Spotlight Sports Group B2B Growth Director Rob Brown chats to SBC News about the company’s commercial success in 2025 with deals in place with an array of established operators for its Smart View solution and racing content. 

Brown also discusses next week’s SBC Summit, noting why it could be SSG’s best show ever, and finally he offers his top tips for industry professionals to survive what is set to be a productive, exciting, yet exhausting week in Lisbon.

SBC News: Spotlight Sports Group has expanded the reach of Smart View throughout 2025. What is the appeal of Smart View and how have you positioned it in the market? 

Rob Brown: In a short space of time, Smart View has become one of our most popular horse racing content products, including with partners such as 32Red, BoyleSports, Unibet, and Ascot and York racecourses, and it is already proving to boost engagement. 

We’re acutely aware of the importance of providing experiences which appeal to casual and seasoned racing audiences alike and Smart View hits the mark from both a visual and easy-to-understand standpoint. Like all of our products, Smart View has been developed by Racing Post experts which means it has an excellent track record of finding winners too!

SBC: Similarly, your other racing content is also in demand. Tell us about SSG’s racing content and your recent premium partnership with Liderform? 

RB: Racing Post will be celebrating its 40th anniversary in 2026, and we’re incredibly proud of our heritage and the reputation we’ve built for high class racing content over four decades. 

One of the key developments in our racing and sports betting product offering in recent years has been the strength of our international content, both in terms of locality and language. Our partnership with Liderform is a good example of this whereby we’re supporting an international partner with their global racing proposition through proprietary Racing Post content.

SBC: All roads now lead towards Lisbon – what plans does SSG have ahead of exhibiting at the event? You’ve noted it might well be your ‘best show ever’! 

We’ve always been huge fans and supporters of the SBC events, and we’re particularly excited about Lisbon! Since rejoining SSG business back in February I’ve been bowled over by the level of innovation fuelling our product roadmap and the entire team has come together to focus on showcasing as much of this as possible at the show. 

It’s been a herculean effort and we’re really looking forward to chatting with partners about our current products, and also some exciting things in the pipeline.

SBC: How would you summarise the demand for your solutions ahead of the event? 

RB: We consider ourselves extremely lucky to be able to engage regularly with a broad and diverse customer base across the betting, horse racing and media sectors. As a result, we’re already discussing with partners many of the products we’ll be showcasing in Lisbon, however we find having the opportunity to bounce these and future innovations around in-person so valuable. Of course, there’ll also be plenty of new conversations to be had which is an important aspect of our growth plans.

SBC: Do you have anything special in the pipeline ahead of Lisbon? 

RB: From a personal perspective, the two most exciting products we’ll be showcasing are our World Cup content hub which will manage all the heavy lifting of engaging customers for betting operators next summer, and Spotlight iQ, our proprietary AI product which is already powering 750,000 horse racing insights every year and 15,000 football match previews across 48 competitions every season, all at a touch of a button. 

There’s a tonne of other racing and sports betting products which will be on show and coming down the track which we’re extremely excited about.

SBC: How important are events like SBC Summit to SSG’s overall marketing strategy? 

RB: Events like SBC Summit are major focal points for us every year and we look at them as great opportunities to both showcase our products and to spend quality, in-person time with our partners. They also act as perfect focal points for our entire team and drive a unique energy and togetherness which is so important to us. 

Delivering a successful conference is never without stress, however they often lead to us producing some of our finest work.

SBC: What is your favourite part of conference weeks? 

RB: Making it to the finish line! No, seriously, without doubt it’s about getting to spend time with so many people. That obviously includes chatting to our partners on the stand or over a drink, but also our team who work tremendously hard. 

Also, I’ll always try and attend as many of the talks as possible. The content at the SBC Summit is of the highest standard and it’s great to listen and learn from leaders and experts from across the industry.

SBC: Do you have any top survival tips for SBC Summit? 

RB: I guess that depends on how long you’re over for. If, like most of our team, you’re in town for the best part of a week, then try to pace yourself, because the days can merge into one another. If you’re in and out within a day or two there’s no other way but to cram everything you can into your flying visit. Either way, embrace the chaos, it’s part of the fun of it all!

SBC: What can we expect to see from SSG throughout the remainder of 2025? 

RB: We’ll be entering delivery mode for World Cup content hub partners next month which is really exciting, particularly for our product and tech teams. We intentionally kicked off discussions with partners about the World Cup a year in advance because we recognise how important the tournament is going to be for the industry next year. 

We’ve also got some exciting products in the pipeline across both racing and sports betting which are underpinned by our ability to produce content in any language for any sport, courtesy of both our content team and Spotlight iQ AI product. Outside of that, we’re building momentum for 2026, which has included the recruitment of a talented team over the past 6 months.