Gaming leaders debate regulation, prediction markets and the next phase of industry growth

Industry leaders from Fanatics Betting & Gaming, Soft2Bet, Optimove and the International Association of Gaming Regulators (IAGR) gathered at SBC Summit Americas on June 10 to discuss the future of the gaming industry, touching on everything from regulation and customer retention to prediction markets and technological innovation.

The conversation took place during “The Big Picture: Steering the Future of Gaming,” the opening panel of the event, held in Fort Lauderdale.

The panel featured Ian Botts, Chief Technology Officer at Fanatics Betting & Gaming; Andrew Cochrane, Chief Commercial Officer at Soft2Bet; Tomer Imber, Senior Director of Sales USA at Optimove; and Kevin Mullally, CEO of the IAGR.

Throughout the discussion, panelists repeatedly returned to a central theme: the US gaming industry is moving beyond its early expansion phase and entering a more mature, sustainability-focused era.

From market share to profitability

According to Cochrane, the US sports betting market is no longer defined primarily by aggressive customer acquisition and rapid expansion.

“The US in particular is moving out of that land-grab phase,” Cochrane said. “Those early days, operators were focused on brand visibility, market access, customer acquisition almost exclusively.”

Instead, operators are increasingly being judged on their ability to build sustainable businesses capable of retaining players over the long term.

“There’s a bigger focus on retention through the products,” he said. “Much more focus on product development.”

Imber echoed that sentiment, pointing to a broader shift across the industry toward profitability and improved unit economics.

“The trend that we saw in the last few years is continuing, which is the shifting focus towards profitability,” Imber said. “In the early days of the US market, operators were just focusing on grabbing as much as they could in terms of market share.”

Now, operators are paying closer attention to whether acquisition spending actually translates into long-term player value.

“The unit economics are starting to kick in,” he said. “Operators are more competitive on the cost of acquisition versus the lifetime value of the players that they acquire.”

Product quality becomes critical

As competition intensifies, panelists argued that product quality and user experience are becoming the main differentiators among operators.

Botts said there are three fundamentals every gaming product must deliver before anything else matters: uptime, speed and security.

“Every product must always be available,” he said. “People put money on deposit at sportsbooks and casinos. We must always have access to it.”

The second requirement, he added, is performance.

“It has to be quick,” Botts said. “Technology in general has moved too fast and too far for what used to be considered fast.”

Security, meanwhile, remains non-negotiable.

“When you go to see your money, place a bet, do the thing that you want to do, your money better be there,” he said. “Otherwise you’re never going to bet on that platform again.”

Botts also argued that the modern sportsbook market offers relatively limited differentiation between operators, making usability increasingly important.

“The real difference in the market is in the depth of the market,” he said. “Being able to reduce the friction to get to the market and get to the product the customer wants.”

Regulation seen as a strategic advantage

One of the central themes of the panel was the evolving role of regulation in the gaming industry.

Rather than viewing compliance as an obstacle, Cochrane argued that successful operators increasingly see regulation as a long-term strategic advantage.

“Regulation provides clarity, it sets boundaries, it can ultimately raise the standards for operators in the market,” he said.

For Soft2Bet, compliance is integrated directly into product strategy rather than treated as a separate function.

“It’s about taking compliance not as a bolt-on to your business, but actually making it the backbone of everything you’re doing,” Cochrane said.

Mullally, speaking from the regulator’s perspective, argued that regulators themselves must also modernize technologically in order to keep pace with the industry.

Historically, he said, gaming oversight relied heavily on paper-based processes. That approach is no longer sustainable given the complexity and scale of modern digital gaming operations.

“What regulators are looking at is systems where you have a single point of truth,” Mullally said.

He explained that regulators, operators and vendors increasingly need shared access to real-time data systems capable of automating compliance monitoring and risk detection.

Mullally pointed to artificial intelligence as one tool that can significantly improve oversight capabilities.

“One of the things that we did while I was in the UAE is that we created an AI tool that looked at every operator’s terms and conditions on a daily basis,” he said.

Innovation versus regulatory friction

The discussion also touched on the tension between innovation and regulation, particularly in the fragmented US market.

Botts said one of the biggest challenges for gaming companies is navigating dozens of separate regulators with differing standards and requirements.

“When there’s more chefs in the kitchen, it can become incredibly difficult,” he said.

He pointed to evolving authentication technologies as an example. While many industries are moving toward passkeys and trusted-device authentication systems, heavily regulated gaming environments often adopt new technologies more slowly.

Mullally argued that regulators are increasingly aware of the issue and may need to rethink traditional product approval processes.

“Technology should lead in regulation,” he said.

Rather than relying exclusively on rigid technical standards, Mullally suggested regulators should focus more on validating whether products operate fairly and safely.

“If you want to combine elements of skill with elements of chance and incorporate augmented reality or develop something that’s never been tried, bring that to us, and we will figure out how to regulate it,” he said.

Prediction markets and changing consumer behavior

Prediction markets emerged as one of the most debated topics during the session, with panelists discussing their rapid growth and potential impact on traditional sports betting.

Cochrane argued that the rise of prediction markets reflects changing consumer preferences, particularly among younger audiences looking for simpler experiences.

“The reason why prediction markets are doing so well is they’re very simple to play,” he said. “It’s binary — yes or no.”

Traditional sportsbooks, by contrast, can feel overly complex for casual users due to the sheer number of betting markets available.

Botts said prediction markets also differ fundamentally from sportsbooks from a technological perspective.

“In a sportsbook universe, there’s a lot of effort spent on setting a line,” he explained.

Prediction markets, meanwhile, operate more like brokerage systems where users speculate against one another rather than against the house.

“It’s more of a brokerage-style universe,” Botts said. “From a technology perspective, that’s what it’s based on.”

Mullally raised concerns about the lack of consumer protections currently surrounding many prediction market products.

“We’ve spent decades building consumer protections around gaming,” he said. “Now we’re watching some of those safeguards being bypassed.”

Consolidation expected to continue

Toward the end of the panel, speakers addressed the likelihood of further consolidation in the US online gaming market.

Cochrane said market pressures are likely to force weaker operators out over time.

“There are operators out there that chose technology poorly at the beginning, over-invested in acquisition and are not controlling their costs,” he said.

As regulation tightens and competition grows, he expects consolidation to continue across the sector.

“At the end of the day, the operators that will be successful are the operators that are sustainable businesses,” Cochrane said.