SBC Awards 2024 reveals shortlists ahead of inaugural Lisbon edition

SBC has announced the shortlists for the 11th edition of the SBC Awards 2024, to be held as part of the SBC Summit. This year's SBC Summit is the first to take place in Lisbon, following the event's relocation from its former home of Barcelona.

The awards ceremony will take place on the evening of Thursday, September 26 at the MEO Arena, on the final day of the SBC Summit. The SBC Awards seek to recognize the achievements of operators, affiliates, and suppliers across all industry verticals, including payments, marketing, platform providers, and esports. 

Notable nominees include Betsson Group and SOFTSWISS, each garnering eight nominations, with EveryMatrix and OpenBet following closely behind with six nominations each. Meanwhile, Campeón Gaming, Genius Sports, BetConstruct, Sportradar and Soft2Bet all boast five nominations in their respective categories.

SBC explained that, building on the success of the 2023 edition in Barcelona, this year’s awards ceremony received a record-breaking number of applications, providing ample deliberation for the independent roster of judges as they shortlisted the 39 categories.

In the Affiliate categories, both FairPlay Sports Media and Kingbet Media are nominated for the Affiliate Product Innovation and Sports Affiliate of the Year awards. Meanwhile, Mr Gamble and Slotsjudge have each been nominated for the Affiliate Product Innovation and Casino Affiliate of the Year awards. Better Collective will seek to retain its title in the Sports Affiliate of the Year category for the third consecutive year.

In the Operator awards, Betsson Group has been nominated in six out of ten categories as they strive to protect their titles for both the Marketing Campaign of the Year and Innovation in Casino & Gaming Entertainment awards. 

Additionally, Betsson Group will be competing against defending champions Kaizen Gaming for the Casino Operator of the Year award, bet365 for the Best Affiliate Program and Sportsbook Operator of the Year awards, and seven other operators for the newly introduced Operator of the Year – Large award.

This year’s ceremony will also introduce two more operator categories. In addition to the Operator of the Year – Large award, there will be the Operator of the Year – Medium and Operator of the Year – Small awards.

In the Payment & Compliance categories, IDnow and Nuvei will return to defend their titles of Fraud & Compliance Solution of the Year and Payment Solution of the Year, respectively. Monnet Payment Solutions, OKTO, Pagsmile and Pay4Fun are among the brands battling for the Payment Innovation of the Year award. 

The Supplier Awards will feature 20 distinct categories, covering a wide range of verticals including casino/slots, esports, sportsbook, mobile, land-based, live betting, marketing and services, sports data and platform providers, to name a few. 

Amusnet, Pragmatic Play, Playson, ELA Games, and Pascal Gaming are among the brands nominated for the Casino/Slots Developer of the Year award. This year, to better represent the breadth of industry offerings, the award has been expanded into three new subcategories: Large, Medium and Small.

The Sportsbook Supplier of the Year category will see Digitain compete against 14 industry peers to retain the title, while OpenBet will face 15 brands in a bid to defend its Platform Provider of the Year award.

The awards ceremony will also feature four ‘Rising Star’ categories: Rising Star in Casino, Rising Star in Casino Innovation / Software, Rising Star in Sports Betting Innovation / Software, and the newly established Rising Star in Sports Betting awards. 

In the Operator & Supplier Awards, LiveScore Group, PIN-UP Global, Playson and SOFTSWISS are among the contenders for the Employer of the Year award. Meanwhile, Entain Foundation U.S. will compete against 12 industry heavyweights to hold onto the Socially Responsible Initiative of the Year award.

The complete list of shortlisted companies is available on the SBC Awards website. A separate ticket is required for attending the ceremony. Available table and ticket options can be found here.