stakeholders across the industry want to learn more about to ensure we get it right. The result is a carefully-constructed programme of panels covering an extensive range of topics, including a look at the Italian market and what sports book operators in it can do to reach their audience. Other major themes we’ll be covering include the development of the US betting market, responsible gambling and social responsibility, advertising restrictions and the future of gambling”. Which are the most represented countries at the event? “The sessions about the future of advertising in Europe and how Italian sports book operators can promote themselves in the wake of the advertising ban, mean that we are expecting lots of delegates from Italy. SKS365, Betaland, Microgame and Serie A are just some of the organisations represented. We will also have large numbers of attendees from the UK, Germany, Spain and the USA, but the event has global reach and we will welcome people from more than 40 countries. Delegates from Australia, Malta, Eastern Europe and the emerging markets in African nations and Latin America are among the confirmed attendees“.