Engineering Manager - AV Analytics, Customer Behavior

Winners announced for SBC Awards 2026. Published on: October 2, 2026 | Last updated: October 2, 2026, 11:45 AM Kaizen Gaming, Pragmatic Play, Sportradar and BetConstruct AI were the standout winners at the SBC Awards 2026, each securing two awards at this year's ceremony at the MEO Arena in Lisbon. Held on Thursday, 1 October, the final day of SBC Summit, the ceremony marked the 13th edition of the awards, recognising the achievements of operators, suppliers and individuals across the global betting and gaming industry. Dutch legend and superstar Edgar Davids joined broadcaster Kirsty Gallacher to host the evening, celebrating excellence across 39 award categories, spanning company leadership, player protection, payments and product innovation. Rasmus Sojmark, Founder and CEO of SBC, said: "One of my favourite parts of these awards is seeing the teams behind the achievements get their moment on stage. We know how much work goes into building a successful business or bringing a new product to market, and tonight was an opportunity to celebrate that together. Congratulations to all of our winners and finalists." It was another successful evening for Kaizen Gaming, retaining both Operator of the Year - Large and the title of Sportsbook Operator of the Year. Betsson Group also retained its Casino Operator of the Year crown. Elsewhere in the operator categories, Coolbet was named Operator of the Year - Medium, while Vegas Legends won Operator of the Year - Small. Novibet retained Innovation in Casino & Gaming Entertainment, while 1xBET successfully defended its Marketing Campaign of the Year title. On the supplier side, Pragmatic Play secured Casino / Slots Developer of the Year - Large for a third successive year and added Live Casino Supplier to its honours. Pascal Gaming won the medium developer category, while Gameburger Studios claimed the small category. BetConstruct AI also celebrated a double success, winning Sportsbook Supplier of the Year and Land-Based Betting & Gaming Product. Meanwhile, Sportradar collected Marketing & Services Provider of the Year and reclaimed Live Betting Product, an award the brand previously won in 2024. Digitain was named Platform Provider of the Year, SOFTSWISS secured Aggregator of the Year, and Amusnet collected Multi-Channel Supplier. White Hat Gaming picked up the title for White Label Supplier of the Year. Stats Perform was awarded Sports Data Product, while Oddin.gg secured Esports Supplier of the Year, and Playbook Fusion collected Virtual Sports Supplier. Soft2Bet secured Innovation in Casino Entertainment for a third consecutive year, while SPRIBE's Aviator won Crash Game of the Year, following SPRIBE's success in the category in 2025. Optimove secured the award for Industry Innovation of the Year, while Kanggiten collected Innovation in Mobile. Xtremepush was named Acquisition & Retention Partner. In the payments categories, Yaspa was named Payment Solution of the Year, while OKTO Payments collected Payment Innovation of the Year. Incode secured Fraud & Compliance Solution of the Year, and EPIC Global Solutions was recognised for Socially Responsible Initiative of the Year. The Rising Star categories recognised emerging businesses across both operators and suppliers. Interplay tech and Megapari won Rising Star in Casino and Rising Star in Sports Betting, respectively. On the supplier side, Insightplay AI secured Rising Star in Sports Betting Innovation / Software, while TaDa Gaming collected Rising Star in Casino Innovation / Software. The evening also celebrated leadership and workplace culture. Alea was named Employer of the Year - Supplier, while Allwyn Hellas secured Employer of the Year - Operator. The Leader of the Year honours went to Vladimir Dokov (CEO, EGT Digital) and Alina Mihaela Popa (CCO, ICONIC21), while David Natroshvili received the Nico Jansen Vision to Reality Award. The awards ceremony concluded the final day of SBC Summit 2026, rounding off three days of networking, business discussions and education for the international betting and gaming community in Lisbon.

Premier Padel builds official betting ecosystem with Sportradar integrity deal. Sportradar will provide betting monitoring and integrity services across Premier Padel competitions, using its UFDS AI to identify potentially suspicious betting patterns. September 30, 2026 Premier Padel and the International Padel Federation (FIP) have appointed Sportradar as their official betting integrity partner, strengthening the sport's governance framework as professional padel moves towards an official betting data ecosystem from the 2027 season. Under the partnership, Sportradar will provide betting monitoring and integrity services across Premier Padel competitions, using its Universal Fraud Detection System (UFDS) AI to identify potentially suspicious betting patterns. The agreement will also cover integrity education and prevention initiatives for players, officials and other stakeholders. The appointment comes shortly after Premier Padel selected iGame Media as its exclusive official partner for betting data, betting technology and live-streaming distribution. The agreement covers the men's and women's Qatar Airways Premier Padel Tour, representing more than 2,400 matches annually from 2027. As part of the new ecosystem, official in-venue umpire data will underpin pre-match and in-play betting markets, while iGame Media will provide the technology and distribution infrastructure connecting the sport with sportsbooks and betting operators. Its offering also includes ultra-low-latency live streaming and live scoreboards designed to support in-play betting. Luigi Carraro, President of the International Padel Federation, said, "Integrity is fundamental to the future of padel and to everything we are building together as an international sporting community. FIP is investing significantly in this area - from adopting the Olympic Movement Code on the Prevention of the Manipulation of Competitions, to our collaboration with the IOC, education programmes for players, coaches, officials and National Federations, and the development of stronger reporting and safeguarding mechanisms. "As our professional competitions grow, it is important that we have visibility and oversight of the way official sporting data is used. This partnership with Sportradar therefore sits within a much broader programme of work to ensure padel continues to develop responsibly, transparently and with the highest possible standards of sporting integrity." Andreas Krannich, Executive Vice President, Integrity Services at Sportradar, added, "We are proud to partner with Premier Padel and FIP, and support the protection of their competitions through our market-leading UFDS AI and Integrity Education. By combining advanced technology, extensive betting-market visibility and specialist integrity expertise, we will help identify potential risks at the earliest opportunity and strengthen the integrity framework around the sport worldwide." The development gives Premier Padel and FIP greater control over the collection, distribution and use of official match data within regulated betting markets, while establishing a dedicated integrity layer around the expanding betting activity. The initiative forms part of FIP's broader integrity framework, which includes adoption of the Olympic Movement Code on the Prevention of the Manipulation of Competitions and collaboration with the IOC. FIP also operates an anti-doping programme with the International Testing Agency. The agreements underline the growing commercial sophistication of professional padel, with betting data emerging as a distinct rights category alongside media, sponsorship and digital opportunities as the sport continues its international expansion.

Be like mike! Jordan mindset leads Sportradar & DraftKings' audience evolution. Published on: September 29, 2026 | Last updated: September 29, 2026, 4:31 PM Buzz words are nice, but the stakes are stacking up for sports, wagering and technology leaders as to who will dominate and commercialise future audiences. "Nothing is linear anymore. We must expect that sports live in a mixed environment. But there is now an opportunity to commercialise every element, data point, broadcast, bet and now merchandise as an experience". "We are now developing technologies for a high-speed sector, that is being powered by AI" says Sportradar AG CEO Carsten Koerl, welcoming the keynote panel on the MEO stage at SBC Summit Lisbon. Fans are no longer fixed on one point or engagement and move between live sport, data, social media and betting, their experiences is fractured, but their lies the opportunity. "We all kind of wish we were Michael. We wish we were out there winning championships," reflects DraftKings CEO Jason Robins, on his experience of following Michael Jordan as an athlete and now as a sports business magnet. Jordan's relentlessness to "dominate all arenas" inspires Robins to oversee the development of DraftKings' all-in-one Super App, as the principal technology project of the NASDAQ technology group. "The idea of the Super App was we're going to take all these different products that we have, which a lot of which were living in different apps before, and bring them all into one single app," Robins says. A packed MEO stage is at Jordan's whim, and he speaks about why his relationships with DraftKings and Sportradar feel authentic to him. Jordan knows the weight his name brings to the companies he has invested in, their markets and audiences, but authenticity is key and a discipline that won't be compromised. He applies the same thinking to his recent investment in NASCAR, an interest rooted in going to races with his family. Jordan now sees the opportunity for NASCAR to reach audiences beyond its traditional base, with Sportradar and DraftKings. The conversation returns to trust as Jordan acknowledges that today's fans can "follow every statistic, every movement and every betting market", but Jordan says he would have approached the game as he always did: "I just play the game. I can't worry about what people are betting on. I can't worry about what the stats are." Basketball's greatest showman now trusts Robins and Koerl as two individuals who are obsessed with being at the forefront of the next evolution of sports and wagering, whilst understanding the pressure on both to provide safe environments for fans. For Jordan, the only outcome he could control was what he did on the basketball court. For Koerl and Robins, the challenge is what happens around it: giving fans more ways to follow, understand and take part in the game.