(sponsored by Millennial Esports)

(sponsored by Matchbook Trader Conference)

Head of Sportsbook – Decisions involved in successfully managing a sportsbook.

Today’s Head of Sportsbook wears many hats. From choice of suppliers to managing the entire sportsbook platform, including P&L, business model, technical knowhow, new product partnerships, business development and growth.

Speakers:

Jens Nielsen,

Head of Sportsbook, Danske Spil

Enda Gaffney,

Head of Sportsbook, Mr Green

Vladimir Dratsjov,

Head of Sportsbook, Olympic Entertainment Group

Andy Wright,

Head of Trading, Sky Betting & Gaming

Chris Duncan,

Board Advisor Oddslife & Co-founder of Betsson

Brand Ambassadors – How to find a good fit

Content reigns supreme in esports. Creating exceptional content with the right people is often considered vital to cracking a notoriously tricky demographic. What’s the difference between an esports consumer and a traditional consumer? How can the industry capture this desirable demographic?

Speakers:

Scott Burton,

CEO, ESP

Malph Minns,

Managing Director, Strive Sponsorship

Viktor Wanli,

Founder and CEO, Kinguin

Adam Savinson,

Head of Esports, Win Technologies – Betway Group

Kirsty Endfield,

Founder, Swipe Right PR

Diving in – the future of pool betting

With the Tote’s exclusive licence for horseracing set to expire, the UK’s horseracing parimutuel sector is set for its biggest shake-up in 90 years. But can the sport maintain multiple pools?

Speakers:

Jari Vahanen,

Senior VP International Business Development, Veikkaus

Nigel Roddis,

Managing Director of the British Racecourses pool betting project

Phill Adams,

CEO, BAGS

Phil Siers,

Chief Commercial Officer, Betfred Group

Susie Sourwine,

Principal, Sourwine Consulting

Marketing – Changing dynamics in strategy & planning

Industry consolidation and a growing focus on intelligence/data have deeply impacted the role of today’s CMO with regards to operator planning, media strategy and most importantly decision making.

Speakers:

Shaun Simmonds,

Managing Director, SuperSub Sports Marketing

Mark Thorne,

CMO, OddsRing / LeonBets

Nick Bamber,

Media Director – Customer Acquisition, Betsson Group

Mark McGuinnesa,

Chief Marketing Officer, BetOlimp

Lasha Machavariani,

CEO/Founder, Setanta Sports Media & SBC Ambassador

Moving from the shady past to a brighter, regulated future – the legal issues in esports

The esports skin betting market was worth up to $7.6 billion. The huge unregulated and underage market is on the wane as the industry moves towards a regulated space. Furthermore the space has been dogged by contract issues and poor legal practice.

Speakers:

Peter Worsencroft,

Associate, Squire Patton Boggs

Anna Baumann,

Esports Lawyer

Josepf Borg,

Senior Legal Advisor, WH Partners

Quirino Mancini,

Partner, Tonucci & Partners

Michele Magro,

Senior, Legal Advisor, Malta Gaming Authority

Image conscious – Analysing the media rights impact

The racing industry has successfully monetised its media rights over the past ten years – but could more be done on an international level rather than rely on UK bookmakers?

Speakers:

Bill Barber,

Industry Editor, Racing Post

Nick Rust,

CEO, British Horseracing Authority

Martin Cruddace,

CEO, Arena Racing Company

Mike O’Kane,

Director, O’Kane Consulting

Bruce Millington,

Editor, Racing Post

Super Affiliates – Navigating the new business landscape

Increased consolidation as well as regulation and general standards means that the affiliate sector is a much different beast than just a few years ago. Does regulation and M&A go hand in hand? To what extent is the affiliate sector the gatekeeper to new business for operators?

Speakers:

Jesper Soegaard,

CEO, Better Collective

Marcos Oliviera,

Chief Affiliate Officer, Clever Advertising Group

Matthew Glazier,

Managing Director, Bookies.com

Ory Weihs,

CEO, XL Media

Lee-Ann Johnstone,

CEO, Best Odds Marketing

Live alone or die together? The esports bookies’ panel

How should bookmakers offer and promote esports markets? Are independent esports platforms better placed to thrive & how should they be designed? All your questions on offering esports answered.

Speakers:

Rahul Sood,

CEO – Unikrn

Kasper Nemeth,

Head of Esports – Danske Spil

Michael Doyle,

CMO – PVP.me

Suraj Gosai,

Co-Founder and CEO – Blinkpool

Sanjit Atwal,

Co-Founder, Dark Site and Squawka

Global fixture – International Racing in the UK

UK & Irish racing has been the bread and butter but punters are more switched onto good racing in other territories. What opportunities are coming from abroad?

Speakers:

Todd Buckingham,

CEO, TopBetta

René Schneider,

VP Business Development, XB-Net

Dominic Atkinson,

Consultant, Sportradar

Ed Comins,

Managing Director, Webis Holdings Plc

Ed Pownall,

Global PR Director, Bodog Brand

Social Responsibility – Making improvements in player protection

As player profiling constantly improves, how can technology change the way the industry tackles problem gambling? How can the global industry work together to protect players who might develop problems? And how can this be effectively communicated to regulators whose ambitions in this area may not be realistic?

Speakers:

Mark Etches,

CEO, GambleAware

Graham Weir,

Director of Player Protection, Ladbrokes Coral

Fiona Palmer,

Director of Social Responsibility, Remote Gambling Association

Richard Flint,

CEO, Sky Betting & Gaming

Andrew McCarron,

Managing Director, SBC

Building an ideal betting stack

Expert industry analysis and proposal of the ideal components available today to make up a betting tech stack. A creative session to visualise building a betting stack from the ground up with no concern for a legacy, instead focussing on traditional and innovative technologies.

Chandru Mullaparthi,

Former Head of Software Architecture at bet365, Chairman at Industrial Erlang User Group, Director at Bluehouse Technology and Consultant to Erlang Solutions

After the off – Opportunities in live betting

Has horseracing missed an opportunity to engage new punters with live betting products? What obstacles are facing the sport in providing the best data to facilitate live betting?

Speakers;

Peter Woodfine,

Commercial Director, Total Performance Data

Paul Witten,

Product Director, SIS

Jacob Curciel Lopez,

CEO, Optima

Ian Marmion,

Trading Director, Betstars

David Sargeant,

Founder, iGaming Idea

IMGL Masterclass: Regulation – Liability management: Why the buck doesn’t stop with operators

Members of the IMGL and guests discuss the implications for the whole betting chain in what regulators expect from all aspects of the industry, How can you protect yourself and your business from an unexpected bill or, worse, prosecution?

Speakers:

Tal Itzhak Ron,

Chairman and CEO, Tal Ron, Drihem & Co., Law Firm

Morten Ronde,

CEO of Danish Online Gambling Association & Director of IMGL

David Clifton,

Co-Founder, Clifton Davies

Jeremy Kleiman,

Gaming Attorney, Saiber LLC

Dr. Joerg Hofmann,

Partner, Melchers Law Partner

Innovation in Data – Building Engaging & Effective Product for Live Betting Consumers

Tech and innovation led product development session focusing on the delivery of effective products/services for live betting consumer engagement. Expert panel discusses the complexities of developing products for live and reactive markets, and whether industry stakeholders understand customer demands and interactions when placing live bets’.

Marco Blume,

Trading Director, Pinnacle

Charlie McGarraugh,

CEO, Stratagem

Giancarlo Tottoli,

Co-founder, Jacktime

Nathan Rothschild,

Co-Founder, iSport Genius

Paul McNea,

Director, IGaming Performance

Sponsorship – Looking at life after ABP

Levy reform has seen the end of the controversial Authorised Betting Partner (ABP) Scheme – so what can racecourses do to entice bookmakers to invest in sponsorship?

Speakers:

Bradley Morrish,

Director Business Development, Matchbook

Tim Reynolds,

Spokesman, Sun Bets

Ed Nicholson,

Head of Racing Communications & Sponsorship, Kindred Group

Carey Buckler,

Regional Head of Partnerships, The Jockey Club

Philip Canavan,

Director, SEM Global

CEO Panel – Embracing the challenges of a changing global industry

The betting industry has a generally negative perception, but is this bad for business? How can operators improve the situation? Do our sporting partners have a role to play here?

How can consolidation help the industry?

What role does R&D play in the business? How can you cultivate innovation?

Speakers:

Paris Smith,

CEO, Pinnacle

Marcus Brennan,

CEO, BetBright

Markus Peuler,

CEO, Mybet

Nikos Chalikias,

CEO, Favbet

Sergey Portnov,

CEO, Parimatch

Vahe Baloulian,

CEO, BetConstruct

Innovation in Payments – The Crucial Interface

Onboarding new customers is tricky enough without the payment interface causing issues. This session looks at how the payments sector has been using technology to provide a smooth and safe UX experience for both customers and operators.

Speakers:

Alex Capurro,

CEO, Easy Payment Gateway

Chris Smart,

VP Gaming and FX Markets, eMerchantPay

Sam Barrett,

Director of Gaming, Trustly

Laurent Reysbosch,

Senior Vice President iGaming, HiPay

Tony Plaskow,

Commercial Director, Black Cow Technology

Going to the dogs: What is the future model for greyhound racing?

With greyhound tracks changing hands, what will the sport’s future make-up look like? What scope is there for international expansion?

Speakers:

Dominic Ford,

Director Roar Betting & Chairman of BAGS

Ben Keith,

Owner, Stars Sports Bookmakers

Floyd Amphlett,

Editor, Greyhound Star

Andrew Gellatly,

Head of Global Research Services, Gambling Compliance

Product development – creativity within technology constraints

How can brands be successful within the confines of their platform and supplier partnerships? What are the most effective ways of differentiation from other operators sharing the same engine?

Speakers:

Veiko Krunberg,

Managing Director, Olympic Entertainment Group

Sean Keogh,

CPO, Mybet

Hilly Ehrlich,

CEO Europe/Asia, Betcris

Jan Svendsen,

CEO, Coolbet

Lee Richardson,

CEO, Gaming Economics

Innovation & Business Development: Time to innovate and/or how to build on supplier relationships to grow your business

Is innovation a sought after industry dynamic, or has betting become a homogenised sector?
How do you plan to innovate? The industry goes through cycles of in-house and external supply, is there scope for a happy medium? How stifling is a tech road map when making decisions?
What areas of the customer experience is it easy to make a difference?

Speakers:

Monica Rangel,

Chief Business Development Officer, Betcart

Jari Vahanen,

Senior Vice President – International Business Development, Veikkaus

Jamie Hart,

Group Director of Ecommerce, Superbet

Ian Bradley,

Chief Product Officer, SBTech

Sam Madden,

Commercial Director, Wiraya

Improving the horseracing betting experience

It is in both the industry’s and the sport’s interest to give punters more enjoyment. How have recent initiates been received, like the Champions Series? What would bookmakers like to see from racing, and vice versa?

Speakers:

Will Lambe,

Executive Director, BHA

James Garmston,

CEO, EasyOdds.com

Bernard Marantelli,

CEO, Colossus Bets

Stephen Power,

Racing Entrepeneur, RacingBlogger

Paul Leyland,

Partner, Regulus Partner

SPORTS IN FOCUS

(sponsored by Millennial Esports)

BETTING ON REGULATION

Tennis – Staying between the lines

Although one of the most popular betting sports, tennis has found itself caught up in a number of match fixing issues. How is the sport responding to the challenge?

Speakers:

Phil Suddick,

Integrity Manager, TIU

Simon Schleich,

Managing Director, e|motion sports GmbH

Matt Fowler,

Betting Integrity Officer, ESSA Sports Betting Integrity

Andreas Bardun,

Head of Sports, LeoVegas

Neil Roarty,

Editor, BettingPro.com

Pirate Irwin,

Sports Business Correspondent, AFP (Agence France Presse)

Stamping out the Cheats – Ensuring integrity in esports

Whilst match-fixing scandals have been relatively minor in esports brief history the risk remains high. There’s been cases of bookmakers offering odds on matches where ultimately there’s no prize-money available. The incentive to cheat remains so how does the industry mitigate the risk?

Speakers:

Eric Konings,

Integrity Officer, Kindred Group

Kevin Carpenter,

Chairman, ESIC

Moritz Maurer,

Head of Esports, Genius Sports

Dom Sacco,

Content Director, British Esports Association

IMGL Masterclass: How do you enter new markets?

As regulation of the gambling industry continues around the globe, what do operators need to do to make sure they are ready to enter these market?

Speakers:

Daniel Wallach,

Shareholder, Becker & Poliakoff

Francesco Rodano,

Chief Policy Officer, Playtech

Martin Lycka,

Senior International Legal Counsel, Betfair Paddy Power

Nick Nocton,

Partner, Mischon de Reya LLP

Cricket – Breaking boundaries in betting

Unibet becoming an Official Betting Partner for Warwickshire CCC, which includes the delivery of betting opportunities around Birmingham Bears’ home matches in the T20 Blast, exemplifies a new wave of interest in the short formats of the game.
What sort of innovations can help cricket to shake its status as a minor betting market in the UK? What can be done to replicate this interest in test cricket? Does the presence of more betting partners in cricket raise concerns over the integrity of the sport?

Speakers:

Anthony Charles,

Executive Director, Genius Tech Group

Dave Tharp,

Founder and Managing Director, Living Sports Ltd  & Director of Product, Konect Games

Matthew Glazier,

Managing Director, Bookies.com

Joe Saumarez Smith,

Proprietor of Indiabet & Chairman of Bede Gaming

Stephen Carter,

Editor, iGaming Business

Saving Las Vegas – How esports and land based casinos can and should work together

There’s a buzz around Vegas with many trying to make Nevada a world esports hub. But how does this crossover translate into real world operations?

Speakers:

Alex Igelman,

Millennial Esports, CEO

Blaine Graboyes,

GameCo, CEO

Seth Schorr,

Downtown Grand Chairman & Fifth Street Gaming, CEO

Melissa Blau,

iGaming Capital, Director

US – Opening the Sports Betting Landscape?

The news that the Supreme Court is going to hear New Jersey’s challenge against PASPA could have huge implications for the industry. But what is the likely outcome and what would be the timeframe for change?

Daniel Wallach,

Shareholder, Becker & Poliakoff

Jeff Ifrah,

Founding Partner, Ifrah PLLC

Benjie Cherniak,

President, Don Best Sports

Quinton Singleton,

VP Corporate Strategy and Government Relations, NYX Gaming Group

Rugby – Code cracking: why bookmakers should try hard to reach the fans

Why is there so much more bookmaker sponsorship in Rugby League than Rugby Union? Is this because the Rugby League punter is considered to be a closer match to the demographic of a Football punter? With that in mind, what has encouraged LeoVegas to get involved with Leicester Tigers, and Secure Trading with the RFU? Given the comparative lack of data and in-play markets, is the aim of Rugby-based advertising to activate players on Rugby markets, or is this just another way of bringing players into Football-focused products?

Speakers:

Chris Rose,

Head of Brand, Leicester Tigers

Laurent Dhaeyer,

Managing Director, Secure Trading Group

Clive Russell,

Managing Director, BD Sports Rights

Andy Scott,

Former CEO of 188BET

Data, Data, Data – The issues we face with betting on esports

There’s a huge amount of data points in esports and it’s often difficult to get hold of which can cause problems in accurately pricing markets. How can we overcome the data challenges in esports? Will we reach a stage where publishers of esports titles open their API so accurate, live data can be obtained? What’s the danger to operators when data is unreliable? What challenges do we still face in providing accurate, real-time in-play betting?

Speakers:

Marco Blume,

Trading Director, Pinnacle

James Watson,

Head of Esports, Sportradar

Pavol Krasnovsky,

CEO, RTSmunity

Oskar Fröberg,

CEO, Abios

Per Lambaek,

CTO, HLTV.org

Akin Alabi, founder of Nairabet, which has 800 retail outlets in Nigeria, explains how his business works with the local regulators, where the laws work and where they are problematic.

Speaker:

Akin Alabi,

CEO, Nairabet

Basketball – A slam dunk or still courting appeal?

As a huge European sport, basketball has always been popular with punters and bookmakers with a marketing budget, How does the sport interact with betting considering the NBA’s arm’s length approach?

Speakers:

Bane Prelevic,

President, PAOK Basketball

Claudio Coldebella,

General Manager, Openjobmetis Varese BC

Carmelo Mazza,

CEO, Betaland

Daniel Kustelski,

CEO, Chalkline Sports

Aristodemos Kolocassides,

Director of Sports Partnerships, APC Sports & Entertainment

Boxing/Fighting – The next title contender?

Does the sports of boxing offer the best value in sponsorship and promotion for Bookmakers? A surge of in UK World Champions, combined with engrossing personalities has placed boxing at the forefront of sports agenda for TV viewing figures and media coverage. What impact will the novelty bouts such as Mayweather v McGregor have on popularity and credibility?

Russell Yershon,

Consultant, Energybet

Adam Roland,

CEO, Heavyweight Games

Ben Wright,

Head of International Trading & Sports Product, Sky Betting & Gaming

Mike Geggus,

Head of Bus Dev, SportQuake

Endre Nesset,

Head of Sports for BettingCloud

Jonathan Smith,

Founder, Sportsbook Training Services

14:00 – 14:40

Fireside chat: How to sell your affiliate business

With so much consolidation in the affiliate sector, how do you make your business attractive to potential investors or buyers?

Ben Robinson,

Co-founder, RB Capital

Channel hopping & vertical jumps – why diversification is important

Rather than concentrate on the single platform or a single sport, many affiliates are diversifying to protect their revenues and encourage growth. This session explores how some firms are achieving that goal.

Mathew Symmonds,

Founder, Windrawwin, PredictZ & SportKenya

Niall Coen,

Managing Director, Sn@ck Media

Riccardo Mittiga,

CEO, ASAP ITALIA

Tom Galanis,

Director, TAG Media

Speaking with a single voice

What are the challenges facing the affiliate industry and how can these be addressed? Is there a benefit to taking action collectively? Gemma Boore of Mishcon de Reya outlines the most pressing issues for affiliates in today’s climate and suggests some steps the industry could take in order to mitigate them.

Gemma Boore,

Associate, Mishcon De Reya

How can AI be effective in terms of a sports betting environment?

Given the vast amount of data points received from both sports and customers, where can machine learning be implemented to the greatest effect, without potentially causing massive risk?

Speakers:

James Waterhouse,

Founder, Equotion

Sam Lawrence,

CTO & Co-founder, FSBTech

Paul Reilly,

CEO, Media Skunk Works

Graham Cooke,

CEO, Qubit

Christian Tirabassi,

Senior Partner, Ficom Leisure

How live data is pushing back the boundaries for in-play betting

Live betting is dependent upon live data – but what else can be achieved? Has the industry fully exploited the explosion in live data? What areas are next?

Matt Stephenson,

Business Development Director, BetGenius

Simon Skarsholm,

Managing Director, Enetpulse

Andrew Ashenden,

EVP Betting, Perform Group

Assaf Stieglitz,

Founder & CEO, Odds1x2

US Sports – International appeal

American sports have a fanatical following all over the world thanks to their TV friendly formats. But what is the best way of tapping into that fan base? Will the sports ever embrace the betting sector? Which lends itself to live betting the most?

Speakers:

Stuart Tilly,

CEO, Redzone Sports

Ari Lewski,

Executive Director,  Digital Sports Tech

Jon Thompson,

Trading Consultant

Meir Moses,

VP Business Development, Don Best Sports

Quinton Singleton,

VP Corporate Strategy and Government Relations, NYX Gaming Group

M&A – Future landscape for sports betting affiliates

The affiliate sector is undergoing consolidation at a scale never seen before. But what are companies driving the M&A activity looking for? What is their vision for the future affiliate model?

Speakers:

Charles Gillespie,

CEO & Founder, Gambling.com Group

Michal Kopec,

Head of M&A, Better Collective

Richard Gale,

UK General Manager, Catena Media

Lee-Ann Johnstone,

CEO, Best Odds Marketing

Data Integrity – how safe is the data you are using?

Fast or accurate – where is the trade off in today’s dynamic betting arena? Should the industry block spectators from betting, given their advantage over the data feeds? How quickly can events be accurately resulted? How can the sports themselves help?

Speakers:

David Lampitt,

Managing Director Group Operations, Sportradar

Alistair Williams,

Head of Wheelchair Tennis & Live Scoring, International Tennis Federation

Marco Blume,

Trading Director, Pinnacle

Scott Longley,

Director, Clear Concise Media

World Cup 2018 – The Road to Russia

Next summer’s World Cup will provide bookmakers with the perfect opportunity to engage with a wider audience at European friendly times. How are operators and affiliates planning to take advantage of the opportunity this time around?

Speakers:

Zeno Ossko,

Managing Director, Betstars

Jamie Hart,

Group Director of E-Commerce, Superbet

Jaap Kalma,

Director of Sponsorships & B2B Revenues, AC Milan

Gregory Bolle,

Head of Global Partnership Sales, La Liga

Keith O’Loughlin,

Executive Vice President – Sports, OpenBet

Betting on Politics

Betting on Politics returns to #Boscon2017, as an expert panel discusses new market realities following a political landscape changing 2016.
Political betting experts review the UK 2017 Snap Election. France 2017, Brexit negotiations/impacts and the reality of Donald Trump’s US presidency.

Speakers:

Matt Shaddick,

Head of Politics, Coral Ladbrokes

Joe Lee,

Head of Trump Betting, Paddy Power

Steve Donoughue,

Consultant

Ted Menmuir,

Head of Content, SBC Global

CRM – digital identity and marketing technology

What we can now know about sports betting punters and their behaviours and how will this help operators model their offerings around that data?

Speakers:

Brendan O’Kane,

CEO, OtherLevels

Richard Harris,

Chief Customer, Acquisition & Retention Officer, GoCompare.com

Sam Madden,

Commercial Director, Wiraya

Sarah McChesney,

Commercial Manager, Fresh8 Gaming

Luis Pereira,

Managing Director, AGBrief