Key talking points from ICE 2025

Day two of ICE in Barcelona has wrapped. The giddiness has set in and it's been a bumper day of eye opening conversations. The Fira Gran Via seemed even busier today as the iGB Affiliate show opened its doors.

For those missing out on the event this year, we've curated a handy curated roundup of quotes and comments overheard by the iGB team throughout the day. Hopefully this will help stave off the FOMO for now.

“We’re living in the middle of a narrative war. What appears to the public in general is that all this money is spent and lost by the bettors in Brazil. ?That's not the case. But [reports] are driving the public opinion on that. And, of course, the consequence [is this is] driving the congress’ opinion" - Udo Seckelmann, head of gambling & crypto at Bichara e Motta Advogados

Brazil's betting sector has been battling with a damning public narrative following a number of surveys released last summer which suggested bettors are largely spending beyond their means. This caught the attention of politicians in Q4 2024 and a Supreme Court hearing was initiated to assess the constitutionality of new betting laws. Seckelmann, among others, have been speaking out in favour of the sector and are keen to reverse this perception.

"Our best guess from some estimates is that there is at least a 60-80% black market for online slots in Germany" - Dirk Quermann, president, DOCV (German Online Casino Association)

At a beer and pretzel social hosted by the two online gambling industry trade bodies in Germany, the true scale of Germany's black market was revealed as the bodies argued that current regulations are not favourable for players or operators in the market. Quermann and his counterpart at the DSWV (Deutscher Sportwettenverband) said at present they don't see the regulator acknowledging the scale of the illegal market.

"I can say frankly that I think regulators have sometimes misunderstood their role because their role is to create a regulation which protects the consumer and brings tax revenues. If they push the gambling business out of the regulated market they won't fulfil any of that" - Pontus Lindwall, CEO, Betsson AB

Speaking frankly in an interview with iGB, Lindwall expressed frustration with the direction some regulators in Europe are moving in as more conservative policies are stifling the sector. His comments came in response to one regulator that last week who hinted it was not his job to lobby on behalf of the sector but rather to fulfil policies employed by government.

"Gaming used to be the red-headed step child, but now it’s the belle of the ball, and the amount of what we need to get done is remarkable. We want to bring everyone to a seat at the table so we can follow up" - Jason Clairmont, Principal Evangelist, Betting & Gaming, part of Amazon Web Services

During Rush Street Interactive's Laura McAllister Cox's discussion on how "big tech" can help the gambling industry move forward, Clairmont said he believed it was big tech's job to teach industry about commonalities, and "what we can do that would work across the industry," he said.

Tune in tomorrow for the Day three roundup!