RYAN KNUPPEL
Hey, hey, hey! What’s going on, everybody? Ryan Knuppel here, Knup Sports Show Episode 198. Thanks so much for tuning in, hopefully you’re having a great spring, enjoying some NBA playoffs, baseball’s kicked off, things are going in the world of sports, and we are coming into conference season here in the US, especially, lots of great events coming up if you’re in the industry and you’re looking to connect, I can’t wait to see you at some of those and connect and we’ll talk a little bit about those here in the future because my special guest today is none other than Aidan Brain with SBC, so I’m gonna bring on Aidan and say hello to him. Aidan, how are you, my friend?
AIDAN BRAIN
Hey Ryan, I’m doing great today. How are you?
RYAN KNUPPEL
I am doing amazing here in sunny Orlando, Florida, except we’re heading into the rainy season here, so I’m about ready to stay at my desk because it’s gonna get rainy, but I can’t complain, I’m in Orlando. How are you, how are you doing?
AIDAN BRAIN
I’m good, yeah, I’m doing well. We’re hopefully heading into summer here in New York at some point soon, so yeah. Looking forward to that, but as you mentioned just before, I’m heading into conference season, so it’s all hands on deck at SBC right now.
RYAN KNUPPEL
Absolutely, of course, of course. But, before we dive into conference season and talk a little more specifics about SBC, Aidan, I want to know a little bit more about you and your path and kind of where you came from, what’s your journey been like to lead up to where you are today?
AIDAN BRAIN
Yeah, um, so probably not the expected journey, you know, I’m kind of new to the sports betting world. I’ve been in the conference world for a long time now, so originally in the UK, where, of course, I’m from, and then I’ve been over here in New York for 6-7 years now, and so still working in conferences. I’ve worked in conferences in entirely different industries from, you know, aviation, which was fun, to accounting, which was not so fun. Um, and just a ton of different verticals, and then I joined SBC in October and I’ve never really looked back. I mean, as industries go, this probably has to be the most exciting one to be in right now, to be organizing the conferences in. You know, for obvious reasons, especially being here in the US and running conferences in this, it’s just such an exciting time, so um, so yeah. Um, originally from the north of England, lived in London for a few years, been in New York for six or seven, and been with SBC for, oh, probably seven months now, yeah.
RYAN KNUPPEL
Yeah, amazing. That’s awesome. Well, that’s a great journey, and being in the event space, I’m sure you’ve had your level of stresses that you’ve had to deal with over the years. I mean, I can’t even imagine, like, I’m part of some small networking events and I get stressed out hoping…It’s like, it’s a major, major activity to put on one of these big events like SBC, so how do you keep your sanity?
AIDAN BRAIN
Um, I’m not sure if I do, but…[laughs]. You can ask me for tips on how to keep sanity, I mean, it’s just, um, you know, with conferences you worry so much about, when you have such a long lead time for a lot of them, and apologies if my dog kind of sticks her head out…
RYAN KNUPPEL
No, it’s all good. This is raw. [Laughs].
AIDAN BRAIN
Um, yeah. Um, you know, you have build up sometimes of a year to a conference, and especially big events, like SBC North America, that’s a year long cycle, really, just as soon as you’re done, so you can really, really build up a lot of anxiety about the show in the year building up to it, but then it’s always crazy, you do the show, it goes by so fast, you know, it’s three days this year, the SBC event, um, you blink and the show is over in three days, and you realize, “Wait, what was I so worried about?”. So it’s just kind of year on year, taking that, um, and reminding yourself when you do get stressed. But obviously we’re going into, we have less than four weeks to the event this year, um, in New York, New Jersey, and so I think we’re all going to be a little bit of stressed, but I’m also pretty confident that we have everything ready and set up, so there’s not too much to worry about.
RYAN KNUPPEL
Yeah, that’s amazing. Like you said, a few weeks away. I’m gonna pull it up on the screen here as well, and let’s really dive into this event. It kind of has a special place in my heart because, honestly, back, I don’t know, 3-4 years ago, kinda when the US started emerging with iGaming and things of that nature, I believe SBC was kind of the first company to really create something and some sort of an industry event around this crazy thing like sports betting in the US, and so, um, I remember being a big part of that and kind of just embracing it, and it was, you know, I would say fairly small relative to what it is today, but just thinking back to that and seeing where SBC has come this event, you know, I think it was called something different at the time, Betting on Sports America or something.
AIDAN BRAIN
Yeah.
RYAN KNUPPEL
But, just thinking back and seeing where you guys have come, this event is one of a kind, it’s super exciting and fun, and it’s just grown so much. I’m really excited for it, May 9-11, man, what can we expect from this year’s North American event?
AIDAN BRAIN
Yeah, I mean, like you said, we were one of the first companies to really jump on this as soon as, straight after PASPA, here we were, we saw the gap in the market, and, you know, in the event industry you really have to do that, especially when something so monumental, such as the PASPA overturn happens, um, you’re gonna get tons and tons of companies rushing into do an event, and you have to just be one of the first ones, um, and just make sure that you have everybody who’s anybody going to the event, and I think that’s one of the awesome things about SBC North America, is in this hemisphere, you know, this is the one where everybody’s gonna be there, everybody’s showing up, and as a result, year on year, it’s just really kind of grown exponentially, and I think probably looking at 3,000-3,500 attendees this year, if not more. And year on year, we see the registrations happening earlier and earlier because it’s become a mainstay on people’s calendars, so people are kind of registering months ahead, like “I’m not gonna miss SBC this year”, you know? We don’t really even need to market to a lot of people, it’s just year on year. And for this year, I can just say it’s gonna be more of the same, but just MORE of the same. Just more great content, more great speakers, I mean, we have some really awesome keynotes coming up this year, um, so one of them is Matt King, obviously former of FanDuel, now at Fanatics, he’s gonna be doing the opening, and really excited about that and to hear about what their doing, you know, there’s so many companies doing really cool things in the space these days, and I like to think we have pretty much all of them there. Um, and yeah, just a ton of, um, you know, the topics don’t necessarily change, um, in the core year on year, you know? This is still a relatively new industry, but you’ll just see that all the operators out there, all the affiliates, all the suppliers, they’re all just getting so much more, um, you know, they’ve picked up experience, and they’re just getting so much more sophisticated in what they’re doing, you’ll just hear about so much more sophisticated initiatives and developments in the industry on stage. Um, as for content side of things, that’s what I know because I work on the conference alongside Jack, Jack Richards, um, but in terms of the event itself, I mean, as usual, it’s just gonna be an amazing party outside of the content. I think everybody knows, everybody comes to expect from us for an SBC event. This year, Tuesday night, or Wednesday night, see, I’m gonna get in trouble here from my boss because I forget which night is which.
RYAN KNUPPEL
[Laughs]. That’s okay, we’re pulling it up, I’ve got you right here.
AIDAN BRAIN
Yeah, right, no, I got it right. So Tuesday night, we’re gonna be at Moxy again in Midtown, Manhattan, which is always a great time, it’s like five blocks from my house, so I’m really happy about that. Yeah, I’ll probably just do an Irish exit at some point, maybe 1 a.m., everybody else can get til, like, 3. But Wednesday night, we’re having a big networking party at this place called Slate, which, as far as I understand has a huge adult-sized slide on the rooftop, so that should be fun. I hope we have some good insurance for it, but, you know, that’s gonna be fun, and we have our pre-conference day in Manhattan as well, um, our Player Protection Symposium, so that’s gonna be at The Altman Building in Chelsea in Manhattan, and so it’s really gonna be, you know, we’re kind of taking over both sides of the Hudson this year, um, we’ve got a ton of great content, a ton of great parties, and yeah, just amazing speakers and an amazing crowd that’s gonna be there, so yeah, I’m super excited.
RYAN KNUPPEL
Yeah, it sounds like another great event, and it’s always an interesting balance as an attendee and as somebody that loves to go, it’s always that interesting balance of education, networking, and fun. Because, like you want to do it all, but if you have too much fun, you’re not gonna do too much networking the next day. I’ve learned that the hard way a few times, so you kind of have to balance it all together, and, like, be able to have this amazing event, because there’s so many opportunities for learning through the education side, and there’s so many amazing people in the industry that are at this. Like you said, anybody that’s everybody in iGaming wants to be here, and so you want to have meetings and talk, and it’s almost like I need this to be seven days, Aidan. Come on, can we make this like a seven day event so I can do everything? [Laughs].
AIDAN BRAIN
Hey, don’t put that out there, please, Ryan because then we’re gonna be working on a seven day event next year. [Laughs].
RYAN KNUPPEL
Ah, I know, it’s gonna be great.
AIDAN BRAIN
He didn’t mean it, he didn’t mean it. Um, but yeah, I totally know what you mean, and um, this was something that I was fairly new to at SBC. Like I said, I’ve been doing conferences for a decade plus, and, um, I think my second week at SBC, we were at the SBC Latino America down in Ft. Lauderdale, and the conference started at 10:30 everyday. I was like “Why does it start at 10:30?”. Like, the conferences I used to work on, you just start at 8 a.m., you know, people are there at 8 a.m., and then I saw the networking parties, and I was like “Okay, this is why we start at 10:30.”
RYAN KNUPPEL
You were like, “Ohhh, okay I get it.”
AIDAN BRAIN
But, um, no, I mean, like you said, it just is a great mix of, it’s such a cliche, but it’s work and play. It’s a great mix of both sides of things.
RYAN KNUPPEL
Yeah, well I have to put a little bit of a plug in here. If anybody hasn’t gotten their ticket, most people probably have, but if you have not gotten your ticket, we do have a promo code, KNUP23, that SBC has been gracious enough to hook us up with as a media partner. Um, so please, if you use that code, you’ll get a little discount. I’d love to see you at the event, I think it’s gonna be amazing. Man, we’re only like 3+ weeks away. That is insane.
AIDAN BRAIN
Yeah, every time I think about it I get a little bit nervous, but no, everything is in hand, everything is on track, so yeah. I’m excited, yeah.
RYAN KNUPPEL
That is gonna be awesome. And then, I mean, it doesn’t stop, it doesn’t slow down. I mean, the event schedule, as I pulled up here, just continues to go. Talk a little bit about what you got coming after this event in North America. What’s the rest of the summer into the fall look like?
AIDAN BRAIN
Um, yeah. So like you said, it does not stop. Um, a couple of weeks after the New York/New Jersey event, SBC North America, we have Casino Beats in Malta. Sadly, I do not get to go because I have to prepare for another event a couple of weeks after that, but our Europe team has been working really hard on that, and I’m sure it’s gonna be amazing, and I’m sure that you’ll get an invite next year, if you’re listening. Um, then mid-June, yeah, the Canadian Gaming Summit, and I’ve been working on that one pretty closely. This’ll be the first year that SBC has run the Canadian Gaming Summit, we acquired that. It’s been running for, I think, 25 years in the Canadian Gaming Association, with whom we’ve worked really closely, have done an awesome job with that. We picked it up this year, really excited for that. I think this year it’s gonna be, the content is looking quite different, if I do say so myself, because I put it together, but we have, one thing I’m excited about for that show this year is we’re bringing in folks from all across Canada. You know, it’s, Ontario is obviously so important right now and is kind of on the tip of everybody’s tongue because of the iGaming, the regulation of the market last year, so that’s still a big topic, but we also, this year, we have the lotteries from British Columbia and Alberta and Saskatchewan coming on board, so it’s gonna be a a very pan-Canadian event, and so I’m really excited for that one as well.
RYAN KNUPPEL
I’m looking forward to that one as well. I’ve never been to Canada, and actually, this’ll be my first time attending, well first time going to this one, but first time going to Canada in general, so I’m excited for that one.
AIDAN BRAIN
You’ve never been to Canada? It’s right there. You’re from the US and it’s right there.
RYAN KNUPPEL
[Laughs]. I don’t know what my problem is, so this is my good excuse to go.
AIDAN BRAIN
Yeah, I’ve actually, you know, I’m from the UK and I’ve never been to Ireland, and that’s right there as well, so when something’s right there, you just think “I’ll get to it”. Um, but yeah, come to Canada, I mean, yeah I’m excited for that. And then I’m excited for break, we get summer off, but not really, because then our Barcelona flagship is in September, and you know, the whole team on both sides of the pond is working really hard on that one. Um, I mean, that one’s gonna be amazing, that’s, you know, one of the biggest sports betting events out there. Barcelona’s an amazing place. It’s just gonna be, you know, a really international, fantastic event, so yeah. So we have that, and then I don’t get a break after that, and then we have our SBC Latin America event, it’s gonna be our third year, and that is at the Seminole Hard Rock Casino again, October 31-November 2, and since the first night is October 31, I do think there’s gonna be some Halloween plans, a networking party, so, you know, start planning that out now. That’s also an amazing event, and it’s grown, I think we doubled it last year, and I think we’re looking to double it again this year. It’s grown just in leaps and bounds, and because that market is obviously so big and so important, and that’s probably one of my favorite events that we do because the venue is just amazing. The Seminole Hard Rock is just awesome. It’s November and it’s in South Florida, so we’ll be there at that time, so yeah.
RYAN KNUPPEL
That’s awesome. Well, that’s a big year, and I can confirm, yes. Miami, the Latino America one is amazing, the Hard Rock, the guitar hotel. I’ve been there both years, I’m excited to go for a third year this year and see everybody, but yeah, that sounds like an amazing year SBC has planned. Wow. It’s hard to attend them all, but I’m telling you, you gotta make sure you attend something. Make sure you attend something. If you haven’t been to an SBC event, or you have, if you’re contemplating going, make sure you go. That code, KNUP23, actually works for all of these events I believe, so make sure you put it in if you are gonna register for any of these as we go through. Man, that’s awesome Aidan. What else? What’s the future look like? I mean, is it, I know you may not know the whole future of SBC and all of the above, but is it just as simple as “Hey, let’s keep putting on great events?”, or is there some big breaking future that’s coming?
AIDAN BRAIN
I mean, you know, on the one side of things, SBC is not just the events, so we have a big media arm that is just going from strength to strength, and they’re always just ahead of everything that’s happening, so obviously everybody has their eyes on Brazil in Latin America. So, you know, this year when sports betting is regulated, and we just launched a Portuguese language news sight. So we’re constantly kind of ahead of developments like that. We have amazing teams in Latin America, in Europe, in the US, all working on the media side of stuff, so that’s just gonna keep growing. And yeah, in terms of events, I don’t want to give away too much, but we’re looking at, at least, three or four new events in new territories, so that’s just super exciting, you know, taking over the world, in a sense. Um, but yeah, I think other than that, it’s just continuing to do what we do, and doing it really well. I think, you know, this industry is one that we’ll grow with. You know, the industries growing, and we’ll just continue to grow with it.
RYAN KNUPPEL
Well, I wanted to say thank you on behalf of us, for all of the, I don’t know, the relationship that we built with SBC over the years. You guys are an amazing company, and you’re doing great things, and if there’s any way we can help support your events and in any other way, we’re happy to. Again, just doing a great job, and I’m excited to get to know you better as well. You’ve been here, what, seven, eight months, or something like that, so getting to hang at some of these events and getting to catch up a little bit more in person.
AIDAN BRAIN
I was just gonna say, echo that, you know, it’s been a great partnership that we have with you guys, so we really appreciate it, and I really appreciate the invite today.
RYAN KNUPPEL
Awesome. Well, any last words before I let you go? I know you’re a busy man, but any last words, anything we missed, anything you want to say before I let you go here?
AIDAN BRAIN
I think you covered it. Yeah, just anybody who’s watching, make sure you got your tickets to SBC North America now. If you’re not in the states or this side of the pond, then start looking at SBC Barcelona, but yeah, hopefully see everybody at the event soon.
RYAN KNUPPEL
Very cool. Thanks for your time, Aidan. We’ll see you soon, we’ll see you in like three weeks.
AIDAN BRAIN
Yeah, thank you Ryan. Have a good one.
RYAN KNUPPEL
Alright my friend. Take care.
Alright, that was Aidan Brain with SBC. We didn’t mention the link, but sbcevents.com. I think everybody knows where that’s at. We’ll actually put the link in the show notes as well. I mean, you can get to any event out at sbcevents.com. I’m excited to see everybody there. So we’ll see you in three weeks, it should be great. Use ‘KNUP23’ promo code if you haven’t gotten your ticket yet. It’s gonna be an amazing time. I love everything they’re doing. We’re gonna spend some time at the Meadowlands, and we’re gonna be spending some time in New York City for the afterparty, so it’s gonna be amazing. Alright, that’s all we got for Episode 198. We’re creeping up on 200, so that’s kind of cool. We’ll cross that milestone here shortly. If you need anything, I’m Ryan Knuppel, @Knup out on all the socials. I’m happy to chat and really get to know anyone in this industry. Alright, take care, talk to you soon, have a good one. Bye-bye.
Relevant Links:
- Learn more about SBC Events. Use promo code ‘KNUP23’ for a discount at checkout.
- See the SBC North America Schedule here.
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