SBC Summit Highlights Finland, Peru, Alberta and Other Emerging Gaming Markets

For years, conversations around global gaming expansion have tended to focus on a familiar group of headline markets, from the US and Brazil to Europe’s established regulated jurisdictions.

But the next phase of growth may be defined just as much by markets attracting less noise, but moving quickly beneath the surface.

Across Europe, Africa, Central Asia, Latin America and North America, governments are introducing new frameworks, revisiting old ones and reassessing whether existing models are still fit for purpose. 

Some jurisdictions are opening up to private operators, while others are tightening rules, strengthening compliance expectations or looking for ways to bring more activity into the regulated sector.

The result is a global recalibration of what counts as a growth market. 

Increasingly, operators, suppliers and investors are looking beyond market size alone and asking more practical questions: is regulation moving in the right direction, is there a clear route to licensing, and can businesses build long-term operations with confidence?

At SBC Summit , a series of conference sessions will examine growth opportunities across emerging gaming markets, including Finland, Romania, Poland, Eurasia, Africa, Latin America and Alberta. Discussions will focus on how regulatory stability and predictable licensing frameworks are becoming key drivers of long-term industry expansion.

In addition, the event's Regulatory Gaming Meetups will connect attendees with regulators, legal experts and leading industry stakeholders from these regions. Featuring 21 dedicated sessions, the meetups are designed to provide valuable networking opportunities and regulatory insights that extend beyond the conference exhibition floor.

Finland: A New Market Begins to Take Shape

Finland’s 2025 decision to replace its state monopoly Veikkaus with a regulated private model highlights its emergence as one of the most closely watched markets in Europe.

Licence applications have already opened, with a full market launch expected in 2027.

To ensure that businesses are prepared for this market launch, SBC Summit will feature two sessions dedicated to Finland.

• Finland’s Waiting: The start of a New European Market – With businesses now applying for licences in Finland, this panel will examine the country’s transition away from a monopoly model, the challenges operators have encountered so far and how the new regulator is responding ahead of the market’s launch in 2027.
• Bring on the new markets: What are the compliance challenges? – Using Finland and other newly regulated markets as examples, this panel will explore the compliance and anti-fraud challenges operators face when entering new jurisdictions.

Attendees can also meet Finland’s key regulators directly at the Finland Regulatory Gaming Meetup on Wednesday 30 September, where discussion will turn to the end of the state monopoly, player protection mechanisms and potential changes to the new Gambling Act.

Poland & Romania: What’s Next for Regulation in CEE?

Poland and Romania demonstrate the varied nature of CEE markets and will be major topics of discussion across the conference agenda.

Poland’s opportunity lies in its booming economy, one of the fastest-growing in the European Union. Discussions on the jurisdiction will centre on how companies can lobby for a liberalised gaming market by demonstrating that a safe, regulated market can only strengthen the country’s growth.

Romania represents a different proposition. It already has a regulated market, but one now under increased political scrutiny following the country’s elections. With Betfair, Kaizen Gaming and Super Technologies all maintaining a strong presence in the region, discussions on Romania will focus on how companies respond to that scrutiny and work towards a regulated market that satisfies both industry and regulators.

• A Generational Bet: Romania’s Reckoning on Gambling Regulation – This panel will examine Romania’s changing regulatory landscape, as the ONJN regulator loses public trust following a series of governance blunders. Yet the sector’s economic importance remains undeniable, with major employers such as Betfair, Kaizen Gaming and Superbet underpinning national growth, raising the question of how far a new government is willing to disrupt it.
• Can Poland’s Economic Surge Unlock Gambling Reform? – With Poland possessing the fastest-growing economy in Europe, attention in the gaming sphere has turned to whether the country may reform its approach to gambling. Currently in a restrictive state, this panel asks whether market leaders can successfully lobby for Poland to open up.
• CEE in Transition: From Established Giants to Emerging Opportunities – Looking beyond individual markets, this panel will explore how rising taxes, tighter regulation and changing player expectations are reshaping Central and Eastern Europe, while identifying where the region’s next expansion opportunities may lie.

For those wanting direct access to regulators, the CEE Regulatory Gaming Meetup on Tuesday 29 September brings together regulators from Romania, Bulgaria, Hungary, Poland, Czechia and Slovakia to discuss municipal gambling hall reviews and reforms to loss and age limits.

Eurasia: Who’s Opening Up and Who’s Shutting Down

Central Asia and the Caucasus are moving in different directions, creating both opportunity and risk in equal measure. 

Kazakhstan’s tighter taxes, ID checks and enforcement are raising standards but squeezing out weaker operating models, while Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan continue to navigate their own path towards more structured online frameworks.

Meanwhile, Georgia, once a regional leader, has seen operators rethink their approach after tax changes and tighter advertising rules reshaped the way people gamble.

Here’s how SBC Summit will help you understand changes taking place in Eurasia:

• From Kazakhstan to Georgia: Who’s Opening Up and Who’s Shutting Down in Eurasia? – With regulation evolving fast across the region, this panel will explore where sustainable growth is still possible, which markets reward long-term commitment, and how operators and regulators can strike the right balance between control and commercial viability.

The Eurasia Regulatory Gaming Meetup on Tuesday 29 September widens the lens further, bringing together regulators from Armenia, Georgia, Azerbaijan, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan and Ukraine to discuss cross-border cooperation, anti-illegal gambling enforcement and consumer protection.

Kenya, Nigeria & Ghana: From Growth to Structure

Africa’s leading gaming markets are entering a new phase, one defined less by rapid, unregulated growth and more by the pursuit of durable frameworks. Kenya, Nigeria and Ghana are each working through what sustainable regulation looks like, and operators positioning for the long term are paying close attention to how that structure takes shape.

• The Africa Advantage: High Growth, Fast Regulation, Huge Potential – Online betting in Africa is growing faster than almost anywhere else, and mobile phones are driving most of it. Nigeria, Kenya and South Africa are already established, while Egypt, Ghana and Uganda are moving quickly to bring unlicensed betting into the regulated market. This panel looks at what today’s younger, mobile-first bettor actually wants, and how operators can win their loyalty.
• Africa’s New Rulebook: How Regulators Are Shaping a 45-Market Boom – More than 45 countries across Africa are writing or rewriting their gambling laws. This panel looks at how regulators in Nigeria, Kenya, Ghana, Uganda, Tanzania and elsewhere are tightening licensing and enforcement, and asks which of these approaches are actually working.

The Africa Regulatory Gaming Cocktail Hour on Tuesday 29 September will bring together regulators from across the continent, covering everything from provincial challenges in South Africa to advertising rules in Kenya and the state-versus-federal debate in Nigeria. The meetup represents an opportunity for attendees to connect directly with regulators and develop relationships that extend beyond the event itself.

Peru: Rising Costs, Rising Demand

Peru has emerged as one of Latin America’s fastest-growing markets, despite rising compliance demands pushing up costs for operators. Growth is being driven by a 30% surge in mobile betting and a willingness among customers to adopt local payment methods.

SBC Summit will look at the new opportunities opening up for operators as a result, and ask whether Peru represents a regulated model for the rest of Latin America to follow.

• Peru’s Big Shift: Compliance Tightening, Growth Exploding – Since regulation, operators have faced steep licence fees, tighter KYC and AML checks and rising marketing costs, yet demand keeps climbing, driven by a surge in mobile betting and quick uptake of local payment methods. This panel asks whether Peru becomes Latin America’s most profitable regulated market, or its most tightly policed, and who can scale without giving up margin.
• LatAm Leaders: Strategy, Scale and Survival – Brazil’s shifting rules and Colombia’s tougher stance are testing margins across the region, while Peru and Uruguay are proving more predictable bets for investors. This panel looks at where sustainable growth now sits, which markets reward patient expansion, and who is quietly stepping back as consolidation picks up pace.

Peru is among the regulators represented at the LATAM & Brazil Regulatory Gaming Cocktail Hour on Tuesday 29 September, alongside Mexico, Colombia, Argentina and Brazil, with tax increases across the Andean nations high on the agenda.

Mexico: Who Will Benefit from the Country’s Regulatory Reset?

Mexico is one of Latin America’s largest gaming markets, and it is now on the edge of regulatory reform. A proposed overhaul would touch long-standing land-based permits, online partnerships and foreign operator models, with old tax debates resurfacing and marketing and payment costs both on the rise. Demand shows no sign of slowing, with mobile now driving the great majority of betting activity. SBC Summit will look at what this reform means in practice, and what it opens up for the businesses operating in the market.

• Mexico Reloaded: The Market on the Edge of a Major Reset – This panel asks whether Mexico holds on to its status as one of Latin America’s biggest markets, or whether the coming regulatory reset reshapes it entirely, and who stands to win once every operator has to rethink licensing, technology and how they go to market.

Attendees will be able to meet regulators and legal experts from the region at the LATAM & Brazil Regulatory Gaming Cocktail Hour on Tuesday 29 September, alongside counterparts from Colombia, Argentina, Peru and Brazil.

Paraguay & Ecuador: New Growth in Latin America?

Paraguay and Ecuador may lack the scale of their larger neighbours, but both are making a case for themselves on different terms. Paraguay has begun issuing licences, opening up opportunities for operators in a market that generated £26.6m in 2025, its highest figure on record, in the year the market was officially liberalised. Ecuador has also launched online betting, creating opportunities for national and international operators alike.

• LatAm’s Next Moves: Certainty, Chaos and Quiet Winners – Not every market billed as “emerging” is moving at the same speed. This panel looks at why Chile remains stuck in legal limbo while Paraguay and Ecuador quietly get on with licensing and monetising, and asks which operators have worked out where the real certainty lies.

Alberta: Canada’s New Market

Alberta is Canada’s first new competitive iGaming market since Ontario launched in April 2022, with GGR projected to reach USD 1.9 billion by 2030, a lucrative opportunity for businesses active in the region.

Our panels will focus on what operators need to look out for in the new market, and cover Alberta’s regulatory nuances.

• Canada: Province by Province Progress – Alberta is opening up to regulated iGaming, while Ontario runs a sector-wide review of its own framework. This panel asks what each review is aiming for, and what it means for Canadian gaming.

Attendees will also be able to connect with Canadian regulators and legal experts at the North America Regulatory Gaming Cocktail Hour, taking place on Wednesday, 30 September. Among the topics discussed will be prediction markets, tribal gaming, and international liquidity.

Final Thoughts

While the larger regulated markets naturally grab most of the attention, the markets covered in this blog show where delegates can find opportunity if they know where to look. 

As a global event, SBC Summit has designed its conference and networking sessions, more than 20 across the three-day agenda, to help delegates identify and act on these opportunities, with exclusive access to the business leaders, regulators and legal experts who know what it takes to succeed in each region.

SBC Summit 2026 makes it possible to get a ticket that suits your needs. If you’re solely interested in our conference sessions, a Conference Pass represents the right choice. 

However, if you want to blend conference insight with access to our Regulatory Gaming Meetups, you’ll want to secure a Networking Pass, Business Pass or VIP Pass for the full SBC Summit experience.