Why the Sweepstakes Industry’s Biggest Week of 2026 Starts Wednesday

The Sports Betting Community (SBC) Summit Americas opens June 9 in Fort Lauderdale, with 10,000 delegates expected. Sweepstakes is one of two headline topics across the three-day program, with a dedicated regulation panel on Wednesday’s main stage and an industry-wide awards ceremony the same night.

Key takeaways

• The Sports Betting Community (SBC) Summit Americas 2026 runs June 9 to June 11 at the Broward County Convention Center in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, with 10,000 delegates expected.
• Sweepstakes is one of two headline topics on the conference agenda, alongside predicting markets.
• The dedicated panel, “Clearing the Air on Sweepstakes: Navigating Regulation and Opportunity” runs on Stage Two on Wednesday, June 10.
• The SBC Awards Americas ceremony takes place the same night at the Seminole Ballroom of the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Hollywood, Florida.
• The Social Gaming Leadership Alliance (SGLA) arrives at the conference with payments provider Paysafe as a new member.

The setup

The largest gaming industry gathering of the year in the Americas opens on Tuesday and runs through Thursday. The Broward County Convention Center will host an expected 10,000 delegates across a six-stage conference program covering sports betting, casinos, payments, affiliation, regulation, and player protection. Sweepstakes and prediction markets are the two topics SBC organizers have publicly identified as the headline topics of the program.

That positioning is significant on its own. For a category that spent the first five months of 2026 navigating bans in Indiana, Maine, Tennessee, Louisiana, and Oklahoma, being put on the main stage of the year’s largest industry conference is a visible signal that operators, regulators, and service providers are treating sweepstakes as a sector with a future to discuss, rather than a category being phased out.

Stage 2: Wednesday, June 10

The dedicated sweepstakes panel is titled, “Clearing the Air on Sweepstakes: Navigating Regulation and Opportunity.” It runs on Wednesday, June 10, on Stage Two, the main North America regulation and policy stage. SBC has framed the session as a working discussion about how the industry can address the legal status of dual-currency platforms and provide greater clarity for both players and brands. The published framing also references how clearer regulatory frameworks could create a safer, more transparent market, strengthen consumer protection, and unlock additional tax revenue.

The conference also runs an “Inner Circle” format this year, a 30-minute small-group networking discussion where attendees can continue the conversation with the panel speakers in a closer setting. SBC has confirmed sweepstakes as one of the two topics getting the Inner Circle treatment, alongside prediction markets. The Sweepstakes Inner Circle session is scheduled for Thursday, June 11 from 2:00 to 2:30 PM in the Media and Podcast Zone, building on the Wednesday panel.

For an industry that has spent 2026 mostly playing defense in state capitals, the difference at Fort Lauderdale is that the conversation is happening in front of the people who actually build, fund, and regulate the products, rather than legislators reacting to lobbying.

The awards night

The SBC Awards Americas ceremony takes place the same night, Wednesday, June 10, at the Seminole Ballroom at Hard Rock Hotel in Hollywood, Florida. SBC has confirmed 34 award categories covering operators, affiliates, suppliers, payment specialists, and game studios, with 600 industry professionals expected at the ceremony.

The shortlist, published in late April, put BetRivers operator Rush Street Interactive on top with eight nominations, and Betting Hero with six. Optimove, Wazdan, and Betsson Group followed closely behind with five each. The 2026 Awards do not include a dedicated sweepstakes operator category, which itself reflects how the category sits today: covered as a topic on the main conference stages, but not yet awarded as a distinct vertical alongside sports betting and traditional iGaming.

What to watch

Three things are worth tracking from the sweepstakes side of the program.

First, the makeup of the “Clearing the Air” panel itself. The Social Gaming Leadership Alliance has been the most visible advocacy presence in 2026, and its Managing Director, Sean Ostrow, has been making the case for regulatory frameworks rather than outright prohibition in state legislatures and committee hearings throughout the year. Whoever speaks on Wednesday will be making that case to the largest concentrated audience the industry will see all year.

Second, partnership announcements. SBC Summit Americas has historically been a launch window for new operator deals, payment provider integrations, and platform partnerships. The conference floor is where business gets done. Paysafe joining the SGLA in January 2026 signaled that mainstream payment infrastructure is moving towards the category, rather than away from it, and any follow-on announcements during the conference would extend that direction.

Third, what gets said about the failed bills. In the first five months of 2026, more state sweepstakes ban bills failed than passed. Massachusetts HB 4431, Maryland HB 295 and HB 1226, Mississippi SB 2104, Virginia HB 161 and SB 118, Florida HB 591 and three companion bills, Hawaii SB 3281, and Minnesota SF 4474 all stalled or died. The headline numbers that get cited from the main stage will matter for how the industry frames its 2027 case.

The bigger picture

Beyond the conference itself, the underlying numbers for sweepstakes casinos have continued to climb. Industry analyst Eilers & Krejcik Gaming (EKG), cited in a June 2025 industry primer published by global audit and advisory firm KPMG, placed 2024 US sweepstakes casino gross revenue at more than $10.6 billion, with net gaming revenue after prize payouts of approximately $3.4 billion. EKG separately reported a 60-70% compound annual growth rate for the segment between 2020 and 2024. Initial EKG projections for 2025 forecast gross revenues above $14.3 billion and net revenues above $4.6 billion, although the firm has since revised its 2025 net revenue estimate downward to about $4 billion, following sweepstakes casino bans enacted in California and New York. New brand launches have continued through the first half of 2026, in spite of the contracting state map.

Recent operator activity reflects the same direction. Australia-based Virtual Gaming Worlds (VGW), the operator behind Chumba Casino, LuckyLand Slots, and Global Poker, launched its fourth brand, LuckyLand Casino, in December 2025 and a fifth brand, United Slots, in the first quarter of 2026. VGW signed a multi-year partnership with World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) on January 17, 2026, and reported $4.3 billion in revenue for fiscal year 2024. MW Services Limited, the Gibraltar-based operator behind WOW Vegas and Rolla Casino, launched its fourth brand, CoinsBack Casino, in May 2026. Other first-quarter launches include Dorados, Zonko, ThrillCoins, Coin Wizard Games, and DexyPlay.

None of those launches is a signal that operators expect the category to contract. The opposite is closer to the truth.

What this week represents

The contrast between the state-by-state news cycle and what happened in Fort Lauderdale this week is the story. State legislatures spent the first half of 2026 either passing bans or failing to pass them.

The industry spent the last six months building new products, signing mainstream partners, consolidating its advocacy under a unified trade group, and putting up record numbers. This week, the people who actually build and run the category get three days together to discuss what comes next.

Sources

Conference and industry

• SBC Summit Americas 2026 official agenda. Event overview and agenda. June 9 to June 11, 2026. Broward County Convention Center, Fort Lauderdale. Six-stage conference program with 10,000 expected attendees.
• “Clearing the Air on Sweepstakes: Navigating Regulation and Opportunity” panel. North America: Sports Betting & Casino track. Stage Two, Wednesday June 10, 2026.
• The Inner Circle: Sweepstakes session. Inner Circle page. Thursday June 11, 2:00 to 2:30 PM , Media and Podcast Zone.
• SBC Awards Americas 2026. Ceremony overview. Seminole Ballroom at Hard Rock Hotel, Hollywood, Florida. Wednesday June 10. 600 expected guests across 34 categories.
• Social Gaming Leadership Alliance (SGLA). SGLA homepage. Led by Executive Director Jeff Duncan and Managing Director Sean Ostrow. Operator partners include VGW, PLAYSTUDIOS, Yellow Social Interactive, ARB Interactive, and B-Two Operations.
• Market size estimates. Eilers & Krejcik Gaming 2024 sweepstakes purchase data ($10.6B) and KPMG Emerging Topics in Gaming primer projections for 2026.

Operator activity

• VGW launches LuckyLand Casino. VGW corporate press release, December 11, 2025. Filed by Rep. David K. Muradian Jr. (R-Grafton) in August 2025. Sent to a study order on March 23, 2026 by the Joint Committee on Economic Development and Emerging Technologies.
• VGW-WWE partnership. VGW press release, January 17, 2026. Passed House 105-24 on March 20, 2026. Died in Senate Budget and Taxation Committee. Session ended April 13, 2026. WWE corporate confirmation, January 20, 2026. Multi-year partnership covering content integration across SmackDown on USA Network and Premium Live Events including WrestleMania and SummerSlam.
• VGW FY 2024 financial reporting. AU$6.1 billion (approximately US$4.15 billion) in revenue for the year ending June 30, 2024, with net profit of AU$492 million, as reported in VGW Holdings’ financial statements lodged with the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) and covered by AGBrief, September 20, 2024. Passed House 134-2 on March 23, 2026. Died in Senate Budget and Taxation Committee.
• MW Services Limited. Gibraltar-registered operator behind WOW Vegas, Rolla, MetaWin.us, and CoinsBack Casino. Company registration number 120828, per the Gibraltar corporate registry. CoinsBack Casino launched May 2026. . Passed Senate unanimously on February 4, 2026. Died in House Gaming Committee at the March 3, 2026 committee deadline.

2026 failed sweepstakes ban bills

• Massachusetts House Bill 4431. Massachusetts General Court bill page. Filed by Rep. David K. Muradian Jr. (R-Grafton) in August 2025. Sent to a study order on March 23, 2026 by the Joint Committee on Economic Development and Emerging Technologies.
• Maryland House Bill 295. Maryland General Assembly bill page. Passed House 105-24 on March 20, 2026. Died in Senate Budget and Taxation Committee. Session ended April 13, 2026.
• Maryland House Bill 1226. Maryland General Assembly bill page. Passed House 134-2 on March 23, 2026. Died in Senate Budget and Taxation Committee.
• Mississippi Senate Bill 2104. Mississippi Legislature bill text. Passed Senate unanimously on February 4, 2026. Died in House Gaming Committee at the March 3, 2026 committee deadline.
• Virginia House Bill 161. Virginia LIS bill page. Filed by Del. Marcus Simon. Passed House 67-30 on reconsideration. Died in conference committee on March 14, 2026.
• Virginia Senate Bill 118. Virginia LIS bill page. Filed by Sen. Mamie Locke. Passed Senate 19-17 on reconsideration. Died in conference committee on March 14, 2026.
• Florida House Bill 591. Florida Senate bill page. Filed by Rep. Jacques on December 2, 2025. Died in Industries & Professional Activities Subcommittee on March 13, 2026.
• Hawaii Senate Bill 3281. Hawaii bill tracker. Passed Senate 25-0 on March 10, 2026. Deferred by House Committee on Judiciary & Hawaiian Affairs.
• Minnesota Senate File 4474. Minnesota Auditor’s Office bill page. Passed Senate 62-3 on April 30, 2026. No House action. Session adjourned May 18, 2026.