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Scott Vanderwel, CEO of Pointsbet Canada, joined Sue Schneider, SBCâs VP of Growth & Strategy North America on the SBC Leaders Podcast to discuss his role in developing Pointsbetâs operations in Canada.
The duo also talk about his journey from telecommunications to gaming, the origin story of the company in Australia, Fanatics' acquisition of Pointsbetâs US assets and the importance of âuniquely Canadianâ sports partnerships for the operator.
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Catherine Meade, VP of Community, Sustainability & Social Responsibility at the Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation (OLG), joined Sue Schneider, SBCâs VP of Growth & Strategy Americas, on the latest episode of the SBC Leaders Podcast to talk about how the Ontario gaming landscape has changed for OLG since the opening of the regulated market in 2022.
The duo also discuss her role at the corporation, the collective responsibility for responsible gambling amongst Ontario's operators and the power of teamwork.
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In the latest episode of the SBC Leaders podcast, SBC's Managing Director is joined by Dr Jennifer Shatley, Executive Director at the Responsible Online Gaming Association.
During their discussion, the duo talk about what the ROGA do, how best to tackle responsible gaming and what future projects from ROGA the industry can expect and how it can be funded.
The duo also discussed the Independent Data Clearing House from ROGA, where the project currently lies and when the sector could see more on it.
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In the latest episode of SBC Leaders, Andrew McCarron, Managing Director at SBC, is joined by Sam Brown, CEO at Rootz, to discuss Sam's new role as CEO, taking over from the firm's Founder, Lasse Rantala and how the company approached two different market entries in Ontario and Germany.
The duo also discussed how Rootz is recruiting to match its growth, the addition of David Hasselhoff, aka "The Hoff", as a Brand Ambassador and a look into how Sam unwinds and relax away from his day-to-day responsibility.
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SBC Managing Director Andrew McCarron is joined by Brent Almeida, Chief Commercial Officer at the BVGroup in the latest episode of the SBC Leaders Podcast.
SBC Leaders is the show that focuses on leadership, motivation and the unique stories that got the biggest names at the world's leading operators to where they are today.
Recorded in the run up to SBC Summit Barcelona in 2023, Almeida and McCarron discuss BVGroup's presence in Gibraltar, BVGroup's rebrand and what this means internally and externally, managing and motivating teams remotely and in-person, as well as digging into Almeida's professional background and leadership style and philosophy.
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The latest episode of the SBC Leaders sees Snaitech's CEO, Fabio Schiavolin join the hotseat with SBC's Managing Director Andrew McCarron.
Schiavolin talks about bringing Snaitech into a 'new era' via new omnichannels, how Snaitech remains a leading brand in the Italian market, how it overcomes regulatory challenges and how he unwinds away from work.
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The SBC Leaders podcast is back with a bang as Betfred Group CEO Joanne Whittaker and Betfred USA CEO Kresimir Spajic join SBC Managing Director Andy McCarron for an in-person, sitdown interview recorded at this year's SBC Summit in Barcelona.
Joining for a discussion on life, business and many things in between, Joanne and Kresimir discuss Betfred's transition from a UK retail juggernaut into a multi-national business, their aggressive moves for expansion in the USA, how the market has progressed and what sets them apart from their competitors.
Jo and Kresimir also discussed their life, career history, who they are outside of work and how they got where they are today.
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The necessity of building and maintaining a strong network is a familiar construct among numerous industries, and is certainly one that is not lost in the gaming community.
With this in mind, CasinoBeats is aiming to take a look under the hood and has tasked the 100 Club to help out.
In the Pathways hot seat is Chris Conroy, Chief Data Officer at Future Anthem, who veered off from potential careers in finance and public transport to enter the industry courtesy of a meeting with an old boss
Launched to give a voice to the industry on a range of key issues, the CasinoBeats 100 Club tackles the tricky questions and shares membersâ views across the CasinoBeats network. Have your say by joining the 100 Club.
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The latest episode of the SBC Leaders podcast is out, and features Anton Kuchukidze, the Chairman of the Ukrainian Gambling Council speaking to SBC's Managing Director, Andy McCarron.
The Ukrainian Gambling Council is an NGO uniting the legal gambling sector in Ukraine, and Anton and Andy discussed the background of the industry in the country, the impact of the war on Ukraine, the Ukrainian people and the industry, and the importance of keeping entertainment running during the war.
The two also discussed illegal advertising and unlicensed operators, as well as the legal changes that the Ukrainian Gambling Council have achieved despite the Russian invasion.
Finally, Anton told Andy about his personal background in politics, how we became involved with the Ukrainian Gambling Council, their vision and successes so far, working with SBC, and their hopes and plans for the future.
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The latest edition of the SBC Leaders Podcast features Sophie Wood, Learning and Development partner at Lottoland.
Sophie sat down with SBC Managing Director Andrew McCarron for a chat on Sophie's career history, who started at entry level with Gala Bingo and used her experience from her time at West Mercia Police to work her way into a more senior role at Lottoland.
Sophie and Andrew also discussed diversity in the industry, how the pandemic changed things, the metaverse in relation to the customer and the ethics of gambling.
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The latest episode of the SBC Leaders Podcast is out, and features Seth Young, Chief Strategy Officer at Fifth Street Gaming Digital and Managing Partner The Strategy Organization.
Seth sat down with SBC Global Relationships Director Kelly Kehn for a fascinating chat on Seth's life and career history, including mentoring young entrepreneurs, his time working at a tribal casino, his spell as Chief Innovation Officer at PointsBet, to his current role at FSG Digital and the launch of Jefebet.com, a new Spanish-language media portal and sports betting site aimed at the Latino population of the USA.
Seth also discussed his own personal heroes and mentors, what he's learned to do and not to do, and highlighted some key names who've had an impact on his career, including FSG supremo Seth Schorr.
Young told Kelly about caddying for Mario Lemieux as a kid, why he loves Colorado (golf and skiing on the same day?), and of course introducing her to his Shih Tzu puppy, Hank!
Finally the two discussed NFTs, the Metaverse, and living in the digital world.
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Our special International Women's Day edition of the SBC Leaders Podcast features our very own Sue Schneider, VP of Growth & Strategy, Americas.
Sue sat down with SBC Global Relationships Director Kelly Kehn for a chat on Sue's career history, including a history in public service, to being an innovator in the betting industry, to testifying in Congress and at various state Legislatures.
Sue and Kelly also discussed the state of the diversity in the industry, the increasing numbers of female C-Level leaders in gaming and beyond, advice to young women in the industry, how the pandemic changed things, and whether International Women's Day is enough.
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Niels Onkenhout, CEO of Nederlandse Loterij sat down with SBC Global Relationships Director Kelly Kehn, for a fascinating discussion on the current state of the newly regulated Dutch market, Niels' position as CEO of the incumbent, and handling new competition.
Niels and Kelly also discussed Niels' role models, creating a culture, his thoughts on responsible gambling and the legacy he'd like to leave, his transition from fast moving consumer goods to the online betting industry, and his thoughts on NFTs and the Metaverse.
00:00 | Intro
00:42 | Overview of the newly regulated Dutch market
01:48 | Handling new competition
03:48 | Understanding the customer base
05:29 | Responsibilities
07:27 | Niels' background
10:31 | Fast moving consumer goods to gambling
12:13 | Creating culture
14:57 | Sporting heroes and Olympic ambassadors
16:42 | Niels' Role-models
17:18 | Impact
19:44 | NFT's & the Metaverse
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Lauren Seiler, Associate Vice President of Investor Relations and Development at Rush Street Interactive caught up with SBC's Global Relationships Director, Kelly Kehn, for a fun chat on a variety of topics to close out 2021.
Lauren told Kelly about her career history, from a passion for firefighting to landing on Wall Street, and how exactly she got into gaming. The two also chat about Lauren's strong mentors and role models, befriending Yankees legend Yogi Berra, and her predictions for 2022 for Rush Street and the industry as a whole.
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Gilles Maillet, Sport Integrity Director at the FDJ joined SBC Global Relationships Director Kelly Kehn at the recent SBC Summit North America conference in New Jersey for a live edition of the SBC Leaders Podcast.
Gilles and Kelly had a fascinating chat about sports and sporting integrity, where Gilles believes they're steering integrity, sports federation leaders not understanding the risks some people take for their sport, and the challenges facing sporting integrity in the US.
Gilles also spoke about leadership, his philosophy of collaborative management, being a sports fan, and his career defining moments.
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The latest episode of the SBC Leaders podcast features Yossi Abadi, Co-Founder and CEO of Tenlot, a leading gaming and lottery platform provider. Yossi has 15 years of experience working in Latin America, Africa and his native Israel.
Yossi caught up with SBC Global Relationships Director Kelly Kehn, at the recent SBC Summit Latinoamerica Conference, for the first live edition of the SBC Leaders podcast since the Covid-19 pandemic. Kelly and Yossi had a fascinating chat about Tenlot and Yossi's career history, leadership, and what's coming in 2022.
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The latest episode of the SBC Leaders Podcast just dropped, and features Joanna Lambert, President and General Manager, Consumer, at Yahoo. Joanna spearheaded the Yahoo sportsbook and fantasy sports portfolio, and has extensive experience in FinTech and senior executive roles at some huge brand names.
The two had a fascinating chat about Yahooâs sportsbook and fantasy offerings, the US sports betting market, diversity, being passionate about your work, and the resilience, creativity and inspirational nature of her team.
Joanna also tells Kelly about her career-defining moments, personal heroes and role models, and all about whatâs coming next for Yahoo!
0:18 - Intro
1:42 - Yahoo sportsbook live in 11 states, plans to go into more. What does Joanne see happening in the next 6 months? How does the BetMGM partnership benefit fans and players?
3:19 - Joannaâs history in the world of FinTech, who brought her over to sports betting? Excited by the strides Yahoo have made. The combination of great and trusted content, and high-quality products. Yahoo functioning as the top of the funnel, can drive players towards products and offerings.
6:00 - What does Joanna think about sports betting? How does it differ from the worlds of tech and finance? Product development is a similar process, always bring the customer to the centre. More casual players coming into the space, meaning more opportunity to serve customers.
7:20 - Diversity, how diverse are sports in general? And how important is diversity at Yahoo? Joannaâs passion for diversity, pride that Yahoo is number 1 for African-Americans, LatinX and Women. Importance of making sure the voices in your team are reflected. Yahoo is an incredible platform for story telling and Yahoo take this seriously.
10:45 - Yahoo looking to open up the sportsbook offering to a wider audience than the traditional male audience. Yahoo looking at what kind of talent they can bring in, to enable them to attract new audiences. Focusing on non-traditional media such as TikTok, Club House etc. to attract the younger audience.
12:52 - Do you have to be a sports fan to run a sports company? Joannaâs belief that you have to be passionate about what youâre working for. Joannaâs interest in connecting people with their passions.
13:46 - Does Joanna have her own personal hero? Loves watching people innovate, inspiration coming from her own network, her own staff. Every day heroes. Taking inspiration from an intern at Yahoo to move towards TikTok, as an example.
15:15 - Does Joanna have a role model when it comes to making her own life decisions? Taking inspiration from current/former colleagues and bosses. The importance of sponsorship and help when it comes to leadership and growth.
16:30 - What does Joanna see as career defining moments? Relatively early in her career, telling her boss she was bored, wanted more responsibility and would be willing to move anywhere in the world for the right opportunity.
19:07 - What brought Joanna to Yahoo? A persistent recruiter and seeing the scale of the opportunity at Yahoo. Starting at Yahoo Finance and moving on from there.
20:30 - What has surprised Joanna the most? The resilience of the team over the last 2 years, and how creative people can be when their backs are against the wall.
22:20 - Whatâs next? Continuing on the strategy of providing the 360 degrees service. Moving from being a small department in a huge business, to being a standalone business. Yahoo going to continue to evolve in the space.
23:15 - Outro
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The latest episode of the SBC Leaders podcast just dropped, and sees SBC Global Relationships Director Kelly Kehn sit down with Peter-Paul de Goeij, the managing director of NOGA, the Netherlands Online Gambling Association.
The two had a chat in the lead-up to the newly regulated Dutch marketâs go-live date, and discussed the market, the potential it has, and what NOGA will be keeping an eye on.
Kelly and Peter Paul also discuss advertising, including NOGAâs Advertising Volume Control, and why they want to avoid a gambling advertising ban. The two also spoke about affiliation, how affiliates can receive their rubber stamp, and why operators will be more careful about which affiliates they work with.
Finally, Kelly gets Peter Paulâs thoughts on leadership, his role as a leader, how he got involved with NOGA, and his heroes and inspirations.
1:52 - The dutch market, 28 initial licenses, is this the right number of licenses? Is there room for growth? Don't know how many applications went in after the 15th of april, don't know whether all 28 applicants made it through.
3:10 - Fair competition, is this something NOGA have worked on? Important to have a level playing field for the operators, so that they all have the same starting position. Peter Paul speaks about the 33-month cooling off period for those operators that have violated the criteria of targeting Dutch customers online prior to October 1st. NOGA decided to look at the future, not at the past, and are upbeat about the markets potential
6:00 - Advertising, important to migrate players away from illegal/unlicensed operators to legal/licensed ones. Concerned due to precedence in other markets, for example Sweden. Operators can't be moderate in advertising if competitors are not. Want operators/advertisers/broadcasters to meet and agree on guidelines and keeping things reigned in. Advertising Volume Control to keep it under control. Don't want to ban it.
9:40 - Affiliates, NOGA really paying attention to affiliation. Only the operator is responsible for advertising under their license, meaning operators will be liable if something goes wrong with their affiliates. Affiliates will be able to receive a stamp of approval as a responsible affiliate.
11:55 - Peter Paulâs thoughts on leadership, adjusting to the gambling and lottery industries, being brought in by the NOGA board to take them to the next level and turn them into a real trade organisation. Didn't consider himself to be a leader and still has a hard time accepting that. Tries to show the best way and not take himself too seriously. Bring people together and build bridges, build connections where they don't yet exist.
15:15 - What can the Netherlands achieve in the wider world of gambling? Being so late at regulation, meaning they had time to look at other markets, see what didn't work, come up with ideas. Importance of taking consumer protection to the next level. Has to be ingrained into your business as an operator. There will be no gambling operator given a license in the Netherlands that doesn't take problem gambling seriously.
17:25 - Peter Paulâs thoughts on whether you have to love sports to work in the betting industry. Maybe not necessary that you like to gamble, important to think that if you want to gamble, it should be possible.
19:56 - Do you have a hero? Who have you looked for as inspiration? Peter Paul's mother is one of his greatest heroes, hugely influenced by Barack Obama's speaking skills and ability to communicate.
21:20 - What surprises has Peter Paul seen? Importance of trying not to get carried away with worry and doubt.
22:12 - What Peter Paul expected October 1st to look like. Has to be vigilant, make sure everything is working the way it intended. Working closely with the regulators and operators, keeping a close eye on the consumers, hope to see an increase in consumer trust.
25:15 - Outro
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The latest episode of SBC Leaders features Sacha Dragic, Founder & Executive Chairman of Superbet, one of the leading operators in Romania, who have since expanded to Poland and Belgium.
Sacha sits down for a chat with SBC Managing Director Andy McCarron, and the two discussed innovation, using acquisition as a means to grow and expand, how to spot the next tech innovations, and how gambling companies can change the perception of the industry.
00:07 - Intro
00:58 - The formation of Superbet, moving beyond their initial goals to just âsurviveâ, becoming an important player in Romania and then learning to adapt to the digital world.
02:23 - The high quality leadership team at Superbet, especially at management and c-level, What skills are needed for building out the management team? Importance of taking care to look for exactly what you need in new hires, and what can take you to the next level.
05:46 - Ralph Topping (former William Hill CEO) joining and helping out, how his experience and advice convinced Sacha to speed up his expansion and growth plans. From wanting to expand in the region within 5-7 years, to looking to become an international operator.
07:45 - Using investment as an acquisition tool, what's the ethos in looking for acquisitions to expand? Sacha told Andy that 2-3 years ago the idea of acquiring another operator would have seemed impossible. New influences within the Superbet leadership team changed his philosophy on this.
10:40 - How difficult is it to maintain company culture all the way down the ladder? Bureaucracy tends to build itself when you hire more people, the importance of keeping their ethos in mind during the hiring process, and removing bureaucracy to help lubricate innovation
12:07 - importance of being fair as a bookmaker, and being perceived to be fair. How does Sacha make sure that the customers respect Superbet, and trust them? Sacha believes the market is the decider. Players won't bet there if they don't respect and trust it.14:13 - Moving into new markets, what differences do they notice in customers from different locations? Superbet adapting their product to the new markets, learning about the market, learning what not to do.
15:55 - Poland, Romania, now Belgium, what markets are they looking for long term? Sacha's plan is to look at any market where it's legal, more Western europe, Central & South America, North America, Africa, and much more. Open to any regulated market.
17:15 - What is the perception of the industry? ANd what can the industry do to balance out the negative perceptions. Itâs easy for politicians to score points by going against betting, Sacha believes theyâre underestimating how much money it brings in to the budget. But also itâs important to know a brand can't simply optimise for profit without giving back to society, they need to invest heavily in RG/CSR.
20:44 - What is your approach to innovation? How do you identify which new technologies can make a difference? Importance of looking not only at your customers now, but also your future customers and future potential customers. How you can build a mindset where people are always looking at what they can do next, Superbet looking at blockchain/esports and other new verticals. Wanting to become a company that takes a wider approach23:25 - What do we as an industry do well on the tech innovation front? The value of looking around not only at other gaming companies, but also innovation elsewhere in the world such as Netflix etc.
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Episode 7 of the SBC Leaders podcast features Paris Smith, CEO of Pinnacle, the iconic sports betting operator, a position sheâs been in since 2006!
Paris and Kelly get into Parisâ early career, how she got into sports betting and whether she always had ambitions to become a CEO (Spoiler - always wanted to be in charge!). Paris gives her thoughts on company culture, building a team of hard-workers that want to produce rather than just show up, and tells Kelly all about what they call the âPinnacle Passionâ.
Paris speaks about the importance of caring about people, knowing your team and being able to take a step back and let the experts do what they know needs to be done, and learning that you donât always need to make the final decision! Paris also gives some sage advice to anyone with aspirations of achieving a senior leadership role within the industry.
Kelly also picks Parisâ brains on Pinnacleâs innovative e-sports offering, what it was like being in the e-sports betting game in its burgeoning days, and why the two worlds havenât necessarily totally meshed together yet.
Diversity is also a topic of discussion, with Paris being one of a few female CEOs in gaming, and one of the most long-standing, as well as assembling a gender-balanced and ethnicity-balanced senior leadership team. Kelly asks Paris to outline some of the benefits of having such diversity at the table, and the insight it allows Pinnacle to tap into.
Finally, Kelly asks Paris about her daughter who recently graduated, whether sheâd like to see her join Pinnacle, and what Paris hopes sheâs imparted onto her daughter in terms of leadership.
00:12 - Intro
00:37 - Introduction to Paris and Pinnacle Sports
01:32 - Pinnacleâs history, Parisâ experiences at Pinnacle, what sheâs learned during her time as CEO, how the industry has changed and where itâs going next
02:39 - E-sports, Pinnacleâs innovation in trading e-sports in 2010, and the importance of stepping back and letting the experts in her team take the lead on things within their expertise. How Paris reacted the first time she heard the idea of trading on e-sports, and a trip to Berlin that made the whole thing click.
04:55 - Why have the esports and iGaming industries not fully meshed yet, do gamers and e-sports players understand sports betting?
07:54 - Challenges of running a multinational company, how they were compounded during the pandemic and the importance of localisation and local viewpoints when you operate in a market.
09:26 - Remote working, whether itâs made Paris more available or less available, how she manages her day-to-day.
11:06 - Diversity, Parisâ position as one of the only female CEOs in the industry, a gender and ethnicity balanced senior leadership team and the benefits that brings.
14:22 - Parisâ daughter, whether Paris would like to see her join her in the workplace, what she hopes to have imparted onto her in terms of leadership and what sheâs learned from her, and from motherhood that sheâs been able to bring into the boardroom.
16:56 - Did Paris always want to become a CEO? How Paris got started in the industry and her first betting job.
19:16 - Advice to people who want to be a CEO and have aspirations to lead in this industry, importance of being true to yourself and listening to people, allow others to make decisions
20:35 - Do you have to love sports to be a CEO of a betting company? Paris' sports fandom, and finding the time to watch sports.
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