EventLisbon, 29 September – 1 October 2026.
SBC Summit Lisbon 2026: The Global Gaming Industry Meets in Portugal
From 29 September to 1 October 2026, SBC Summit filled the Feira Internacional de Lisboa (FIL) and the MEO Arena for its third consecutive year in Lisbon. The organiser expected around 40,000 delegates from more than 150 countries, including over 11,000 operators. [1] PlayFrankCasino was there, and the photos on this page are our own.
SBC Summit is one of the largest trade events in betting and online gambling: operators, suppliers, payment companies, affiliates, regulators and media under one roof. Here is what was on the programme, and what it tells UK players about where regulation is heading.
The event in numbers
According to the organiser, the 2026 edition brought together: [1]
| Delegates (expected) | around 40,000 |
|---|---|
| Countries | more than 150 |
| Operators (confirmed) | over 11,000 |
| Exhibitors and sponsors | 800 |
| Speakers | more than 600 |
The conference ran on five main stages: the Super Stage in the MEO Arena, plus stages for global and emerging markets, technology and innovation, payments (the Payment Expert Summit) and regulation and compliance. [3] New this year were a standalone Affiliate Leaders Summit with its own expo and awards, two new forums on prediction markets and Africa's gaming sector, and a Product Innovation Showcase Stage for live product demos. [1] The week closed with two awards ceremonies, the SBC Awards and the Affiliate Leaders Awards. [1]
The Super Stage: Michael Jordan, Koerl and Robins
The headline session opened the Super Stage on Tuesday 29 September at 12:00. Broadcaster Kirsty Gallacher hosted Michael Jordan, Sportradar founder and CEO Carsten Koerl and DraftKings co-founder and CEO Jason Robins. [2] The topics were leadership themes, such as scaling global businesses and making decisions under pressure, plus how sports betting and iGaming are converging. [2]
Football journalist Fabrizio Romano spoke about building a media brand on speed and trust and the relationship between football audiences and betting brands. Former UFC champion Charles Oliveira followed on Wednesday. [2] The line-up says a lot about the direction of the industry: sport, media and gambling are being sold as one entertainment business.
Regulation, payments and player protection
Behind the celebrity sessions, most of the agenda was regulation and compliance. On the first day, the regulation stage ran dedicated panels on Romania, Poland, Finland, Canada and Austria, and an IMGL masterclass compared how European regulators approach prediction markets. [3] On the second day, a panel looked at what credible player protection means in practice, from research and earlier intervention to local education and support. [3]
Payments had their own stage. Sessions with titles such as “From Click to Cashout: Building Reliable Payment Infrastructure” and “Beyond ID Checks: The New Role of Identity in Gaming” show where the industry is investing: faster withdrawals, and identity checks that go beyond a document upload. [3]
What it means for UK players
None of this changes UK rules on its own, but the themes match what is already happening here. Since 30 September, every UK-licensed site must offer gross deposit limits, the Gambling Commission has just decided to remove turbo features from new gaming machines, and a Lords committee has proposed a ban on gambling advertising. Player protection and identity checks are the direction of travel across Europe, not only in Britain.
If you want the regulatory background behind the event, our news section covers it, and our responsible gambling page lists free support.
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Hannah Whitmore
Hannah Whitmore writes about online casinos from a player's practical point of view: who operates a site, what a bonus really requires, which payment methods appear in the cashier, and what happens between requesting a withdrawal and receiving the money. Her reviews draw on PlayFrankCasino's own account research — registrations, terms checks, deposits and withdrawals — and she keeps an operator's advertised payout target separate from a measured result. She enjoys testing slot features and bonus-buy slots in demo mode, and is currently learning blackjack basic-strategy charts and how betting systems such as Martingale and Paroli work. She also covers UK casino news and writes PlayFrankCasino's guides to wagering, withdrawals, verification, cashback and safer gambling.