A record 32 different companies were recognised for excellence in the sports and gaming industries at last night’s SBC Awards ceremony in London, with bet365 once again taking home the Bookmaker of the Year prize.
On a night of festive-themed celebration for the industry, bet365 stole the show in front of 700 attendees at The Artillery Garden, before Sergey Portnov, CEO of Parimatch, was given the biggest individual accolade after being named Leader of the Year.
There were five multiple winners including William Hill, who retained its Racing Bookmaker of the Year title and landed the inaugural Retail Bookmaker of the Year prize.
The other multiple winners were SG Digital (Standalone Platform Provider of the Year and Best Live Betting Product), Betgenius(Esports Supplier of the Year and Innovation of the Year in partnership with Sportcast), Betradar (Best Live Streaming Product and Best Sports Data Product), and the now five-time Bookmaker of the Year – bet365.
The Stoke-based gambling giant, who recently reported full-year betting and gaming revenues (year ending March 2018) of more than £2.7 billion, was also successful in the Best Affiliate Partner Scheme category, while beating Sky Betting and Gaming (SB&G) to the Football Bookmaker of the Year prize.
However, SB&G was recognised for putting on the Marketing Campaign of the Year, edging out Catena Media, who subsequently collected Affiliate of the Year. Better Collective was the other big affiliate winner after picking up Best Affiliate Product Innovation.
For a full list of winners at SBC Awards 2018, click here.
Andrew McCarron, Managing Director at SBC, commented: “Congratulations to everyone who has been recognised for excellent performance by the Sports Betting Community. This year the quality and quantity of entries increased dramatically so all the winners had to work exceptionally hard to stand out from their competition. And congratulations to Sergey Portnov at Parimatch for being crowned Leader of the Year. It was well deserved.”
Parimatch’s Sergey Portnov picked up the Leader of the Year Award after a very successful 2018. Portnov, who has transformed the company since his arrival in 2011 at the age of 23, has put his energy into switching Parimatch from offline to online focused, expanding the company’s R&D department from five to 200 people in just a few years.
Under his leadership, the company has not just become a united team with shared values of unity, integrity, and responsibility, but moved towards a greater level of transparency – both internally and externally. Portnov has also decentralised activities to provide more power to his regional teams.
A sponsorship deal with UFC complements the ongoing support of a dozen sports clubs, associations, and federations in various countries for Parimatch, while a commitment to transparency has seen the introduction of TED-like strategic sessions twice a year.
The award comes at the end of a hugely successful year for Parimatch, who saw registered users increase by almost a quarter and bets per day reach a peak of more than 1,000,000 – representing a year-on-year increase of 40%.
Portnov said: “Parimatch has come a long a way in a short period of time. We are ambitious and want to continue to grow our brand and offer. These awards are a recognition of the hard work of all our staff and their belief in our vision for the business.”