Subscribe
Share
Share
Embed
A daily podcast delving into the biggest stories of the day throughout the sports betting and igaming sector.
:
Okay. The industry gets together once again here in Florida for SBC Summit Americas 2026, connecting worlds through gaming and of course the finest people from the gaming industry from the Americas, course North America, Latin America, all together here in Florida at the Broward County Convention Center for SBC Americas 2026. We are live from the show floor here for another episode of iGaming Daily brought to you by OptiMove. the creator of positionless marketing and number one player engagement solution for iGaming and sports betting operators. I'm Fernando Nott, media manager for SVC and your host for today live, like I said, from the show floor for SVC Summit Americas 2026. And I'm joined by Justin Byers, journalist for SVC Americas. Justin, how are you today? I'm great. Happy to be here back in sunny Florida with a great group of people back for another year excited for this. Yeah, enjoying the humidity here at Fort Lauderdale. Lugando, editor for SPC Noticias, how are you today? Hello, Fer. I'm happy to welcome everyone to Miami for Lauderdale. And I'm happy to join another SPC Summit Americas edition and be here and open this podcast with you guys. Yeah, absolutely. Really excited. And for us Latinos, of course, or Latinos from outside the US, uh everything here in Florida is Miami. So just so you know, if we say Miami, that's why it is. But we are here at event and a very exciting moment for us. uh A lot of things going on, guys. What are you most excited about? Honestly, the networking here is marquee. It's the best in the business. You can't go wrong with talking to folks. And that's grassroots networking. But one thing I'm excited about is some of these discussions this week. They're going to be some good ones, some hot topics. It should be fun and informative. Yeah, Lou? Yeah, we even have one of the Kennedys. OK. Yes, I'm looking forward for the panels and also moderating too. My first time, so everyone is welcome to hear our debates about iGaming in Latin America and Affiliates in Latin America. OK, best of luck with that. But of course, we are talking about the things that we will be discussing or that will be discussed here at SVC Summit Americas 2026. And of course, Prediction markets are atop of the agenda. Why do you guys think that prediction markets are so up high in the agenda? You know, we've seen a lot of waves of innovation over the past couple years, especially here at SBC. Last year, was sweepstakes. Even last year, was prediction markets as well. And now that's ramped up when we have another 365 days on the calendar. And we've got more discussion. So it's an exciting time in the industry. There's a lot of innovation. And of course prediction markets are hot topic because there is some controversy there. Yeah, uh it's an offering that we don't even know right now if it's betting or not. So it's expanding to Latin America especially. we are enforcing new regulation, new technology. So we'll see. And I think you mentioned two very important words there, which are regulation and we don't know. Like, we don't know. ah Argentina doesn't know either, so they decided to block prediction market platforms altogether, more specifically polymarkets. Why do you think that happened? What happened? Do you think this could be something that expands beyond Argentina? Well, Actually, Brazil followed, and Colombia too, and uh other countries are considering as well. It was an initiative by Lodba, the regulator of the Buenos Aires city. They considered that Polymarket wasn't a platform that was approved by the betting regulation. And in Argentina, right now, prediction markets are considered betting. So that's what happened. They are waiting for them to get a license. But of course in that case they had to pronounce themselves as a betting platforms. We know that they don't do that in the US. So um it's a gray area right now. And of course we're not getting into the debate of whether it's philosophic or legal to consider prediction markets, whether they're betting, whether they're a financial product. But one of the main arguments in the Argentinian case was consumer protection, like responsible gambling. So why is uh that happening in Argentina? Well, a lot of young people, like uh underage, were entering these platforms, Polymarket, Calchi, whatever. And they don't require um verification access. They don't ask you for your ID or your credit card. Mostly it was used with crypto that we know that don't have a lot of info about the person that is using them. So Lotva em argued that these platforms were accepting underage people and that was the main focus on the justice in the legal system to report them. Yeah, that of course is the argument from the Lottery of Buenos Aires in this case. that eventually led to this nationwide block. So just in the US, the debate goes through whether the CFTC is supposed to be regulating or not. So how different do you guys see the priorities on each side of the Americas considering that we are talking about player protection? And in the US, it feels more like a uh jurisdiction debate, like a juridical debate. Yeah, it really is here at stateside a case by case basis. We've seen that with legal action in several states, one being Nevada, which is obviously the country's most storied gaming market. And they're kind of leading the way when it comes to deciding how to approach prediction markets. So it's really interesting that we've got a lot of different ways to not necessarily combat, but attack this issue. And so it's a thing that's continuing to evolve and there's going to be a couple states that lead by example when it comes to that. And of course em it's uh interesting to see this debate with this new product that is if it's not sports betting it's a very close custom for them. So traditional sportsbooks they have been trying to get a license and enforcing KYC and m trying to be compliant through years and in order to get their license. So um are we seeing the prediction markets as the competitors for this industry, for the traditional sports betting industry, or are they something different from the regular or the traditional sports betting segment? You know, that's a great question because you'll get a different answer depending on who you ask that to. And so right now we're seeing a lot of these major sports betting operators, casino operators. getting into the prediction market business and after kind of solidifying a footprint there, you're kind of seeing who's really gaining ground and that's showing right now. And I think where the opportunity is and why there are so many different companies getting into the prediction markets is because it fills a gap where there is no legal sports betting in Texas or California. They're able to go into those markets with prediction markets and and kind of gain more customers. And that's the gap we're kind of seeing right there. And do you think we're going to an international consensus on prediction markets, on relation, on what will happen with them? Where will they fall if they're a financial product, if they're going to be eventually overseen by gambling regulators? you think there's going to be a general consensus, at least across Latin American Spain, let's say? Do you think it's going to be something unified or like in criteria? Or do you think each country is going to have their own approach to this? Well, both. But I think all the Hispanic-speaking countries are going on the same line. Spain also prohibited polymarket and calci. So we're taking similar roads. But none of them address it as a global problem. They are addressing it uh in each jurisdiction in particular, but I think they all feel the same about the taxes they are not paying, the verifications they are not reaching with general public. So I think we're going to see similar consensus on across the world. And of course, it's very difficult not to compare the Argentinian specific case to the US because both countries are very similar in how they are structured. Actually, the Argentinian constitution is based off the US constitution. what do you think will happen in the US, Justin? Because that will probably be very important to determine what happens in Argentina. And from Argentina, that could influence the rest of the region. So what is going to happen in the US? We were talking in a previous episode about Minnesota, about Rhode Island. So where is the US heading? Where is the discussion heading? Especially with the Supreme Court up there in the distance. Where are we going? Yeah, I'm glad we're talking about this today because from what I woke up this morning today could be a monumental day here in America when it comes to prediction markets because we've got the CFTC releasing a set of rules between today and tomorrow about how to approach this whole industry, this whole sector. So today I think we're going to see a lot of movement. Now, when it comes to how this thing will play out, you mentioned the Supreme Court, that's going to be a reality without question. We're going to see a lot of movement, a lot of court cases being taken to the Supreme Court, and that'll continue. And of course, that legislative process takes time. So I don't see this issue being fixed anytime soon. We're in the middle of 2026. I wouldn't be surprised if this thing pulls out to like 2028. So we're going to continue talking about this thing. We'll have to hash the wait and see until 2028 to see what happens with the prediction markets. But of course, uh let's say they eventually fall under the gambling scope and they are uh overseen by gambling regulators. Do you think that will legitimize the segment or would that actually undermine the attractivity it had in the first place? You know, I think it will legitimize it, honestly, just because there was so much hesitancy about embracing sports betting. And once it got under regulation, we're seeing things move in the right direction. Now, there's been a lot of controversy about sports betting here, stateside, when it comes to integrity. But the reason why those things are being raised is because we have regulation. And that's a big part of it. And if we're able to bring that to prediction markets, I think we'll see the same thing. Like, right now, we're talking a lot about prediction markets. And there's a lot of concerns with insider trading. And that's the hottest topic right now when it comes to that. And I think if we get this under regulation, some of those things will be thwarted. Yeah, and that you may be hearing in the background is not God speaking to us about prediction markets and what we should do about them in the future, but it's the announcement for the beginning of the conversation here in SBC Summit America. I think we're going to be at, we are at the right place at the right time right now to be discussing this because we're going to be learning a lot about this. from the people that are actually involved in prediction markets, from regulators, from operators, from providers, from everyone. So it's very important that we are here at SBC Summit Americas. m another one for your crystal ball, Justin and Lou, of course. uh Do you guys think that prediction markets will remain a separate vertical? Regardless of whether they are financial or gambling in the long term, uh do you think they will remain uh separate vertical or will they be absorbed into the general gambling offering, kind of like exchange betting and uh fantasy betting? You tackle this one first, Luz. OK. uh I think they will remain as a separate vertical, but in the gambling scope, as you mentioned. And I think we have a lot of interesting panels and a forum specific for prediction markets here in SBC Summit Americas. And I'm looking forward to hearing from experts to catch up of what's the latest on this. You know, from the outside looking in, I came down here to Florida, opened up my FanDuel app, and it immediately transferred over to FanDuel Predicts, their prediction market platform. And when I was flipping through it, It literally looked exactly like the interface when it comes to sports betting. And because of that, there is maybe a way to merge those verticals because there is some similarities in the way they're offered. Now, if they were to converge, I think there would be a lot of different ways to kind of diversify the offerings. Yesterday we saw DraftKings launch a new live betting product. You might be able to incorporate that with prediction markets somehow, but If we do get a word on what it is regulatory wise, I think maybe it will be separate just because of the way things are managed, but there is a potential for it to be merged, honestly. Yeah, absolutely. I think that's very important what you're saying there. They are trying to make prediction markets kind of look similar to sports betting because right now prediction markets are very much a niche for some specific type of consumer, of better, let's say. even though we'll have to wait and see what the Supreme Court decides on whether they are bets or not. But I think it's probably going to turn out that way. They're going to try to make it look as much as possible as regular betting so that the most amount of people can join that segment and participate. Because right now, of course, it's a niche. Some specific players engage with prediction markets. But again, we'll have to see what the time will tell. But before we wrap up, where should people be looking in the future? We mentioned, of course, the Supreme Court. But in general, terms of regulation, in terms of the legal side of things, where should people be looking? Of course, they should be looking at CBC Americas and CBC Noticias and subscribe to all CBC media newsletters to keep up to date with the news from the gaming industry. But where should they be looking? in general for ahead for for this year and the year after The way this country works here in America I think the way in the place you should look is your local lawmakers because that's where everything starts on the ground here is When it comes to the state and city level if we see lawmakers take a stand which we are When it comes to prediction markets or even supporting prediction markets as well. You're gonna have to look at your own state your own municipality to kind of see where movement's making. I think that's the best place. Lou? I think in Latin America it will be very important to look at what regulators are doing because they are the ones that are determining whether this falls into the gaming scope or not. yeah. uh good point to start. And definitely we will learn a lot about prediction markets here in Florida for other SPC Summit Americas but that has been all for today. Thank you very much Justin, Lou, thank you very much Anaya MacDonald for producing this episode and the team outside the podcast booth of course. I'm Fernando Nutt and to our listeners out there we'll see you in the next one. I'm like, we're going to a break. so much.