SBC Summit North America to host Player Protection Symposium to educate on responsible gambling

Senior executives from the gambling industry are set to gather in New York for the Player Protection Symposium on July 12, SBC announced on Thursday. The event organizer also confirmed that Super Bowl winner Amani Toomer and former NY Knicks star Charles Oakley will be among the speakers at the event.

The event is part of the SBC Summit North America 2022 sports betting and iGaming conference and tradeshow, which runs on July 12-14 at venues across New York and New Jersey. The symposium aims to educate industry professionals on the best responsible gambling practices and focuses its discourse on the increasing importance of consumer protection measures. 

The speaker list comprises industry professionals with extensive expertise in gambling harm prevention. Jan Jones Blackhurst, former Las Vegas Mayor, Board Member at Caesars Entertainment Corporation;  Jacob Coin, Executive Advisor & Chairman of the San Manuel Band of Mission Indians; Declan Raines, Head of US Gaming, TransUnion; and gaming lobbyist Bill Pascrell, III will be among the speakers at the symposium. 

Christine Thurmond, Senior Director Responsible Gambling, DraftKings; Paul Burns, President and CEO of the Canadian Gaming Association; and Bo Bernhard, Vice President of Economic Development at the University of Nevada-Las Vegas have also confirmed attendance. JP Morgan and Sightline Payments will be present and concentrate on the role of financial institutions in ensuring responsible gaming behavior.

Apart from the input from the industry experts, the Symposium will give voice to those who have faced issues with problem gambling, allowing stakeholders to gain valuable insights on offering the best support to vulnerable players. Paul Buck, Founder & CEO of gambling harm-prevention consultancy Epic Risk Management, which runs a student-athlete protection educational program for the NCAA, will moderate this panel. 

The half-day conference will also host a live episode of Martin Lycka's (SVP for American Regulatory Affairs and Responsible Gaming, Entain) Safe Bet Show, SBC announced in a press release.

In an official statement, Rasmus Sojmark, Founder and CEO of SBC, said: "Last year's Player Protection Symposium was a huge success, and we decided to bring it back to the 2022 edition of the SBC Summit North America. Responsible gambling and player protection strategies should always remain a central part of every gambling-related discourse. The PPS offers the chance to hear from the people who have made it their mission to create a safe environment for players."

The conference will take place at the Midtown Loft and Terrace in New York City, gathering around 250 C-level representatives from gambling operators, regulators, media outlets, and professional sports teams and leagues with experience in the US, Canada, and European markets.