DraftKings and BetMGM were among the major winners of the SBC Awards North America 2021 ceremony, which took place in New York City. IGT PlaySports and Scientific Games were also recognized for their activity.
The First SBC North America Awards
The Edison Ballroom hosted the inaugural edition of the awards, which saw more than 400 executives representing the US and Canadian iGaming and sports betting sectors gather for a celebration about the industry’s accomplishments over the past 12 months. The event was held on the last evening of SBC Summit North America 2021 on December 2.
Meredith Marakovits, YES Network’s New York Yankees’ Clubhouse reporter, hosted the ceremony. DraftKings was named Sportsbook of the year and BetMGM was awarded Casino Operator of the year.
The other operator categories were judged by independent panels. Entain was selected as Socially Responsible Operator and Bally Interactive the Rising Star of Year. PointsBet won the Marketing Campaign and Sponsorship award, while GAN took home the Social Gaming Operator award.
Two awards were given that cover the entire industry ecosystem. Rush Street Interactive’s Richard Schwartz was honored as Leader of the Year and Scientific Games was named Employer of The Year.
Global Gaming Industry Advancing Rapidly
Rasmus Sojmark, the founder and CEO of SBC, stated that the competition for the SBC Awards North America was intense in all categories. This demonstrates the incredible progress the industry has made over the past three decades.
“Huge congratulations to all the winners selected by our independent judging panels. To have succeeded against such a high standard of opposition is a real mark of quality that the team from the victorious companies can be very proud of,” he added.
Gambling.com Group and VSiN won the respective Sports Affiliate trophies. Catena Media took silver awards in both of these categories.
IGT PlaySports had a great evening in the supplier section. It won both the Platform Provider & Land-Based Betting & Gaming Product awards. It also received a silver award in the Industry Innovation of the Year category. ArdentSky took the gold.
Many Operators Driving the Growth
OpenBet won the Sportsbook Supplier Award, Sportradar won the Sports Data/Live Betting Product category and Boom Entertainment was named Rising Star in Sports Betting & Casino.
Scientific Games won the second prize with the Lottery Suppliers of the Year title. Evolution took home the Casino Supplier title. Optimove was awarded the Acquisition & Retention Partner title. Intelitics received the Marketing & Services Provider award.
USAbility won the Compliance Solution & Partner trophy. Sightline Payments was the winner in the Payment Solution section. Nuvei took home the Payment Innovation award.
Sojmark concluded, “We’d like to thank all the SBC Awards North America sponsors for their support and for helping to make this such a fantastic occasion. We’re already looking forward to the second edition of the Awards in July 2022.”
SBC Summit North America 2022 will be held July 12-14 at Meadowlands Exposition Center, New Jersey.