ISSUE 7 FALL / WINTER 2017
Editorial | SiGMA
WELCOME TO THE iGAMING VILLAGE! AFTER THREE YEARS, WE FELT THE TIME WAS RIGHT TO SHIFT TO A BIGGER VENUE THAT MEETS THE NEEDS OF A GROWING SHOW. THIS YEAR SIGMA WILL BE SITUATED A STONE-THROW AWAY FROM THE OLD, CHARMING CITY OF MDINA. THE FOCUS BY DAY WILL BE AT THE MALTA FAIRS AND CONVENTION CENTRE (MFCC), THEN, ONCE THE SUN SETS DOWN, THE FOCUS WILL SHIFT BACK TO THE OFFICIAL HOTEL, CORINTHIA SAN GORG, AND THE SURROUNDING RESTAURANTS IN THE CITY THAT SELDOM SLEEPS, ST. JULIAN’S. This year there’s something new, quite literally, for everyone: IMGL and Gaming in Holland are officially endorsing this show for the very first time with two regulatory panel discussions; The GPI European Poker Conference shifted to Malta within SiGMA; Gaming Malta partnered with SiGMA to launch the very first European Fantasy Sports Summit; A new, dedicated conference on Blockchain and Cryptocurrencies; A new, dedicated conference on Live Gaming; A new top-tier SEO masterclass for the very advanced; KPMG strengthened their partnership with their e-Summits; New world-class investors have joined last year’s lot, including Mark Blandford, Simon Collins, Roger Walker, Julie Meyer and many more; The line-up of start-ups shot up from a humble eight last year to almost 100 this year; The number of delegates shot up from 3,800 to a staggering 7,000 delegates; The number of affiliates shot up from 1,200 to a staggering 2,600;
The foot print of our expo as well as the number of exhibitors tripled; World class brands are gracing our floor plan for the first time - Bet365, William Hill, Ladbrokes, PokerStars, Processing, Kindred, iGaming Platform, NetRefer, MyAffiliates, Twin, Casino Cruise, White Hat Gaming, Ikibu, Viarsys, Authentic Gaming, Blexr, Booming Games, Gambling Affiliation, Af2Af and many more first time exhibitors; The Malta Gaming Awards have been upgraded to recognise emerging trends in the industry; Our careers convention will welcome over 1,000 recruits, all hoping to land the career of a lifetime; We kept in close contact with all stakeholders throughout the year with a series of lavish dinners called iGatherings; We launched Affiliate Grand Slam; Tallinn in April, then Bucharest in September, flying a whopping 200 affiliates to each destination on an all-inclusive treat, saving no shillings along the way; Our publications grew bigger, slicker and reached more corners around the world; 1,000 top level delegates benefitted from our VIP Program. We hope you’ll enjoy the SiGMA show and, most of all, head back to your offices the following week with quality business leads. 03