SiGMA World 2026 Wraps Up: Regulation and Prediction Markets on the Agenda

SiGMA World 2026 closed at Roma Fiera on November 5. The four-day event featured conferences, award ceremonies and exhibition stands. Ahead of the event, organizers expected more than 30,000 attendees, 1,200 sponsors and exhibiting companies, and 550 speakers. The program ran across five stages and nine rooms.

A major part of the agenda was the question of whether strict oversight creates a safer market or pushes players toward unlicensed operators. This was addressed on November 3 on the Main Stage in a panel titled 'Europe's Age of Enforcement: Regulation Is Winning, but at What Cost?' The following day, a session with officials from Cyprus, Montenegro, Armenia and Estonia discussed the difficulties of supervising cross-border activities. On the same day, the session 'Black Market Economy: Why Is Illegal Betting Still Winning?' was also held.

Prediction markets were also among the program's highlights. At the 2026 FIFA World Cup review on the Main Stage on November 3, the tournament was discussed as the first time betting companies, prediction markets and AI-powered betting experiences are competing for the same fans. Where crypto assets and prediction platforms legally stand was also debated.

Italy's new online gaming framework, which had been in force for about a year, was among the most closely followed topics. In a session on the Italy Stage on November 3, executives described 2026 as a transition year and noted that the number of licenses had fallen from around 90 to 46. The next key date was given as February 15, 2027, when new technical requirements will take effect. The Italian model was also examined on November 4 in a session on the role of ADM.

The regulatory reversal in Brazil was also on the agenda. In the panel 'Brazil's Regulatory Reversal: From Boom to Ban' on November 3, the discussion centered on Interim Measure No. 1,394/2026, signed by President Lula on September 25. This measure banned online betting and online casinos. Participants agreed that the illegal market has gained momentum since the ban and said the decision sets a negative precedent for the sector. According to SiGMA World, Stepan Dobrovolskiy, CEO of BetBoom LatAm, said that if the market reopens in March, most operators will have to start from scratch. He added that the investment horizon has shrunk from three to five years to three to six months, because the next election could result in another ban.