Repeat winners dominate the gala: multiple winners at SBC Awards 2026

Kaizen Gaming, Pragmatic Play, Sportradar and BetConstruct AI each took two trophies at the SBC Awards 2026, presented on the evening of 1 October at the MEO Arena in Lisbon. Pragmatic Play again won Casino / Slots Developer of the Year – Large for a third consecutive edition, while Vladimir Dokov and Alina Mihaela Popa shared the Leader of the Year award.

Summary of the Lisbon ceremony and context for the SBC Awards 2026

The SBC Awards ceremony closed this year’s SBC Summit and took place at the MEO Arena on 1 October. This was the 13th edition of awards that cover 39 categories and span corporate leadership, player protection, payments and product innovation. The event was hosted by former footballer Edgar Davids with broadcaster Kirsty Gallacher in the presenters’ booth.

"One of my favourite parts of these awards is seeing the teams behind the achievements get their moment on stage. We know how much work goes into building a successful business or bringing a new product to market, and tonight was an opportunity to celebrate that together. Congratulations to all of our winners and finalists." — Rasmus Sojmark, Founder and CEO of SBC

SBC has closed a long-term deal to keep its flagship summit in Lisbon until 2030, ensuring that both the awards and the conference will remain in the city for another four years.

Operators: Kaizen and other repeat winners among the victors

Kaizen Gaming, owner of the Betano brand, successfully defended Operator of the Year – Large and also retained Sportsbook Operator of the Year. Betsson Group retained its title as Casino Operator of the Year. Novibet repeated as winner of Innovation in Casino & Gaming Entertainment, and 1xBET kept Marketing Campaign of the Year.

Not all operator awards went to established names: Coolbet was chosen as Operator of the Year – Medium, and Vegas Legends took Operator of the Year – Small.

Suppliers and developers: Pragmatic completes a hat-trick of key titles

Pragmatic Play again stood out by winning Casino / Slots Developer of the Year – Large for a third consecutive time and adding Live Casino Supplier. In the other development tiers, Pascal Gaming won the mid-size category and Gameburger Studios prevailed in the small category.

BetConstruct AI achieved a double victory with Sportsbook Supplier of the Year and Land-Based Betting & Gaming Product. Sportradar collected Marketing & Services Provider of the Year and regained Live Betting Product, a title it had also won in 2024.

Other winners in infrastructure and product included Digitain (Platform Provider of the Year), SOFTSWISS (Aggregator of the Year), Amusnet (Multi-Channel Supplier) and White Hat Gaming (White Label Supplier of the Year). Stats Perform won Sports Data Product; Oddin.gg and Playbook Fusion were recognised as Esports Supplier of the Year and Virtual Sports Supplier respectively. Optimove received Industry Innovation of the Year.

Innovation, payments and emerging solutions

Soft2Bet secured its third consecutive award in Innovation in Casino Entertainment, and SPRIBE repeated with Aviator as Crash Game of the Year, after its 2025 victory. In mobile, Kanggiten won Innovation in Mobile, and Xtremepush took Acquisition & Retention Partner.

On the payments and compliance side, Yaspa was named Payment Solution of the Year, OKTO Payments won Payment Innovation of the Year, and Incode received Fraud & Compliance Solution of the Year. EPIC Global Solutions obtained Socially Responsible Initiative of the Year.

Rising stars and recognition for workplace culture

The Rising Star categories recognised growing companies: Interplay Tech took Rising Star in Casino, Megapari won Rising Star in Sports Betting, Insightplay AI was Rising Star in Sports Betting Innovation / Software and TaDa Gaming secured the casino version.

On the employer front, Alea was chosen as Employer of the Year – Supplier and Allwyn Hellas obtained Employer of the Year – Operator. The Nico Jansen Vision to Reality award went to David Natroshvili.

Industry leaders: the personal awards

The leadership honours were shared between two executives: Vladimir Dokov, CEO of EGT Digital, and Alina Mihaela Popa, CCO of ICONIC21, were recognised with the Leader of the Year award. The dual award underlines the jury’s attention to both corporate management and commercial rollout in regulated markets.

What the night leaves for the industry and suppliers

The ceremony confirmed the strength of companies that have repeatedly won in their categories, with Pragmatic Play, Soft2Bet and Kaizen well positioned to pursue new runs next year. For emerging winners, the test now is to convert recognition into commercial contracts and market share against suppliers that already consolidate their positions.

For those seeking related coverage of the awards and the summit: the event closed the SBC Summit agenda and commercial implications will be debated across the industry’s annual programming. Some useful editorial references cover verticals such as casino, regulation and the SBC Summit agenda itself SBC Summit.