SBC Summit Tbilisi 2025 concluded last week, setting a new attendance record with over 2,000 delegates from 44 countries, cementing its position as the fastest-growing industry event in Eastern Europe and Central Asia.

Now in its third year, the event, held on 15–16 October at the Sheraton Grand Tbilisi Metechi Palace in collaboration with SMH, achieved an impressive 40% year-on-year growth, bringing together regional and global operators, suppliers, affiliates, media, and regulators. 

Blending local expertise, strategic insight and top-tier networking, the two-day event underscored Tbilisi’s growing status as a regional hub for the gaming and betting industry, offering delegates from across Eastern Europe, Central Asia and beyond a unique space to connect, learn and forge the future of the sector.

Recognising the importance of having an Eastern Europe & Central Asian focused event, Nick Laconico, President and CEO of MegaBetPlus, said: “The region in general, markets like Azerbaijan, Armenia and Georgia, are starting to become significant talking points in conversations around the world. So I wanted to come and see for myself.” 

Delegates also highlighted the intimacy of the event as one of its greatest strengths. “What it does is, it tends to speed things up,” said Laconico. “When you’re sending emails back and forth, you don’t get to generate the same kind of rapport with people. So here, you’re face-to-face, you get a solid ten- fifteen-minute meeting with people. You learn a lot, and they learn a lot about you. You get this personalisation where you can identify if you want to work with this group or not, much quicker.”

Providing insight into what makes the event a must-attend, Dainis Niedra, COO at Entain, commented: “There’s a personal touch with everything, there’s attention to the small details. Everything is just super well organised, and it keeps getting better. It’s top level.” 

Reflecting on the success of the event, SBC CEO & Founder Rasmus Sojmark said: “The transformation across Eastern Europe and Central Asia has been extraordinary, and this year’s event truly captured that energy. From the quality of exhibitors and the depth of discussion to the level of deal-making taking place, every aspect of SBC Summit Tbilisi exceeded expectations. My heartfelt thanks to everyone who joined us and helped make it such a success.”

Serving as a crucial platform to explore the current challenges and future opportunities in the region, the event’s conference programme featured 50 industry experts covering key topics such as leadership, sports betting, iGaming, land-based gaming, AI, payments and alternative betting formats. 

Discussing the success of the conference programme, Giorgi Nadaraia, CMO at betlive, stated: “It was amazing. Yesterday I was there, and the panels were amazing. Speakers were really going into detail and explaining everything. At first, it was people who just wanted to speak, but now it’s people wanting to give as much knowledge to the audience as they can.” 

Dr Matthias Kirschenhofer, Former Co-CEO of Sport1 Medien GmbH, also noted the calibre of thought leadership: “I was very strongly attracted by the level of the participants in the panels and the issues that were discussed. I think it’s good to have all of the decision makers and C-Levels in one room.” 

Amongst the notable figures that took the stage were Tom Waterhouse (Chief Investment Officer, Waterhouse VC), Giorgi Gvenetadze (COO, Flutter CEE), David Japaridze (CCO, Setanta Sports), Elie Honain (Co-Founder & CEO, NES), Vakhtang Mdivani (Co-founder & CPO, Promofy.ai), and Tamar Badashvili (CEO, Setantabet), amongst many others. 

The conference was opened with a special keynote from former AC Milan and Italian International footballer Alessandro Nesta, who explored the relationship between sports and betting: “For me, it’s a great opportunity to teach people about gambling. If we are able to educate people around the subject, there is better control over how people interact with gambling.” 

A notable addition to this year’s conference was the dedicated Regulatory Summit, welcoming key regulatory figures from Armenia, Bulgaria, Estonia, Georgia, Lithuania, Romania, and Slovenia. The summit provided a vital platform for open dialogue between regulatory bodies and regional industry stakeholders, fostering discussions on best practices for responsible gaming, maintaining compliance, and sustainable regulation.

Sergiu Petre, Head of Brand at Superbet Romania, praised the initiative, saying: “I think we always need more dialogue, I think it’s important to get into these conversations in order to establish a relationship built on trust.”

Niedra also expressed how regulator attendance, not only shone a light on key legislative developments, but also helped fortify the relationship between operators and regulators: “Our job is to share the experience with them. To show them the examples of good regulations and the examples of less successful regulations. So this ensures everyone is happy, us (operators), regulators, players and society.”

The show floor served as the heart of the event, hosting a number of local and global brands offering delegates the opportunity to explore the latest products and technologies that can power their presence in the region. 

Commenting on the value of the show floor, Laconico said: “There are lots of CRM platforms, payment solutions, but there are also other executives here. You understand best practices, what you guys are doing, what we’re doing. What’s hot for you, what’s hot for us, things like that. So it’s a very good mix of people, it’s very diverse, from very large operators to very small operators, so in that sense, it’s a good cross section of all areas, so yeah, it’s very effective and I’m happy I came.”

An opinion shared by Maja Rastovic, People & Culture Director at PWO by Lottomatica, “This is how you attract people, by seeing what kind of technologies you can offer, what is new on the market, so it is very attractive.”

Networking was once again a defining feature of SBC Summit Tbilisi, with opportunities woven throughout the conference programme, show floor, and dedicated evening events. With delegates from 44 countries, these gatherings fostered open dialogue, knowledge sharing, and collaboration between global stakeholders and Eastern European and Central Asian markets.

Commenting on the value of global exchange, Petre added, “We have a lot of regional and global players; it’s quite interesting to see their challenges and case studies. I think, although you have varying challenges and opportunities across markets, there are a lot of things to learn from the various stakeholders here.” 

“From my perspective, it’s an event for the Eastern and Central Asian market, and if you want to come in contact with market participants from these countries, this is the ideal event for you.” Kirschenhofer added. “Yesterday I enjoyed the evening event very much because there is a very big difference between meeting people in a business atmosphere and a party atmosphere”. 

“This year’s record-breaking number of attendees highlights the demand for such a regionally focused event. Plans are already in place to continue building on the great success of this year’s event, and we can’t wait to welcome you all to Tbilisi in 2026,” added Lasha Machavariani, Founder of SMH.