Sportsbook suppliers are under growing pressure to help operators navigate tighter regulation, higher acquisition costs and increasingly competitive markets while maintaining scalable, locally relevant products.
Ahead of SBC Summit Lisbon, Yogonet spoke with Diego Salas, Sales Director at Altenar, about the company’s priorities for the event, recent sportsbook developments and the changing expectations of bettors. He also discusses the role of localization in Latin America, Altenar’s expansion across regulated markets, and where technology providers can help operators improve efficiency, profitability, and player value beyond simply expanding market coverage.
Altenar is exhibiting at SBC Summit Lisbon. What are your main priorities for the show this year, and what are you hoping to achieve through your conversations with operators and partners?
SBC Summit Lisbon is an important opportunity for us to spend time with both existing partners and new prospects, but also to listen to what operators are seeing in their markets.
The industry is moving into a more complex phase. Regulation is becoming more demanding, acquisition is more expensive, and operators are under pressure to grow while keeping their businesses efficient. This is changing the conversations we have with them.
We want to understand where those pressures are greatest and where sportsbook technology can make a practical difference. Of course, we will be presenting some of our latest product developments in Lisbon, but we are equally interested in the feedback we get from operators and how that can shape our next steps.
You’re arriving in Lisbon with nominations in several categories, including Sportsbook Supplier of the Year and Employer of the Year (Supplier). How important is it to be recognised both for your product and for the company you are building?
It is particularly valuable to be recognised in both areas because they reflect two sides of the same business.
A sportsbook does not develop in isolation. It depends on the people working across Product, Technology, Trading, Operations and other parts of the company. So recognition for the sportsbook and recognition as an employer are closely connected.
Over the past year, we have continued to expand into regulated markets, develop new partnerships and invest in the sportsbook, while also growing the teams behind it. Being recognised by the industry gives us an opportunity to reflect on that progress.
The SBC Summit Awards are also an opportunity to take stock of how Altenar has evolved over the past year. What do you see as the biggest developments for the company and its sportsbook since the last edition of SBC Summit Lisbon?
The biggest change has probably been the scale of development across several areas at the same time.
We have expanded our presence in regulated markets, strengthened our technology ecosystem through new partnerships and continued to invest heavily in the sportsbook itself. On the product side, we have introduced developments including Super Early Payout, enhanced Bet Builder capabilities, player and team props and new tools around personalisation and live betting.
The 2026 FIFA World Cup was another major focus. We developed the World Cup Lobby ahead of the tournament and used the event as an opportunity to look closely at how players engage with the sportsbook when betting activity reaches exceptionally high levels.
So, rather than pointing to one particular milestone, I would say the past year has been about building greater depth across the business and making the sportsbook more adaptable to different operators and markets.
Your World Cup 2026 report found that Bet Builder adoption reached 39.6% of singles bets, while Player Special market turnover was around four times higher than at Euro 2024. What do these trends tell you about how bettor expectations are changing?
The data shows that bettors are becoming more interested in building their own betting experiences rather than simply choosing from a traditional list of pre-defined markets.
Bet Builder is a good example of that. Players can combine different selections around a match and create something that is more relevant to what they want to bet on. The growth of Player Specials points in a similar direction, with more interest in individual players and specific aspects of a game.
For sportsbooks, this means having more markets is not enough. Operators also need to think about how those markets are presented, how easily players can find them and how effectively they can be combined into a betting experience.
A recent Winpot case study shared by Altenar highlighted the impact of localisation, trading performance and product flexibility in Mexico. What lessons from that partnership can be applied to other Latin American markets, and how much does localisation need to go beyond simply offering local content and payments?
The main lesson from Winpot is that localisation needs to be closely connected to how people actually bet in a particular market. It is not simply about offering local sports or payment methods; it is about understanding which competitions and betting products matter to the audience and then building the sportsbook around that demand.
The Winpot results are a good example. It shows that understanding the local betting profile can be just as important as the breadth of the overall sportsbook.
Trading performance and product flexibility are also important parts of that equation. In Winpot’s case, the focus was on improving pricing and margins, expanding market coverage, supporting localised sports content and giving the operator greater flexibility across the front end, trading and risk management.
For other Latin American markets, the lesson is that there is no single localisation model that can simply be replicated across the region. Operators need technology and trading capabilities that can adapt to the specific sporting preferences, commercial priorities and player behaviour of each market.
Altenar has continued expanding with partners such as DAZN Bet across regulated markets including Ontario and Alberta, while also preparing for Finland’s upcoming regulated framework. How do you balance the demands of entering new jurisdictions with the need to maintain a consistent and scalable sportsbook product?
The key is to have a strong core product without making the operator compromise on local requirements.
Every new regulated market brings a different combination of rules, technical requirements, and player expectations. Trying to build a completely separate sportsbook for every jurisdiction would not be practical, but applying exactly the same model everywhere does not work either.
That is why flexibility has become such an important part of sportsbook technology. The core infrastructure needs to be consistent and scalable, while operators need the ability to configure the product around the market they are entering.
Our experience in markets such as Ontario and Alberta, and our preparation for Finland, reinforces that approach. Market expansion is not simply about entering another jurisdiction; it is about being able to adapt the sportsbook without creating unnecessary complexity for the operator.
As operators face rising acquisition costs and increasingly competitive markets, where do you see the biggest opportunities for sportsbook technology providers to help them improve profitability and player value?
I think the bigger opportunity is to help operators get more value from the sportsbook they already have rather than simply making it bigger.
Personalisation is one area where there is still considerable room to develop. Showing players content that is relevant to their interests can make the sportsbook easier to navigate and potentially more engaging without overwhelming them with thousands of choices.
Operational efficiency is another important area. Better trading tools, automation and more flexible controls can help operators manage their sportsbook more effectively, particularly when volumes are high.
For us as technology providers, the focus should therefore be on helping operators make the sportsbook more relevant, efficient and commercially sustainable.