Nominations for the 2018 SBC Awards are now open

The path to glory at this year’s SBC Awards is now clear, after the nomination phase for the 32 prizes on offer was declared open.

Now in its fifth year of rewarding and celebrating the very best the industry has to offer, the number of categories has been boosted from 28 to 32, with 12 awards for operators and affiliates, as well as a total of 20 for sports betting-based suppliers.

SBC Events is yet to reveal the “high profile” London venue chosen to host the awards ceremony, but it has been confirmed for the first week in December, meaning it doubles up perfectly as an early Christmas party.

Just like last year, it will be a seated event with tables and seats available for booking. However, there will be plenty of fun-filled networking opportunities throughout the evening.

The full list of categories for the SBC Awards 2018 is as follows:

Operator/Affiliate Award Categories

• Bookmaker of the Year
• Rising Star in Sports Betting
• Leader of the Year
• Football Bookmaker of the Year
• Racing Bookmaker of the Year
• Retail Bookmaker of the Year
• Socially Responsible Bookmaker of the Year
• Marketing Campaign of the Year
• Sponsorship of the Year
• Affiliate of the Year
• Best Affiliate Product Innovation
• Best Affiliate Partner Scheme
• Supplier Award Categories:
• White Label Supplier of the Year
• Sportsbook Supplier of the Year
• Standalone Platform Provider of the Year
• Marketing Agency of the Year
• Esports Supplier of the Year
• Rising Star in Sports Betting Innovation
• Best Live Betting Product
• Best Live Streaming Product
• Best Sports Data Product
• Payment Provider of the Year
• Best Retail Betting Product
• Best Virtual Football Product
• Best Virtual Sports Product
• Best DFS Product
• Best Multi-Channel Supplier
• Best Virtual Sports/Game Innovation
• Best Acquisition & Retention Partner
• Best Service Provider
• Innovation in Payment, Fraud and Compliance Solutions
• Innovation of the Year
  
  Claus Jansson, Senior Business Manager at Better Collective, had this to say after collecting last year’s Affiliate of the Year award on behalf of his company: “Obviously, it means a lot to us to have this recognition, as such a great company and one which provides super traffic to our partners. It means the world.”

Meanwhile, Vermantia CEO Filippos Antonopoulos reacted to his firm’s success in the Best Retail Betting Product category by saying: “We are delighted to have received this global award as acknowledgment of our constant development and focus on providing operators with complete and innovative retail solutions.”

He added: “It is our firm belief that the future of betting on retail lies in bringing to players an immersive betting shop experience through premium content delivered across a multitude of devices for an optimum player journey.”

This year’s awards will once again start with the nomination phase, which closes on Friday 31st August, before moving into a two-pronged judging process.

The Operator/Affiliate Awards will be put to a vote between anyone that attended this year’s Betting on Football and Betting on Sports Conferences, while a hand-picked judging panel will help to pick out the truly groundbreaking entries for the Supplier Awards.