The SBC Awards North America 2021 saw a number of operators recognised for their contributions to the industry, including BetMGM, DraftKings, IGT PlaySports and Scientific Games.

An audience of over 400 executives from the U.S. and Canadian sports betting and igaming scene attended the inaugural edition of the awards at The Edison Ballroom for a celebration of the sector’s achievements over the last 12 months.

The ceremony, hosted by YES Network’s New York Yankees’ clubhouse reporter Meredith Marakovits, saw DraftKings named Sportsbook of the Year and BetMGM awarded Casino Operator of the Year.

In the other operator categories, the independent judging panels selected Bally Interactive as Rising Star of the Year and Entain as Socially Responsible Operator of the Year, as PointsBet took the Marketing Campaign & Sponsorship honour and GAN collected the Social Gaming Operator prize.

The two awards that span the entire industry ecosystem saw Rush Street Interactive’s Richard Schwartz named Leader of the Year and Scientific Games recognized as Employer of the Year.

Rasmus Sojmark, Founder and CEO of event organizer SBC, said: “Competition for the SBC Awards North America was fierce across all the categories, underlining the staggering progress made by the industry here over the past three years. 

“Huge congratulations to all the winners selected by our independent judging panels. To have succeeded against such a high standard of opposition is a real mark of quality that the team from the victorious companies can be very proud of.”

VSiN and Gambling.com Group claimed the respective Sports Affiliate and Casino Affiliate trophies, while a strong showing from Catena Media saw the company take silver awards in both categories.

IGT PlaySports enjoyed a successful evening in the supplier section, winning both the Platform Provider and Land-Based Betting & Gaming Product honors, and taking silver in the Industry Innovation of the Year category won by ArdentSky. 

OpenBet collected the Sportsbook Supplier award, while Sportradar was victorious in the Sports Data / Living Betting Product category, and Boom Entertainment was named Rising Star In Sports Betting & Casino.

Scientific Games pocketed a second prize of the night with the Lottery Supplier of the Year title, while Evolution claimed the Casino Supplier title, Optimove won in the Acquisition & Retention Partner category, and Intelitics took the Marketing & Services Provider honour.

USAbility landed the Compliance Solution & Partner trophy, Sightline Payments triumphed in the Payment Solution section, and Nuvei won the Payment Innovation prize. 

Sojmark added: “We’d like to thank all the SBC Awards North America sponsors for their support and for helping to make this such a fantastic occasion.  We’re already looking forward to the second edition of the Awards in July 2022.” 

The ceremony took place on the final evening of SBC Summit North America 2021, the leading conference and tradeshow for the sports betting and igaming sectors.

SBC Summit North America 2022 is set to take place on July 12-14, with Meadowlands Exposition Center in New Jersey again the venue.