"At SBC Summit Rio 2025 we doubled the number of companies and visitors present last year"

The SBC Vice-President of Marketing for the Americas, Cristian Robalino, said that the latest edition of SBC Summit Rio, held in late February, gathered the main players of the local gaming industry, and generated an ideal framework for networking and business in the region.

In an interview with Yogonet, the executive also confirmed that the 2026 event will take place between March 3 and 5, and will add a new pavilion "to continue growing in this market."

What was your assessment of the recent edition of the SBC Summit Rio 2025?

As you know, this year we experienced a very big change. The event moved from the Windsor Hotel, where we had our debut in Brazil in 2024 with a small event, to the Riocentro Convention Center, a much larger space and in line with the level we were looking for in this event.

The reason for the change is clear: in light of the success of 2024, we needed a much larger space to accommodate all the companies that wanted to enter the Brazilian market, and that already last year expressed their intention to attend SBC.

Thus, the organization expected to double and even triple the number of companies, as well as the volume of attendees. In the end, the balance is very good, since we achieved this goal and people were very happy to be here in Rio de Janeiro with us. A lot of business was generated, there was a great level of networking, and the feedback has been very positive for us. 

SBC is an international company with experience in organizing shows in very important markets. We have the recent edition held in Lisbon, with great success, or last year in Miami... How have you approached the challenge you have faced with the Brazilians, who offer a very conservative market, which is not easy to penetrate?

Yes, it is true. I think we managed to break this barrier with several actions. First of all, we have a marketing and sales team with local representatives here in Brazil. They help us a lot to give SBC a leading position in this market. We also have an industry relations team, which is dedicated to ensuring that SBC can have representatives of all the operating groups in Brazil. Thus, we were able to have all the groups with official licenses in Brazil present at the event.

Having reached the forecasts you had for this year, have you already confirmed the dates for the next edition?

We will return to Riocentro next year. People were very happy with the venue because, compared to last year, it is much larger.

There are many hotels nearby, and already thinking about 2026, we hope to expand the event, which already has a date: March 3 to 5, 2026.

In addition, we can anticipate that the plan is to have another pavilion open, number 3, so we will add more space, more companies present, more business, and more opportunities to the already large stage.

Coming out of the SBC Summit Rio, and being practically on the verge of another great event like SBC Americas, what are your expectations today, and how are you preparing to receive the public in the United States?

We are very excited about this event. It is going to be the first one in the industry that really brings together the North American and Latin American markets in the same show. We want to offer 50% and 50% fair, very integrated, and with this expectation, we are expecting a unique event on which we have been working very hard for more than a year now.

We will occupy the Broward County Convention Center from May 13 to 15, and those who visit us will find a much larger event, in this case, there was a similar situation to Brazil: the change responded to the need for space to grow.

When we were in New Orleans for North America, there was no longer enough space to offer everything the industry required. The same with Latin America, since the Hard Rock Casino is a very beautiful place, but it was too small for the demand of companies interested in joining this project. We filled 100% of the space in both cases, and we wanted, in addition to expanding, to offer a very different experience by bringing together the two worlds that we will see united in SBC Americas.

By bringing these two worlds together, we will amplify the opportunities for connections, business, and growth, so we are very happy and excited about the event in the United States.

Inside SBC Summit Rio 2025