SBC Summit Tbilisi 2025 (15–16 Oct): Dates, Tickets, Agenda Themes, Parties & Travel — The Complete Guide

If Eastern Europe and Central Asia are on your roadmap, this is your highest-signal two-day trip in Q4. SBC Summit Tbilisi returns 15–16 October 2025 at the Sheraton Grand Tbilisi Metechi Palace for its 3rd edition, gathering decision-makers who actually buy, regulate, build, or market in Georgia, Romania, Serbia, Bulgaria, Kazakhstan, Slovenia and neighboring growth markets. Expect 2,000+ delegates, 700 operators, 200 affiliates, 40+ exhibitors, and 50+ speakers across conference tracks, an exhibit floor built for meetings, and two evening parties designed to convert intros into deals.

SBC Summit Tbilisi 2025 – Event at a Glance

• What: SBC Summit Tbilisi — the regional iGaming & sports betting conference for Eastern Europe & Central Asia
• When: Wednesday–Thursday, 15–16 October 2025
• Where: Sheraton Grand Tbilisi Metechi Palace, 20 Telavi St, Tbilisi, Georgia
• Scale: ~2,000 delegates • 700 operators • 200 affiliates • 40+ exhibitors • 50+ speakers
• Format: Two conference days (multi-track) + exhibition + Opening Party (Wed) + Official Networking Party (Thu)
• Host city edge: Walkable old-town views, short airport transfer, compact venue layout that keeps meetings efficient.

Why this summit matters in 2025

The region is moving fast: licensing updates, marketing rules in flux, alternative payments maturing, and operators re-balancing acquisition spend as new states and countries open. Tbilisi is the one place where Eastern Europe and Central Asia are the main event — not a side track, so speakers go deeper on practicalities: what’s actually legal, which channels convert, which payment rails clear, how to hire or relocate teams, and where B2B demand will spike next. This edition is co-hosted with SMH Global, a Georgia-based sports/media/iGaming operator, bringing strong local signal into every stage.

Tickets & what each pass includes

SBC uses a simple pass model with clear inclusions and discounts for key cohorts:

• Full Event Pass (Early Bird): listed at around $150 during the early-bird window. Includes both conference days, exhibition access, Opening Party (Wed) and Official Networking Party (Thu), hot/cold refreshments and hosted meals (breakfast & lunch), and post-event on-demand access to all recorded content. Group and partner promos may apply.
• Operators & Affiliates: eligible for complimentary passes via SBC’s operator/affiliate networks (subject to approval/capacity).

What’s inside every paid pass
Full access to conference sessions across multiple stages, 40+ exhibitors, all official networking events across both days, plus SBC Connect on-demand content after the show.

Notes: Price points can move as tiers change; lock early for best value. If you secure a partner code via sponsors, you can often stack value with early-bird windows

Who attends (and how to use that mix)

• Operators & suppliers across casino, sportsbook, payments, platform, risk/KYC, data/BI, and CRM/retention
• Affiliates & media with deep regional reach and language capability
• Regulators, counsel, policy advisors focused on channelisation, ad rules, AML, and match-fixing integrity
• Investors & founders scouting outsourced tech, near-shore hubs, and B2B traction

The mix is intentionally compact—about 2,000 people total. That density plus two built-in parties makes it realistic to stack 10–14 qualified meetings in 48 hours.

Conference structure & agenda themes (what’s actually covered)

You’ll see a regional-first program with C-level panels, market primers, and practical sessions. Expect emphasis on:

• Market entries & licensing: step-by-step routes into Georgia, Romania, Serbia, Bulgaria, Kazakhstan, Slovenia; what documents, audits, and local partners are expected; realistic timeframes; how to avoid mismatches between license scope and product roadmap.
• Marketing that passes muster: from TV/out-of-home to influencer and affiliate; what creative and claims survive local scrutiny; opt-outs, complaint handling, and youth-safeguard thresholds.
• Payments & compliance: A2A rails, local card behavior, cash and kiosk realities, AML and source-of-funds (SOF) checks, and minimizing false positives at scale.
• Talent & relocation: choosing hubs; wage, tax, and benefits norms; hybrid work realities; risk management for cross-border teams.
• Outsourcing & vendor selection: where to near-shore dev, QA, risk ops, or 24/7 CS; SLAs that match volatile traffic; data residency.
• Innovation & data: personalization, CRM automation, real-time odds & risk, RTP and volatility communication to players, and the latest on RNG transparency in regulated markets.
• Integrity & safer gambling: match-fixing collaboration, affordability signals, behavioral analytics, and third-party audits; turning RG from checkbox to player-lifetime economics.

Organiser comms flag 50+ speakers and a practical, “use-on-Monday” agenda—framed to help teams build stronger operations across Eastern Europe & Central Asia.

Networking & parties (lock these windows)

• Opening Party — Wednesday, 15 Oct
• Official Networking Party — Thursday, 16 Oct

These two anchors are where most first-touch intros and late-stage follow-ups happen. If you prioritise just four hours of the week, make it pre-party, party start, party midpoint, and final hour each night.

Venue & travel (Sheraton Grand Tbilisi Metechi Palace)

• Address: 20 Telavi St, Tbilisi 0103
• Rooms: 220, many with balconies and Old Tbilisi views
• Distance: ≈ 14 km from Tbilisi International Airport (TBS)
• Transit: Bus 337 from TBS to the hotel (47 minutes). Taxi ≈ 14 minutes. Paid shuttle available (24/7, reservation required).

Why this venue works for ROI
Meeting rooms, foyer lounges, terrace spaces, and the exhibit hall are tightly clustered, so you waste almost no time in transit. Coffee points sit along main traffic corridors. Without a mega-expo footprint, you can realistically walk from a main-stage panel to a supplier pod to a quiet terrace table in under five minutes. (For team huddles, the hotel’s garden and terrace spaces beat noisy lobbies.)

Exhibition & floor plan

Expect ~40 exhibitors arranged to maximise break-time exposure near food & coffee points. The exhibitor list and detailed floor plan go live closer to the event, but historically you’ll find: platforms & PAM, payment providers, KYC/AML vendors, risk & integrity, BI/CRM, content studios, and marketing tech. If you’re shopping for partners to enter Georgia or expand in EE/CA, this is the right vendor density to compare options in hours, not weeks.

High-signal 48-hour plan (ROI playbook)

The goal: compress a quarter’s outreach into two days without burning out your team.

1. Pre-event triage (two weeks out)
   • Pick three outcomes: e.g., “secure a Georgian PSP,” “shortlist an AML vendor,” “book 6 media tests.”
   • Block your calendar around two parties and the sessions that inform those outcomes (payments, marketing, RG).
   • Pre-book 8–10 x 20-minute meetings using speaker/exhibitor lists and your network. Prioritise operators, regulators, and vendors with live cases in your target countries.
2. Day 1 (Wed)
   • AM: lines-in-the-sand sessions (market/marketing/regulatory). Take photos of key slides for your debrief deck.
   • Lunch: stacked 20-minute rotations with your top three targets.
   • PM: floor walk to meet 4–6 vendors; lock “tomorrow, same time” second-touches with two of them.
   • Party: aim for 5 meaningful chats (1:1s or tight triads). Send Thank-You + next step notes before you sleep.
3. Day 2 (Thu)
   • AM: deeper tracks (payments, AML, integrity, RG tooling).
   • Late AM: confirm pricing + timelines with the top vendor; schedule technical workshop for the following week.
   • Lunch: “commitment lunch” (sign-off from both sides on a pilot or discovery sprint).
   • Afternoon: hit two talks you can’t get on-demand (local-law nuance).
   • Party: consolidate: Who’s doing what by when? Put calendar holds in the moment.
4. Post-event (within 24–48 hours)
   • Ship a 3-page debrief to your execs: goals, decisions, vendor shortlists, blockers, and dates.
   • Send recap emails with attached one-pagers and Calendly; propose workshop dates for the following week.
   • Update your GTM playbooks with learnt ad rules, payment preferences, and required RG signals by market.

Travel notes (save time & money)

• Flights: Fly into TBS; aim to arrive Tuesday to make the Wednesday Opening Party.
• Hotels: The event hotel sells out first; SBC typically provides a booking link with event rates. Nearby 4-star options are along the same ridge above Old Tbilisi if you need spillover rooms. SBC Events
• Transport: Taxis are inexpensive in Tbilisi; verify the destination as Metechi Palace. If you prefer public transport, Bus 337 drops you close to the venue.
• Meeting spaces: The terrace, lobby bar, and garden are perfect for quick huddles. Book a small meeting room only if you need privacy for pricing or compliance reviews.

FAQ – SBC Summit Tbilisi 2025

Conclusion: Why SBC Summit Tbilisi 2025 Is the Right 48-Hour Bet

If Eastern Europe and Central Asia are on your roadmap, SBC Summit Tbilisi 2025 concentrates a quarter’s worth of outreach into two tightly curated days (15–16 Oct, Sheraton Grand Tbilisi Metechi Palace). You’ll find a high signal-to-noise ratio: a compact floor of relevant suppliers, region-first sessions that dig into licensing, payments, marketing, integrity and RG, plus two evening parties that turn first-touch intros into concrete next steps. The venue’s layout keeps everything walkable, so you spend your time in meetings—not in transit.

Your next moves

• Pick your pass and lock travel to make the Opening Party on the 15th.
• Set three outcomes (e.g., secure a Georgian PSP, shortlist an AML vendor, book media tests in RO/BG/KZ).
• Pre-book 8–12 meetings in 20-minute blocks around coffee breaks and party windows.
• Map sessions to goals: licensing & marketing guardrails; payments/AML; talent and near-shore ops.
• Bring a one-pager (problem → solution → metrics), a live demo, and a QR to schedule follow-ups.
• Close the loop on-site: agree owners/timelines in the moment; send recap emails within 24 hours.

Snapper: Skip this Tbilisi window and you’ll spend weeks piecing together the same answers market by market. Arrive with a plan—leave with partners, timelines, and commitments.

SBC Summit Tbilisi 2025 – Essential Links:

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