Issue 27 of SBC Leaders Magazine takes a tour of global gambling to get the lowdown on the ever-closer relationship between the betting and media industries, operator efforts to improve player protection, scaling a gaming supplier business, and even the use of rappers in marketing.

The publication underwent a full redesign ahead of this SBC Summit Barcelona issue and, in addition to a stylish new look, it also now features opinion columns from some of SBC Media’s most experienced writers.

One thing that has not changed though is that the magazine includes interviews with a selection of industry big hitters, including cover star Vladimir Malakchi, Chief Commercial Officer of games developer Evoplay, who detailed his approach to leadership and scaling a business.

Elsewhere, LiveScore Group’s CEO Sam Sadi discussed the increasing convergence of the sports betting and sports media industries, and took aim at one of the great clichés of the online age.

“People say content is king,” said Sadi. “But it’s really distribution that makes a difference because content you can create and acquire, but you’re not going to get millions of users coming to your content site overnight.”

Meanwhile, Peter Marcus, Group Operations Director for Entain, explained the thinking behind the global gambling giant’s state-of-the-art Advanced Responsibility & Care (ARC) programme, which effectively acts as a dedicated CRM for player protection.

“It’s about how we identify people at risk and, most importantly, how we interact and intervene with those people at risk. Because it is so easy to do it the wrong way,” Marcus said.

“What has worked is being honest and upfront and open with the customer. And also not making the customer feel that they’re anything abnormal.”

José Francisco Manssur, special advisor to the Executive Secretary of Brazil’s Ministry of Finance, talked to SBC Leaders about plans for the eagerly-anticipated introduction of sports betting regulation in the country, while Betsson’s Andrea Rossi and Racing Club’s Roby Martínez Álvarez outlined why sponsorship remains so important to both sportsbooks and football clubs in Argentina.

Looking a little further north, there is an evaluation of the impact of sky-high player acquisition costs for US operators, while Stuart Godfree, Managing Director of mkodo, discussed the requirements for successful geolocation products in Ontario.

And for a complete change of pace, Roobet’s Co-Founder Matt Duea revealed why viral TikTok videos, cryptocurrencies, a world-famous rapper, knockout punches and a gun-toting video game have been important elements in the operator’s rapid rise over the past four years.

From the world of online casino, Marinos Shiapanis, Co-Founder and CEO of Campeόn Gaming, provided some insights on the company’s international expansion plans.

“Estonia, even though it is a smaller market with a limited target audience, has met significant growth in the last few years, giving space for new business opportunities and strategic expansion for new and existing operators,” he said.

Shiapanis added: “Scandinavian markets, especially Denmark, and Sweden, are the markets to be, in order for operators to expand their international footprint, as they hold high internet penetration rates and tech-savvy populations, making them prime targets for online gaming platforms.”

We were also joined by GAMOMAT’s Founder & Managing Director Dietmar Hermjohannes and Joint-Managing Director Dr Alexandra Krone as they celebrated the game developer’s 15th birthday, while Yolo Group’s Commercial Director Mark Taffler outlined the future of content aggregation, and Upgaming’s Head of Digital Marketing Goga Bibiluri detailed the company’s approach to product innovation.

Finally, from the payments sector, Andrea McGeachin, CEO of Neosurf, explained why suppliers need to take accountability for player safety and Xace’s Chief Operating Officer Alexandra Cernescu assessed how operators can select the right partners.

You can read Issue 27 of SBC Leaders magazine in full here.