SBC Summit Canada 2026 adds sports betting and igaming leaders track
SBC Summit Canada 2026 has announced a new content track for this year’s event, featuring leaders from Bet365, BetMGM, DraftKings and OLG.
The new Leaders in Sports Betting and iGaming track will kick off at Metro Toronto Convention Centre on 20 May.
The leadership themed content stream will look at the biggest developments in Canada’s gaming industry, such as Alberta’s impending launch and the opportunities presented by the 2026 World Cup this summer.
Among the scheduled sessions is one focusing on how operators can capitalize on the influx of new bettors from the World Cup, with speakers including Soft2Bet Chief Commercial Officer Andree Cochrane, BetMGM Chief Marketing Officer Casey Hurbis, Optimove Director of Sales Jeff Laniada, OLG Senior Director of iSports Product Greg Sindall and DraftKings Sportsbook Director Tim Whitehead.
Elsewhere, a panel session evaluating whether sportsbook can deliver growth against a booming igaming market will feature Bet99 Chief Executive Jared Beber, Aird & Berlis Partner Peter K. Czegledy, Altenar US Regional Director Matthew Ferrara, MNP Assurance Partner Reece Hiland, and PointsBet Canada Chief Executive Scott Vanderwel.
Dale Nally, Minister of Service and Red Tape Reduction for the Province of Alberta will also appear as a keynote speaker and in a fireside chat, while leaders from iGaming Ontario and Betty are also rostered to speak.
“Being a leader in this industry is about far more than a title,” said Rasmus Sojmark, SBC Founder and Chief Executive. “These figures have earned their positions through strategic thinking, bold decisions, and the vision and leadership needed for success. This track gives attendees a unique opportunity to understand both the mindset behind great leadership and the skills required to develop it.”
The leaders in sports betting and igaming track is one of several focused content themes across SBC Summit Canada’s agenda. Across the two days, attendees will also have access to tracks covering affiliates and advertising, leaders in land-based and lottery, player protection and payments and compliance.
SBC Summit Canada is taking place in Toronto from 19-21 May 2026, and organisers expect to welcome more than 3,000 professionals from across the industry. It is the first year the event is running as SBC Summit Canada, having previously been known as the Canadian Gaming Summit.
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The Backstory
Why leadership is front and center now
SBC’s decision to spotlight C-suite strategy at its Toronto gathering follows a year of event consolidation and sharper regional focus. The company merged its North America and Latinoamérica conferences into a single platform this spring, creating a broader stage for cross-border debates on growth, compliance and product innovation. That shift, and the executive-heavy programming that came with it, previewed the emphasis on decision-making and operating discipline now threaded through Canada’s agenda.
SBC framed the combined program as a way to surface shared challenges across markets with different maturities and regulatory rhythms. In announcing the new format, leadership argued that many companies straddle both regions and need side-by-side perspectives to guide capital allocation, acquisition strategy and responsible gambling investments. The move also signaled a push to convene regulators, operators and suppliers in one place rather than siloed tracks that often talk past one another.
That thinking mirrors what Canada’s leaders track aims to do: connect macro tailwinds like a home World Cup and provincial modernization with the ground truths of cost of acquisition, hold volatility, bonus pressure and compliance. It is a response to an industry that has grown quickly, then hit a patch of reality as investors scrutinize unit economics and governments test new tax and licensing levers.
A bigger Americas tent
The blueprint emerged in Florida, where SBC rolled out its unified conference and added dedicated summits for affiliates and payments to reflect two cost centers now central to margin management. The three-day gathering in Fort Lauderdale brought together national leagues, tribal operators and state regulators alongside global brands, turning panels into working sessions on user growth, KYC frictions and omnichannel loyalty. That event’s contours foreshadowed how Canada’s program is likely to blend marketing and compliance with product and payments.
SBC’s rationale for unifying its U.S. and Latin American shows centered on speed: regulations and technology are moving in parallel, and operators want to port proven models across borders without reinventing every playbook. The first combined gathering underscored that point with a North America track that ran throughout and a LatAm track focused on Brazil’s opening, Caribbean licensing pathways and Andean market dynamics. Those themes matter in Canada as operators weigh how to localize content and promotions for a World Cup audience while building durable lifetime value.
Read more about SBC’s consolidation push and the LatAm emphasis in the announcement of its combined event in Florida, SBC keeps focus on LatAm with new SBC Summit Americas event, and the on-the-ground preview, SBC Summit Americas opens in Florida this week.
Asia’s pull on global roadmaps
SBC also recalibrated its global program to elevate Asia, dedicating a day at its Lisbon summit to the region’s fragmented but fast-growing markets. The 2025 agenda drilled into India’s regulatory path, the Philippines’ shift from POGOs to PIGOs and compliance trade-offs across jurisdictions. For multinationals, those sessions doubled as risk mapping exercises for long-term expansion while near-term cash flows rely on North America and Europe.
That global lens is relevant in Toronto for two reasons. First, Canadian operators and suppliers increasingly look to export technology and compliance tooling to new markets, especially as player protection and payments sophistication become differentiators. Second, the timing of the World Cup on Canadian soil puts product localization and responsible marketing under a microscope that resembles high-stakes Asian launches. Panels weighing sportsbook growth against a strong igaming trajectory will likely borrow lessons from Asia on channelization and cross-sell mechanics.
For context on SBC’s Asia-focused programming and why executives are treating the region as a strategic pillar, see SBC Summit 2025 adds Asia-dedicated conference to emerging markets stage.
Policy whiplash reshapes U.S. economics
Leadership conversations in Canada will unfold against shifting U.S. tax and regulatory assumptions. Illinois lawmakers advanced a per-bet surcharge as part of the state’s budget, layering new costs on top of a recent jump in the online sportsbook tax rate to 40 percent. Operators warned the structure could drive price-sensitive customers to offshore books and compress promotional spend in legal channels. The Sports Betting Alliance, which counts major U.S. operators among its members, condemned the move and signaled it would fight similar proposals elsewhere.
That escalation matters for executives speaking in Toronto because U.S. profitability timelines influence marketing budgets, market entries and M&A firepower in Canada. If high-volume states turn more punitive, companies will look harder at markets with steadier tax regimes or clearer regulatory glide paths. Canada’s provinces have pushed for modernization while emphasizing consumer safeguards, making the country a relative safe harbor for capital so long as licensing remains predictable.
For a detailed look at the Illinois shift and industry pushback, see Illinois raises sports betting tax as part of the 2026 budget.
What the numbers say about demand
Even as cost pressures rise, demand signals remain resilient. Kentucky’s online handle climbed 15.5 percent year over year in March to $284.9 million, though adjusted gross revenue fell 10 percent to $18.8 million as hold normalized and promotions tightened. DraftKings and FanDuel led on wagers, with DraftKings also topping March revenue. Penn Interactive saw the steepest declines, underscoring the competitive gravity that continues to pull share toward national leaders.
That split-screen—healthy top-line growth with uneven revenue capture—will color the leaders track in Toronto. Executives weighing World Cup acquisition surges must decide how hard to lean into bonusing, parlay promotion and same-game product while keeping an eye on retention curves and tax drag. The Kentucky snapshot offers a reminder that high engagement months can still produce softer revenue if pricing or product mix shifts.
For state-level performance details, see Kentucky online sportsbook wagers up 15.5% YoY in March.
The stakes in Toronto
Canada’s market is at an inflection point. Alberta is preparing to open, Ontario’s competitive framework has matured and a World Cup summer will test infrastructure and responsible marketing guardrails. The leaders track gathers operators, regulators and suppliers to debate whether sportsbook can regain momentum against a booming igaming base and how to convert global events into lasting cohorts rather than one-off spikes.
Against a backdrop of consolidation in conference programming, Asia’s growing profile and U.S. tax turbulence, the Toronto conversations will be unusually pragmatic. Expect sessions that translate macro shifts into playbooks for channelization, product cross-sell, payments optimization and player protection—areas where execution, not headlines, will decide winners.
