SBC Hall of Fame 2026: DraftKings, Spribe, Playtech Leaders

Kyle Kevin

iGaming Writer

Fact Checked

SBC has named five industry leaders to its Hall of Fame Class of 2026, spanning betting integrity, crash games, daily fantasy, testing labs, and platform technology. The induction ceremony in Lisbon marks the tenth anniversary of an honour roll that now includes 50-plus industry figures.

SBC has named five industry leaders to its Hall of Fame Class of 2026. The inductees are Khalid Ali, CEO of the International Betting Integrity Association; David Natroshvili, founder of Spribe; Jason Robins, co-founder and CEO of DraftKings; Karen Marcela Sierra-Hughes, vice president of Latin America, Caribbean & Spain at Gaming Laboratories International; and Mor Weizer, CEO of Playtech. The induction ceremony will take place on 28 September at the Palácio Estoril Hotel in Lisbon. It is part of the invite-only SBC Leaders Summit, held one day before SBC Summit 2026 opens at FIL and MEO Arena. The Hall of Fame is now in its tenth year. SBC launched it in 2016 as the Sports Betting Hall of Fame. It has since evolved alongside the industry, expanding beyond sports betting to recognise leaders across gaming, technology, integrity, and regulation. The 2026 class joins a roster that already includes more than 50 honourees. Past inductees include John Anderson, Victor Chandler, Chris Christie, Denise Coates, Fred Done, Carsten Koerl, Pontus Lindwall, and Norbert Teufelberger. The 2025 class brought in Esmeralda Britton, Chad Millman, Scotty Schettler, and Shelley White. SBC Founder and CEO Rasmus Sojmark said the 2026 inductees cover “entrepreneurship, technology, integrity, regulation, operator leadership.” He added: “You don’t often get that in one room.”

The Five Inductees and What They Built

Khalid Ali leads the International Betting Integrity Association, the global body that monitors suspicious betting activity and coordinates with regulators and law enforcement. IBIA’s alert network covers more than 120 sports and processes thousands of alerts annually. Ali has been at the helm since 2015 and has turned IBIA into the industry’s primary integrity watchdog. David Natroshvili founded Spribe in 2018 and created Aviator, the crash game that redefined the genre. Aviator now generates more than $1 billion in annual gross gaming revenue across its operator network. Spribe has expanded into poker, mines, and other instant games, but Aviator remains the flagship. Natroshvili’s contribution is not just a hit product. It is a new game category that has forced every major supplier to develop crash games of their own. Jason Robins co-founded DraftKings in 2012 and took it public in 2020. The company started as a daily fantasy sports operator and pivoted into sports betting after PASPA fell. DraftKings now operates in more than 20 US states and generates billions in annual revenue. Robins has also pushed into prediction markets with DraftKings Predictions, a CFTC-regulated platform that offers event contracts alongside traditional sportsbook products. Karen Marcela Sierra-Hughes runs GLI’s Latin America, Caribbean, and Spain operations. GLI is the largest gaming testing laboratory in the world, certifying hardware, software, and systems for regulators across six continents. Sierra-Hughes has been instrumental in expanding GLI’s footprint in regulated Latin American markets, including Brazil, Colombia, and Mexico. Mor Weizer has been CEO of Playtech since 2007. Under his leadership, the company grew from a casino software provider into a diversified gaming technology giant with operations in sports betting, live dealer, bingo, poker, and financial trading. Playtech now serves more than 170 licensees. Weizer has also steered the company through multiple regulatory transitions, including the UK Gambling Act review and the expansion into US markets. The five inductees represent different corners of the industry. Ali stands for integrity. Natroshvili stands for product innovation. Robins stands for operator scale. Sierra-Hughes stands for regulatory compliance. Weizer stands for platform technology. Together, they map the full value chain of modern gaming.

The SBC Leaders Summit and Lisbon Programme

The SBC Leaders Summit is invite-only and capped at 500-plus C-level executives. SBC describes it as the industry’s most exclusive gathering. The daytime programme includes closed-door networking, presentations, regulatory roundtables, and panel discussions. The evening shifts to social events. Attendees will join a cocktail reception at the River Lounge Restaurant, a gala dinner, a poker tournament, and an after-party at the historic Casino Estoril. The Casino Estoril is one of Europe’s oldest and largest casinos. It has hosted royalty, spies, and film crews since opening in 1916. Holding the after-party there is a deliberate nod to the industry’s heritage. Summit participants also receive full access to SBC Summit 2026 and the Affiliate Leaders Summit. Those events run from 29 September to 1 October at FIL and MEO Arena in Lisbon. SBC Summit 2026 is the largest edition yet, spanning 135,000 square metres and expecting 40,000 attendees. The Leaders Summit is designed as a pre-event for the most senior executives. It allows C-levels to network without the noise of the main conference floor. The regulatory roundtables are particularly valuable. They bring together operators, suppliers, and regulators in closed sessions that do not appear on the public agenda. For companies navigating new markets like Brazil or the Philippines, those roundtables can be more useful than the main stage presentations. The induction ceremony itself is scheduled for 3:30 p.m. local time on 28 September. It is a formal event within the summit programme, not a standalone gala. That keeps the focus on peer recognition rather than public spectacle.

A Decade of the SBC Hall of Fame

The SBC Hall of Fame launched in 2016 as the Sports Betting Hall of Fame. The original purpose was narrow: honour individuals who had made lasting contributions to sports betting specifically. The criteria included process improvements, long industry experience, public awareness campaigns, innovative product introductions, and advocacy for responsible gambling. Over ten years, the scope has broadened. The name changed to reflect the wider gaming industry. The inductee pool expanded beyond sports betting into casino, poker, bingo, and technology. The 2026 class is the most diverse yet. Ali represents integrity and anti-corruption. Natroshvili represents a new game category that did not exist when the Hall of Fame launched. Robins represents the US market explosion. Sierra-Hughes represents regulatory testing and certification. Weizer represents platform technology at global scale. The evolution of the inductee profile mirrors the evolution of the industry itself. In 2016, sports betting was the dominant narrative. In 2026, the industry spans daily fantasy, crash games, live dealer, prediction markets, and AI-driven analytics. The Hall of Fame has kept pace. Rasmus Sojmark said the Lisbon induction is “a chance to recognise how far our industry has come, and the people who got us here.” That is the core function of any Hall of Fame. It is not just about individual achievement. It is about mapping the industry’s history through the people who shaped it. The 2026 class does that well. Each inductee represents a different inflection point in the industry’s last decade. Ali’s work on betting integrity became critical as match-fixing scandals hit multiple sports. Natroshvili’s Aviator created a new revenue stream that now rivals traditional slots in some markets. Robins’s DraftKings proved that US sports betting could be a multi-billion-dollar business. Sierra-Hughes’s GLI expansion enabled regulated markets in Latin America to open with confidence. Weizer’s Playtech demonstrated that a single platform provider could serve every gaming vertical globally. For ongoing coverage of industry events and executive appointments, AGBrief tracks the sector closely.

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