Betsson Group, bet365, Evolution, Betradar and GoldenRace were among the 34 companies to celebrate victories at last night’s SBC Awards 2021 ceremony at Evolution London.

Hosted by Kirsty Gallacher and World Cup winner Marcel Desailly, the eighth edition of the SBC awards brought together an audience of betting and gaming industry professionals to recognise the achievements of the top-performing operators, affiliates and suppliers.

The glittering ceremony culminated in bet365 extending its dominance in the Sportsbook of the Year category by being named winner for the eighth consecutive time, having earlier collected the Best Affiliate Programme and Best Mobile Operator App prizes.

Betsson Group also scored a hat-trick of successes, landing the coveted Casino Operator of the Year title, along with the Socially Responsible Sportsbook and, for its RaceBets brand, the Racing Sportsbook trophies.

Joining the big brand operators in achieving three successes was Betradar, with victories in the Platform Provider of the Year, Live Streaming Product / Supplier, and Sports Data Product categories.

Golden Race doubled up with wins in the Land-Based Betting & Gaming Product and Virtual Sports Supplier categories, while Evolution enjoyed twin triumphs as it picked up the Innovation in Casino Entertainment and Live Casino Supplier gongs.

The event also honoured some of the CEOs who have been integral to the continuing success of the industry throughout the turbulent conditions of the past 12 months. Yolo Group’s Maarja Pärt, Sportradar’s Carsten Koerl, and Evoplay’s Ivan Kravchuk were presented with Leader of the Year awards.

Andrew McCarron, Managing Director at SBC, said: “Huge congratulations to all the winners selected by our independent judging panels. We had our largest ever number of entries this year and the overall quality highlighted that betting and gaming remains one of the world’s most forward-thinking industries.

“To succeed against that standard of competition required a truly outstanding performance and that is what the judges identified in every single winner. From operational excellence and outstanding commitment to customer service through to exceptional innovation and creativity in product development, all the SBC Awards winners demonstrated something special over the past year.”

The victors in the operator section of the awards also included Ladbrokes (Football Sportsbook of the Year), Betway Group (Esports Operator of the Year), Kaizen Gaming (Marketing Campaign of the Year) and 1xBet (Sponsorship of the Year).

Mr Green took the prize for Socially Responsible Casino of the Year, while Karamba landed the Innovation in Casino & Gaming Entertainment prize and Hero Gaming collected the Employer of the Year trophy.

In addition to recognising the achievements of the big names in the industry, the SBC Awards honoured some of the best challenger brands. The Rising Star prizes were presented to Virgin Bet (Sports Betting), Glitnor Group (Casino), Sports IQ Analytics (Sports Betting Innovation / Software) and Swintt (Casino Innovation / Software).

The affiliates section saw Better Collective named Sports Affiliate of the Year and Catena Media secure the equivalent Casino award, while Raketech Group triumphed in the Affiliate Product Innovation category.

In the supplier section of the awards, the fiercely contested Casino / Slots Developer of the Year title went to Pragmatic Play, while Mindway AI won Industry Innovation of the Year.

Pronet Gaming was named Sportsbook Supplier of the Year, Genius Sports collected the Living Betting Product prize, Highlight Games triumphed in the Virtual Sports Innovation category and Pinnacle Solution celebrated the Esports Supplier of the Year title.

There were also victories for Optimove (Acquisition & Retention Partner), Shape Games (Innovation in Mobile), Square in the Air (Marketing & Services Provider of the Year), BetConstruct (Multi-Channel Supplier) and White Hat Gaming (White Label Supplier).

Trustly was awarded the Payment Solution of the Year title, while Nuvei triumphed in the Payment Innovation category, 1account took the Fraud & Compliance Solution honour and OKTO won the Mobile Payment Solution trophy.

McCarron added: “The ceremony was a great night, with the awards, entertainment and hospitality combining to make it a fantastic end-of-year celebration for the betting and gaming industry.

“Events like this are made possible by the ongoing support of our sponsors and partners, so I’d like to thank BetConstruct, Kaizen Gaming, Digitain and GoldenRace for being headline sponsors for the SBC Awards and all the other companies that we continue to work with. And a special mention to our own SBC team who have done a phenomenal job over a very difficult year.”

The SBC Awards 2022 will move to Spain and are scheduled to take place on 22 September, the final day of SBC Summit Barcelona, the global betting and igaming conference and exhibition.