The SBC News team are live on the ground for the second day of the SBC Summit. 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.
2:15pm: Alea reveals doubling of sweepstake activity
Reporting by Ted Orme-Claye
Gaming technology company Alea is making big strides in the sweepstakes space, group leadership revealed during the first press conference of the second day of the SBC Summit.
“We expect exponential growth,” says the firm’s CEO, Jordi Sendra.
Over a four-month period between April-August 2026, Alea saw sweepstake activity increase dramatically from 11% of total business share to over 17% by the end of August. It has now doubled from 10% before April to over 20%.
Breaking down the firm’s sweepstake activity, Sendra explains that the firm now has 1.5 million unique sweepstake players, with 37.5 million sessions played and 2.3 billion in bet volume recorded.
“It is a big opportunity for new games studios to come out of the market and gain a significant share of the market,” he adds.
2:00pm: “Time for Meta to uphold their responsibility”
Reporting by Patrick Killeen
Björn Fuchs, Chairman at Dutch industry trade body VNLOK, has further explained at the SBC Summit the organisation’s decision to sue Meta.
“You can see how much advertising there is on Meta platforms. We have tried to communicate but they have only offered automated responses,” he reveals.
“We don’t see any improvement – in fact, it’s getting worse. Now is the time for them to uphold their responsibility.”
Eric Olders, CEO and Chairman at JVH Gaming & Entertainment, thinks that regulators should “just toughen up” in their enforcement against the black market.
“We should be more confident and not just open it for an interesting dialogue. I think [the current attitude towards illegal gambling] is not going to work,” he comments.
Justin Franssen,Co-Founder and Head of the Gaming and Gambling Practice Group at Franssen Tolboom Attorneys, is concerned about players’ attitudes towards the illegal market.
He explains: “Players don’t give a flying you-know-what about whether an operator is licensed. The new measures implemented – I am doubting that this perception will change because I don’t think that they will work.”
Dutch trade body escalates legal case against Meta
1:30pm: Football frenzy on the Super Stage
Reporting by Ted-Orme Claye
Sergio Goycochea, the Argentine football legend whose legendary saves led his country to the 1990 World Cup final, takes to the stage. The former Racing Club and River Plate goalkeeper reflects on his long and storied professional career.
His appearance follows a fireside conversation between football journalist Fabrizio Romano and Lasha Machavariani, founder of SMH Global, with the duo discussing the future of football fandom and influencer-media relationships.
13:00pm: Careful what you wish for…
The SBC News team has heard that our sister publication iGaming Expert has called us out. We’re not exactly known for turning down a football challenge, so we’ll see you on the pitch.
12:45pm: Italian retail questions remain
Reporting by Christian Lee
Though Italy has undergone a significant transformation in its online gambling regulation, oversight of the retail sector continues to lag behind, according to Sisal’s Managing Director Marco Tiso.
Tiso lamented the different promotional tools available across the two verticals, noting that consumers are faced with different prices and payouts depending on where they choose to wager, even as the ratio of retail to online continues to converge.
He said: “Yesterday, we had a lot of customers coming from retail to online. Probably tomorrow, it will be online that will send customers into the retail shops to complete their experience with the sociality, with the community experiences that you cannot get in the online shop.”
12:30pm: It’sssss time
Reporting by Patrick Killeen
Charles Oliveira has entered the SBC Summit. The former Lightweight Champion of the World, current BMF belt holder, and one of the most iconic UFC fighters in recent memory is recounting his historic career as a mixed martial artist.
When questioned on whether his mindset has changed in the latter part of his career, he says: “Before I had a family, I was only fighting for myself. So this has massively changed. This is a sport where we take risks all the time, but I’ll take those and always give my best.”
On mindset, he adds: “I am a humble person, I follow God and I train. But I want to show everyone what I am and where I’m going to get to. Turning champion will always be my biggest pride.”
“If you have a dream, follow it. But don’t just sit there, chase it, work, all of you. Only when you have achieved that you can relax. Even then you can’t, because look at me – I want to continue making history, I want to continue my legacy and I want to share that with everyone like I am doing today.”
12:20pm: UFC legend Charles Oliveira takes to the stage
Reporting by Patrick Killeen
Former UFC lightweight world champion Charles Oliveira delivers the keynote address of day two.
12:15pm: Academia vs the industry
Reporting by Ted-Orme Claye
The industry needs to provide data and funding for research to help shape the public agenda and guarantee its own sustainability, says Paul Burns, Chief Executive Officer of the Canadian Gaming Association (CGA).
Gaming is subject to extensive research, whether by the industry itself to support lobbying efforts or to improve its own understanding of player protection. Burns notes that the CGA itself has funded research, but adds that “you can’t short-cirtcuit” the academic process.
“There has been a challenge in some parts of the world where academic priorities and industry priorities don’t meet,” he says. “When the priorities don’t meet ,we find that the industry is very eager to see good evidence-based research to help them get better at protecting players.”
12:00pm: managing future risks in Finland
Reporting by Ted Orme-Claye
You’d be forgiven for thinking that the Brazilian news had overshadowed everything at this year’s event, but not all the conversations are about markets coming to an end – there are a couple that are just beginning too.
Finland and Estonia, to be specific, are two Europe markets on a lot of people’s minds. Senir management at Finland’s regional operator Paf, tell SBC News that Finnish prospectors are keeping all options open to avoid the same fate as Brazil.
The industry needs to avoid political and publishing backlash, though Paf believes that some is inevitable once Finns become exposed to the huge amount of advertising that will come with next year’s regulation.
What will count is how it manages and responds to this backlash..
11:00am: Novibet set to improve sportsbook after successful summer
Reporting by Patrick Killeen
We are well underway on Day Two of the SBC Summit, and the SBC News team is straight into the important stuff already.
I spoke with Giannos Grivas, Executive Director of Sports at Novibet, on all things sportsbook, regulation and compliance in the interview room.
He gave us some intel that the Novibet sportsbook is set for some major product expansion in the next few months…
Giannos also spoke about how much growth the business has seen year-over-year due to how well Novibet optimised the World Cup – commonly cited as the biggest global sports event the world has ever seen.
We won’t reveal too much, but stay tuned for an in-depth write up with a C-suite figure who has nearly two decades of experience within the sector on what he thinks the future holds for sportsbooks.
10:30am: H2 views instant €4bn Brazil migration to Black Market
Reporting by Ted Menmuir
Breaking this morning, global gambling analyst H2 Gambling Capital has presented an initial forecast of Brazil’s market impacts following the immediate suspension imposed by President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.
H2 Gambling Capital estimates that approximately R$25bn (€4.2bn) in annual gambling expenditure could migrate from licensed platforms to the offshore market following the prohibition announced on 25 September.
An all-out suspension, dependent on a determination by Congress, would see Brazil’s online gambling black market increase from R$17bn (€2.9bn) to an estimated R$42bn (€7.1bn).
Dire consequences are identified by H2, as around “60% of expenditure previously captured by licensed operators will continue through unlicensed websites”.
Initial impact forecasts place offshore migration at R$20bn–R$30bn (€3.4bn–€5.1bn), equivalent to between half and three-quarters of the former legal market.
10am: No, you’re not seeing things – there’s a UFC star on the show floor
Good morning! Day two of the SBC Summit gets underway in Lisbon. The conference agenda kicks off at 11am today, with the Super Stage welcoming UFC star Charles Oliveira, while the other stages will host debates and discussions covering key markets like Italy, the Netherlands and Brazil.
