Show Notes from Knup Sports Show

Show #195 – Jessica Welman of SBC Americas on the Knup Sports Show

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RYAN KNUPPEL

Hey, what’s going on everybody? Ryan Knuppel here, Knup Sports Show Episode #195. Super excited to have you here today, thank you for tuning in, listening, giving me just a little bit of your attention. I’ve been battling a little bit of sickness over the last week, so if my voice sounds different, that is why. The, this event conference tour really plays a toll on your health, and so I lost my voice over the last couple weeks, and now trying to get it back, so I’m excited for this one, another great guest. Before we get going, though, first, I wanted to say this show is brought to you by SBC. They have a hundred, it seems like a hundred, but they have tons of great events coming up here, one in North America that we’re gonna touch on with our guest today, but super excited to dive in to what they have going on and hope to see all of you listeners at some of the events that are coming up brought to you by SBC, so, without further ado, I’m gonna go ahead and bring on my guest today. I have none other than Jessica Welman with me. Jessica, how are ya?

JESSICA WELMAN

Hello, hello. Is it, at least, are you back home now? Or are you still on your world tour?

RYAN KNUPPEL

You know what? I’m back home right now, I’m in Florida, Orlando, Florida, and trying to recover. I mean, geez, I hit something, I got some sickness, and I was, like, down for the count last week. It’s just part of it, I guess.

JESSICA WELMAN

I did three conferences in a row last year, and I mean, you might as well have put me in a marathon. I was just absolutely useless for a good three or four days after getting back.

RYAN KNUPPEL

I know, it’s like, you gotta be in shape, it’s like a whole process.

JESSICA WELMAN

You’ve gotta train for it, like it’s, it’s conference season, gotta get on the treadmill.

RYAN KNUPPEL

Absolutely, absolutely. Well, Jessica, I’m super excited to dive in here. I know, we’ve been friends in the industry for quite some time, and I’ve always respected your journey and what you’ve done, and I’m excited to share with the listeners kind of a little bit more about you and what you’re up to. So why don’t you start by telling us a little bit about yourself and your career path leading to where you are today?

JESSICA WELMAN

Sure! So, my name is Jessica Welman, I am currently with SBC, but I actually haven’t even been with them a full year yet, we’re only like 9 months in. I think I’m sticking around for a while, though. Prior to that, I kind of joke with people, like nobody aspires to be a gambling writer, I don’t think. [Laughs]. Nobody’s, like, going to college for that just yet, so way back in the day, I was in film school, and I thought I was gonna be a movie producer, and then I didn’t like the industry and I went back to film school to be a professor, and I didn’t really like that, but at the time I had learned to play poker from a friend, and I was playing poker around Indiana where I went to grad school and in Kentucky, where I’m from, and I started writing some papers about poker that went over really well in grad school. So I decided “I don’t want to do summer school, I’m really kind of lazy” and so I went out to the World Series of Poker claiming I was doing research, uh, and worked with an affiliate group, they’re called PocketFives, that doesn’t exist anymore, but has been around for a long time, or it does exist, it just has a different name. Um, and by the end of that, I got recommended to report on poker for the World Poker Tour, um, kind of a year or so later after grad school was over, I got hired by Bluff Magazine, and I was hard core into just reporting on poker, and when I say reporting on poker, I mean, I’m standing by a table with my little notepad, being like “Ryan raises to 500, James calls” and then I would go back to the typewriter, or, the typewriter? God, I’m not that old. [Laughs].

RYAN KNUPPEL

[Laughs].

JESSICA WELMAN

To the computer, type it up, put it on the internet. Did that, and along about, you know, I’m missing a step in here, I ended up working directly for the World Series of Poker for a couple years, which was great, it was great to get some insight into an operator because that was right around the time that Nevada and New Jersey were starting to do online poker and online casino, but I was just burnt out. I was working, like, traveling, something like 150 days a year, and then the World Series, you’re home in Vegas, but you’re not because it’s 16 hour days, so it was just time to do something else, and an opportunity came around to work for an affiliate that very soon after I started became Catena US. I started maybe 2 months before that acquisition was announced, so I was with them and really just built up their state pages, PlayPennsylvania was my project when Pennsylvania was expanding gambling, did a lot of new build outs, Indiana, Tennessee, and then that kind of became the division that I ran, and again, just got to a point where I was, I always am looking for something new and interesting. Went back to the operator side very briefly with Bally’s, but when this opportunity came up to come over to SBC, what I love about it is I’m not the best affiliate in the world, um, and SEO makes me a little nauseous, so the idea of getting to just do a trade publication and just really focus on the industry, and be less about, like, you know, “5 Best Deposit Bonuses for March Madness”, and those sorts of things, that’s important, there are people who do that very well, I’m not very good at it, so this is kind of the perfect landing spot for me, where I get to write and edit and create content around what’s going on in the industry that’s more for people who are in the industry than people who are taking part as customers.

RYAN KNUPPEL

Wow. That’s awesome. Thanks for sharing all of that. I really relate to one of your first comments, you’re like, “Nobody grows up saying they’re gonna be a gambling writer”, and that’s kind of funny because I’m in content, of course.

JESSICA WELMAN

Yeah, exactly. I was, you didn’t, you weren’t like “What can I study that’s gonna really set me up for success [inaudible]”.

RYAN KNUPPEL

Like, I get asked that all the time, like “Wait, you’re doing what? How did you get into that?”, and it’s like “Well, it’s a long story…”. [Inaudible].

JESSICA WELMAN

Well, it wasn’t a short story. It’s never like “Yeah, I just did it”.

RYAN KNUPPEL

Yeah, so that’s crazy. So, okay, so now you’re at SBC, great company, obviously. I’ve been friends with those folks for a long time, and I think if anyone knows anything about this industry, this industry, the iGaming industry that we’re in, um, they know SBC just puts on amazing events, right? And I know you’re doing a lot of the journalistic stuff and covering things, but, I’m assuming you’re excited for SBC event season that’s about to be coming here with all the events that are coming across the world, really.

JESSICA WELMAN

Oh, absolutely. That was the other piece of this that was nice about the job, is I enjoy conferences. I know they’re not necessarily for everyone, but I love getting out there and meeting people and having conversations about the industry, and so getting to do that with SBC and, you know, in the Meadowlands, in Toronto, in Barcelona, in Miami, those are just the ones I’ve attended, there’s so many more beyond that. The content that they’re putting out is so great, too, like I spend most of my time during the conference in these sessions listening to what people have to say because there’s, you know, it’s good topics, they’re being relatively candid, you know, sometimes some of these, they keep it really high level, but I think that the way that the conference team has kind of dug down into topics that really are a little smaller, more specific and give people opportunities to really do a deeper dive is very cool.

RYAN KNUPPEL

Yeah, that is cool, and I think that’s one thing that gets missed sometimes. It’s kind of ironic, because sometimes I feel like one thing that does get missed at some of these events is the value of the content that’s being delivered, I mean, everyone loves the networking and the parties, and all of the seeing everybody and talking to everybody, but at the end of the day, there’s some amazing panelists at some of these conferences, or all of these conferences, and I’m assuming Meadowlands is gonna have an all star line up again here. Let’s dive in to the Meadowlands because I know that’s the next one coming up. May 9-11th in New Jersey, this will be what? Like, year three or so that they’ve done in New Jersey?

JESSICA WELMAN

Oh, see, this is where I’m not positive, but yeah, three or four I want to say. And then there was an online one, there was a COVID one that absolutely, I was a part of and was great as well, but yeah, we’re back at the Meadowlands, bigger than I think we’ll ever be, and as always the content is really great. Lots of CEOs coming to talk, not just operator CEOs, we have, I think we have an affiliate panels that’s nothing but CEOs for example, that, it’s just a great experience to get to see all different solutions and topics you want because there’s so many different tracks. I jump around from track to track, but maybe you just want to talk about payments, there’s a track for that.

RYAN KNUPPEL

Sure. Sure, it’s gonna be an amazing event and it’s so interesting and fascinating from, you know, the outside looking in at the growth that SBC has seen over the last several years. I mean, I can remember doing their first one in the US and kind of people like “What’s this? Like, iGaming but betting in the US? Kind weird, we don’t know how all this is gonna go”, and now it just feels like the momentum is just at a peak, and like, things are just really moving forward. Can you talk a little bit, I mean obviously you’re new to SBC, but can you talk a little bit just about, one, the industry growth we’ve seen, and two, about the success that SBC has seen alongside of that growth?

JESSICA WELMAN

Yeah, absolutely. You know, it’s, we all go to G2E, right? You know, that’s the one that has been on everyone’s calendar and is the can’t miss one, but it’s so vast, and online is just a part of it, whereas I think because SBC Americas, or North America focuses really just on the digital side of things, that’s what I think made it stand out and made it become this event that you need to find time in your summer to attend because right now, I mean, we cover everything at SBC Americas, I feel like I basically never write about land based stuff anymore because that’s where all of the action is happening, and certainly brick and mortar casinos will always be a huge part of the industry, but thinking about in these early years how to get into online sports betting, and to a lesser extent on like casino, and make a mark there, there’s so many more opportunities for smaller organizations. You know, talking about brick and mortar casinos, unless you’re making chairs or decks of cards or something like that, and again those companies have been around forever, I don’t know how many inroads there are to get involved in that, but what’s great about online gambling, we have our first pitch competition for example, which is looking at up and coming product solutions, whether it be B2C or B2B that can augment the sports betting experience, and whether it be content or payments or, you know, compliance, there’s just because it’s so new and because it’s coming at such a quick pace, I think the fact that there are so many opportunities for people is what draws them to this conference to meet people and I think what draws them to this industry more largely too, right? You know, on the, I keep going back to content because it’s what you and I do, but it used to be just people like us and now you’re seeing the New York Post and ESPN potentially, or ESPN is already somewhat involved, but major publishing outlets are now our competitors in this space and I don’t know if that would’ve happened if online didn’t come around and explode the way that it has.

RYAN KNUPPEL

Absolutely. So, May 9-11th, it’s gonna be an amazing event. One thing I’d be, I have to touch on, the amount of networking and parties that SBC puts on, I mean, I think they’re becoming notorious for some of the events that they throw, not even just at these events, but they have to do the little networking events and the Vegas Baby, and all of the above, let’s talk a little bit about the networking that’s gonna go on around the SBC Summit North America because I know in the past they’ve picked some prime time locations to have a very event-like experience, or experiential events, I guess I should say. I’m assuming there’s gonna be some awesome locations here in May as well. Let’s talk a little bit about that because I know everyone is always itching for those as well.

JESSICA WELMAN

Yeah, you know, we are a group that works hard plays hard, right? We go very hard at the conference, but then we go very hard at the parties. When I first started, I’m like, “A five hour party? This is like a wedding reception.” [Laughs]. “I don’t know if I have the energy”.

RYAN KNUPPEL

I’m tired thinking about it. [Laughs].

JESSICA WELMAN

But that’s what’s great, is we do basically a big event every night of the summit, you know, and the venues, our team is always scouting for the most interesting places to go and I believe we were at Bar Moxy last year and we’ll be back there for the preregistration this year. For those who are unfamiliar with our conference, yes, the show is in New Jersey, but we go back and forth. The Player Protection Symposium is in Manhattan, this opening night is in Manhattan, our closing night and awards is in Chelsea, I believe this year. And then, we also have events kind of during the day. I love the Global Gaming Women breakfast that we do. That was really fun last year. I don’t think I’ve ever seen that many women in the same space. There’s an African Americans in Gaming networking event during the day, and then I believe we’re also going to be doing a Tribal Meetup as well. So, there’s opportunities to meet new people within these specific subgroups as well as these big parties where you just you brace yourself, you prepare for it and know that you’re going to be able to go and talk to everybody. But even on the floor, I, you know, you’ve been. The Meadowlands isn’t huge, the conference space, I would say it takes, what, 45 seconds to technically walk from one side to the other, but any time I knew I needed to go from one side to the other, I would have to budget, like, 10 minutes. Because you’re gonna run into 6 people on your way from one stage to the other stage.

RYAN KNUPPEL

And I love how you work hard play hard, but the parties aren’t all about play. These things, I’ve gotten probably more value out of just the networking at these alone than any other thing that I can probably do, I mean, you’ve got to be a little intentional about it, you’ve gotta make sure that you get people, you want to see people, you want to talk to, you can’t sit in your shell, you kinda got to be, I’m kind of an introvert by nature, which everybody’s like “What? You’re an introvert doing podcasts and things like that?”, but I don’t really want to talk to people, but you kind of have to put yourself out there and just go and talk to people because there are a plethora of people to talk to, and honestly you never know who you’re gonna talk to, who you’re gonna run upon, who you’re gonna maybe your next business partner is at one of these events, right? So, I would urge anyone going to this event that does take advantage of that networking parties, it’s not just about partying and drinking and eating, I mean that’s great, but, make sure you do network, make sure you go into it with a little bit of that because I think that’s really how you can build your name, your business, and things of that nature too.

JESSICA WELMAN

Well, I’m the same way. I hate going up to strangers, like that’s, I’m very outgoing, but just blind, cold, but what’s great about this conference is there are so many people there, and you get to know people over the years that inevitably, after a year or two, you reach a point where whoever you want to meet is like one degree away from you. You know someone who can walk up, or you see that the person you want to talk to is talking to someone you know, and you have that ability to gain entry to chat with them that way, versus a cold email or something like that that’s gonna get lost in an inbox.

RYAN KNUPPEL

Sure, sure. So that one’s coming up. May 9-11th. I would urge everyone to go. We actually have a promo code, we’re media partners with SBC, so KNUP23, that’s across any events that SBC is doing, so a little shameless plug, if you guys are looking to go and you don’t have tickets yet, make sure you use that promo code, get a little discount, get out there and make sure you say hello to Jessica and myself. We’ll both be roaming around aimlessly.

JESSICA WELMAN

Yes, I’ve just said I don’t say hello to strangers, but come say hi to me, I will be happy to chat with you, I’m just bad at going up to people. And I also should just say if any of you, you know, Canada, I think the excitement, we’re coming up on a year in, but there’s till a lot of excitement out there, we have a Canadian event as well in June, June 13-15th. So, that code works, might as well look into a quick jaunt to Toronto.

RYAN KNUPPEL

There you go, I will be in Toronto as well. That’s gonna be my first time to Canada, I’m super excited for that event. It should be amazing.

JESSICA WELMAN

Oh it’s fun. It’s right in the heart of everything.

RYAN KNUPPEL

Is it? It’s gonna be amazing. I’m super excited about that, and yeah, we could touch on all of these events I’m sure, and have a little different angle on all of them. I’m scrolling them across the bottom now so you can see the dates, you guys can go out to SBCevents.com and they have them all listed there as well, but North America, Casino Beats, Canadian Gaming Summit, I’m sure Barcelona. I’ve heard Barcelona’s amazing, I’m not sure I’ll get to that one, but sounds amazing.

JESSICA WELMAN

Yeah, it is.

RYAN KNUPPEL

And then Latino America in Miami, and kind of a few hours away from me here in Orlando. That one was amazing last year as well, so I’m excited for a little Miami in October, it’s never a bad thing.

JESSICA WELMAN

You’re staying warmer than I am right now, so I’m dreaming about Florida at the moment.

RYAN KNUPPEL

I hear ya. Well, Jessica, thank you so much for giving us so much time here today. What did we miss? You know, we touched a lot about the events, but what about for you, what does the future look like for you and your team there at SBC, more yourself specifically?

JESSICA WELMAN

Yeah, so you know, we have, I work on two sides, SBCAmericas.com and CanadianGamingBusiness.com. I am actually the only American on our media team, and so that choice and that intention to really invest more in what we’re doing in North America is something that I hope is starting to pay off in the content that we’re doing in those sites. I’ve been very proud of my group in how much we’ve been on top of all of the legislative efforts that are going on because there’s something like three or four everyday. It feels like so, the amount of content that we’re putting out is more than I’ve ever put out. I got to here, and they were like “We do 10 stories a day”, and my jaw fell on the floor. Uh, but we do. And I’m proud of the content that we’re doing, and I think we’re also just starting to provide a little more insight in addition to just the news itself. I feel like my job lately has been watching all of these interesting and thrilling regulatory and legislative hearings so you all don’t have to. So you can get the Cliff Notes version at SBCAmericas, and check out what we’re doing. We have newsletters on both of them as well if it’s easier for you to just get it to your inbox everyday.

RYAN KNUPPEL

Awesome, awesome, cool. Well, I love what you’re doing from that side as well, and I definitely digest everything that comes across. I love the summarized version, because sometimes, man, some of the news stories just can get so above my head even, [inaudible].

JESSICA WELMAN

The Massachusetts regulators were like, “We’ve had 70 meetings and each meeting is 5-6 hours”, and I was just ticking it up, I was like “That is 300 hours of my life I have dedicated to this that I’m not getting back.” But it’s actually gotten fascinating. I’m gonna miss them when they aren’t meeting every day. It’s a weird codependency now.

RYAN KNUPPEL

Well I want to thank you for all the efforts you give to continue growing this ever-growing industry. You’re doing your part, so thank you for that. Jessica, if people want to get a hold of you, what’s the best way of contacting you?

JESSICA WELMAN

You know, email’s probably easiest. It’s jessica.welman@sbcgaming.com. There’s one ‘L’ in Welman, that’s a little bit tricky. I’m pretty active on Twitter as well. I’m @JessWelman there, uh, and either way, just reach out, say hello.

RYAN KNUPPEL

Awesome. Any last words that we missed, anything we didn’t touch on that you wanted to say?

JESSICA WELMAN

Oh my goodness. I think that’s, we covered the fun stuff. I’ve got to back to the less interesting stuff like reading, uh, bill amendment substitutions, so I’ve enjoyed this, thanks for having me. I needed this fun break from very intense reading.

RYAN KNUPPEL

Absolutely. Well, I appreciate your time, thanks so much, and I can’t wait to see you in May.

JESSICA WELMAN

Yeah, same here. We’ll see you then.

RYAN KNUPPEL

Alright, Jessica. Take care.

JESSICA WELMAN

Thanks.

RYAN KNUPPEL

Alright, that was Jessica Welman, Episode 195, of SBC. Uh, super cool individual. If you’ve never met Jessica, I really urge you to say hello to her at one of the upcoming events, really awesome person. Thank you so much for tuning in. I really appreciate you guys and the audience and, you know, the numbers of this have been growing, we’re almost up to 200 episodes, which just blows my mind because everybody starts at zero, and you’re like “Oh my gosh, how am I ever gonna get any listeners?”, and now I’m just blown away by the response I get when I go to events and you guys say “Hey, we heard this episode and we love this episode and you should have this person on,” and I just love that, so, please I urge you to continue to do that and give me that little bit of support to keep this thing going because it’s a lot of fun. So, alright, that’s it for today. Um, again, Episode 195, I hope to see you in May at SBC New Jersey in the Meadowlands, it’s gonna be an awesome event. KNUP23 code if you haven’t got your tickets yet, and until next time, I’m Ryan Knuppel, checking out for today. Take care, bye-bye.

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