SBC Summit 2026 Puts Emerging Markets at Centre Stage in Lisbon

SBC Summit 2026 will run from 29 September to 1 October at Feira Internacional de Lisboa, and organiser SBC has confirmed that a dedicated Global and Emerging Markets Stage on Tuesday 29 September will put Africa, Central and Eastern Europe, Eurasia and the Far East at the heart of the agenda. With an expected 40,000 attendees and more than 800 exhibitors and sponsors, the show is using its flagship European edition to steer operators and suppliers toward the regions it sees as gaming's fastest growing, rather than the mature and increasingly taxed markets of Western Europe and North America.

The emerging-markets theme is not a side room. It sits inside a reimagined six-stage conference format and is paired with a new series of Regulatory Gaming Meetups that connect delegates directly with regulators from across Africa, Asia, the Balkans, the Emirates and Eurasia. For a sector wrestling with rising duties, tighter advertising rules and slowing growth at home, the message from Lisbon is that the map of opportunity is being redrawn.

What is happening at SBC Summit 2026?

SBC has built its 2026 conference programme around six stages, and one of them, the Global and Emerging Markets Stage, is devoted entirely to high-growth territories outside the established Western markets. The programme groups its sessions into three regional blocks: Africa, Central and Eastern Europe plus Eurasia, and the Far East. Each block features operator-led panels, regulatory deep dives and market-entry guidance built for companies weighing where to commit capital next.

When and where is SBC Summit 2026 taking place?

The event runs from Tuesday 29 September to Thursday 1 October 2026 at Feira Internacional de Lisboa, with the headline Super Stage sessions staged at the neighbouring MEO Arena. It is the third consecutive year that SBC has based its global flagship in the Portuguese capital after outgrowing its previous Barcelona home.

Key facts at a glance

• Event: SBC Summit 2026, SBC's global flagship betting and iGaming conference and exhibition.
• Dates: 29 September to 1 October 2026.
• Venue: Feira Internacional de Lisboa and MEO Arena, Lisbon, Portugal.
• Scale: around 40,000 attendees and more than 800 exhibitors and sponsors expected.
• Format: six conference stages, including a dedicated Global and Emerging Markets Stage.
• Emerging-markets day: the regional programme is concentrated on Tuesday 29 September.

Why are emerging markets the headline theme this year?

Growth in the industry's traditional strongholds is getting harder to find. Higher gambling duties, stricter marketing limits and maturing player bases in the UK, parts of continental Europe and several US states are squeezing margins, while newly regulating economies in Africa, Latin America, Central and Eastern Europe and Asia are opening up. SBC's framing is that the challenge is no longer whether to look abroad, but where to concentrate limited resources. That is a theme our readers have seen play out in stories from Kenya's new GRA rules to the rapid expansion of Brazil's regulated market.

"The real question is where to focus your time, investment and resources," said Rasmus Sojmark, chief executive and founder of SBC, summing up the thinking behind the dedicated stage.

How do the three emerging-market regions compare?

Region block	Markets in focus	Sample operators and voices
Africa	Licensing, taxation and regulation across dozens of African markets	888Africa, SportPesa, Maybets, Meridianbet, Kingmakers
Central and Eastern Europe and Eurasia	Regulated growth across CEE and the Balkans	Loteria Romana, Entain CEE, Flutter CEE, Betlive
Far East	Philippines, Cambodia, Vietnam, Japan and Macau	MegaBet+, KMI Group, iGaming NDA

What will the Africa sessions cover?

Africa gets two anchor panels. The first, framed around the continent's commercial upside, brings together operators building scale on the ground. The second, focused on regulation, examines how licensing, taxation and compliance frameworks differ across a patchwork of African markets, a practical concern for any operator trying to move from one jurisdiction to the next without rebuilding its business each time.

Who is speaking on the Africa panels?

The operator-led Africa session features Christopher Coyne of 888Africa, Jason Gibson of SportPesa, Aggrey Sayi of Maybets, William Scott of Meridianbet and Ronnie Whelan of Kingmakers. Between them the group spans sports betting, lottery-style products and casino across some of the continent's largest and most competitive markets, giving the discussion a mix of established brands and challengers.

What is on the agenda for Central and Eastern Europe and Eurasia?

The CEE and Eurasia block gathers senior figures from state and private operators, including Ionut-Valeriu Andrei of Loteria Romana, Mikolaj Cymerman of Entain CEE, Giorgi Gvenetadze of Flutter CEE and Gega Topuridze of Betlive. The presence of both Entain and Flutter regional leadership underlines how the largest global groups are treating CEE as a serious expansion corridor rather than a peripheral market.

What does the Far East track include?

The Far East sessions widen the lens to the Philippines, Cambodia, Vietnam, Japan and Macau, markets that range from fast-moving online licensing regimes to the world's biggest land-based casino hub. Speakers include Dominique Laconico of MegaBet+, Keith McDonnell of KMI Group and Japneet Singh Sethi of iGaming NDA. The region's relevance is hard to overstate given how closely operators watch Macau's gaming revenue as a barometer for Asian demand.

What are the new Regulatory Gaming Meetups?

Alongside the stage programme, SBC is introducing Regulatory Gaming Meetups designed to put delegates in the same room as regulators and regional decision-makers. The meetups span Africa, Asia, the Balkans, Central and Eastern Europe, the Emirates and Eurasia. For companies where a single licence decision can make or break a market-entry plan, that kind of direct access is often worth more than any panel.

How does the emerging-markets focus fit the six-stage format?

The Global and Emerging Markets Stage is one of six themed stages that also cover technology and innovation, payments, regulation and compliance, affiliate marketing, and the headline Super Stage. Aidan Brain, vice president of conference production at SBC, framed the multi-stage approach around the reality that operators now have to solve several problems at once.

"Success in today's market depends on getting multiple moving parts right at the same time, from entering new markets to building better products and navigating regulation," said Aidan Brain.

Why does this matter for operators and suppliers?

For operators, the emerging-markets programme is a shortcut to understanding where regulated demand is growing fastest and what it takes to compete there. For suppliers of platforms, content, payments and compliance tools, these regions represent the clearest path to new revenue as Western markets tighten. And for affiliates and marketers, the localisation, payment and acquisition challenges of Africa, CEE and the Far East are very different from those of London or New Jersey, which is precisely why a dedicated forum has value.

How does SBC Summit compare with the rest of the 2026 calendar?

SBC Summit is one of two heavyweight autumn shows, opening in Lisbon the same week that G2E takes over Las Vegas from 28 September to 1 October. SiGMA's European show follows in Rome in early November. What sets the Lisbon emerging-markets track apart is its explicit focus on where the next wave of regulated growth is coming from, rather than on the mature markets that dominate much of the year's agenda.

Frequently asked questions

When is SBC Summit 2026?

SBC Summit 2026 takes place from 29 September to 1 October 2026 at Feira Internacional de Lisboa in Lisbon, Portugal, with Super Stage sessions at the MEO Arena.

What is the emerging-markets stage at SBC Summit 2026?

It is the Global and Emerging Markets Stage, a dedicated part of the six-stage conference programme focused on Africa, Central and Eastern Europe, Eurasia and the Far East, with the regional sessions concentrated on Tuesday 29 September.

How many people attend SBC Summit?

SBC expects around 40,000 attendees and more than 800 exhibitors and sponsors at the 2026 edition in Lisbon.

Which markets are covered in the Far East sessions?

The Far East programme covers the Philippines, Cambodia, Vietnam, Japan and Macau.

What are the Regulatory Gaming Meetups?

They are new sessions that connect delegates directly with regulators and regional decision-makers from Africa, Asia, the Balkans, Central and Eastern Europe, the Emirates and Eurasia.

Updated July 2026. This is a preview based on the agenda and details confirmed by SBC ahead of the event. Sessions, speakers and timings can change closer to the date.

Sources: SBC News and SBC Events.