Digitain was present at the SBC Summit Barcelona, the event that took place on September 20, 21 and 22, where the main companies and platforms in sports betting and igaming meet.

What novelties have you presented at SBC Barcelona?

As always with Digitain and its vast array of product offering, massive and the requests we received were varied based on customer needs. The focus of enquiries focused on our Sportsbook, with the World Cup looming there were many enquiries relating to understanding if we could deliver a sportsbook to customers in time for the World Cup which of course we can. Relating to the sportsbook we had a lot of questions around our virtual sports product as this a great product to entertain players in between matches. We all know that the start of the World Cup is always exciting with 4 matches a day but as the tournament progresses and excitement builds, invariably there are less teams in the competition so operators were interested to see how virtual sports can keep their players entertained when there were no live matches.

We also fielded lots of questions on our Centrivo platform, with regulation and player protection hot topics at the conference, it was a great way for us to show our new platform can be localised to meet operator needs whatever the market. There was also a lot of interest from visitors hoping to meet our Figo our brand Ambassador which was good to show our marketing strategy is also working

Have you participated in any conference? How was the experience and highlights of it?

Before the conference even began, I was delighted to be invited to play in the SBC Football Championship which has led to many humorous comments on Linkedin, some comparing me to a League 2 defender and my favourite who needs Figo when you have me. Digitain were then delighted to host and Sponsor the Sigma Gathering on the Tuesday evening and this was all before the show even started. My ageing body was really struggling to function after being on the move for 23 hours.

At the show, honestly much of my time was spent on the stand engaging with new customers and existing partners. However, as always when I did manage to escape the stand I was impressed by the excellent, thought-provoking content that SBC always deliver.

SBC also always do a great job of providing post conference entertainment, and I enjoyed some engaging conversations at the C-Level dinner on Wednesday and was lucky enough to see an old industry colleague who shaped my career with one sentence 10 years ago and I had not seen for many years. I will not comment on my poker performance during the poker tournament. 

The highlight of the conference has to be the SBC Awards and Digitain winning the Employer of the Year, this is the second time in three years we have the won the award and we were highly commended last year. This award is a true testament to the dedication and desire for excellence within Digitain that is feed all the way down from our Founder. I was honoured to receive the award on behalf of Digitain's global workforce. 

Why it was important to participate in SBC Summit Barcelona?

I think everyone in the industry knows I am always honest. I have to say I had a small amount of trepidation before the event due to the fact the show last year was the first show out of Covid, and people were nervous to attend. All I can say about this year’s show is wow, what a show. To me it was as busy as ICE but with a more relaxed feel. I think this is the best compliment I can give the event and it is now a must attend event for the industry. I know how much work SBC have put into making the event a success, so I truly thank them for their efforts.

What are your plans for the markets where you already operate? What are your target markets in the near future?

I think it is clear at the moment, our focus is ensuring we get customers live for the World Cup and we also have great partner development plans in place to help our partners grow during this exciting time. I know it is a cliche, but we are signed two transformational deals for the company at the moment. Sadly, I cannot give you more details at this point, but I can say the hard work for the Sales Team at Digitain is really coming to the fore.

Of course, we are now fully focused on regulated markets and are working closely with GLi to enhance our certified product offering in the markets we are targeting. We have some excellent traction in CEE and also LatAm, so very exciting times ahead for Digitain.

After this edition ended, ¿what conclusion do you reach in terms of adapting your products to the needs of your customers?

I think as I always say we are striving to provide a flexible glocal product, so a company with a global outlook but with a product that can be developed and used in any local market our partners require. Of course, as our product offering expands and the Digitain Group of Companies expands, this is a challenge, but it is a challenge we embrace and enjoy.

Which are the next events you are going to participate the rest of the year?

For me personally, the next event I will be attending is Sigma as I need to spend some time in Armenia visiting head office. I have only been at home for 3 days in September, due to attending events in Romania, London and Spain so I need to head to our Head Office. However, my team will be attending events, in Batumi, Sofia, Miami and Malta before the year closes out.