SPARK 2026 moves to October with 3Tech addition

• Eventus International has rescheduled SPARK 2026 to 19–20 October in Sofia, Bulgaria, from its original July dates.
• The conference merges with the iGaming 3Tech format to add dedicated MarTech, FinTech and RegTech streams.
• Confirmed speakers include senior figures from Rightlander, Winbet, ODDSET Sportwetten GmbH and the University of Vienna.

Eventus International has rescheduled its debut SPARK conference and broadened its scope, with the event now set for 19–20 October 2026 in Sofia, Bulgaria.

It incorporates a new iGaming 3Tech stream covering MarTech, FinTech and RegTech – disciplines that were previously part of a separate Eventus event series running in Amsterdam.

Format expands

Originally planned for 9–10 July, SPARK stands for Software, Payments, Affiliates and Revenue Kickoff. The conference targets operators, affiliates, payment providers and technology leaders across Southeast Europe’s gaming market. The date change arrives alongside a structural expansion that merges two Eventus formats under one roof.

The iGaming 3Tech concept had previously been positioned as a standalone triple-event series, combining MarTech, RegTech and FinTech sessions in Amsterdam. Its integration into SPARK reflects a sharper editorial focus: that commercial growth, payments infrastructure and regulatory compliance are no longer independent tracks but intertwined drivers of operator performance.

Day-by-day agenda

Day One, on 19 October, focuses on the core growth drivers for Southeast European operators. Sessions cover retention-led strategy, payments as a conversion lever rather than back-end infrastructure, and the evolution of the retail gaming floor in digital-first markets. Regulatory themes run through several sessions, including a dedicated discussion on balancing compliance and user experience in multi-jurisdiction operations.

Day Two, on 20 October, splits across two concurrent tracks. The main SPARK programme examines sustainable scaling strategies, AI’s impact on affiliate ecosystems and licensing lessons from Central and Eastern European markets. Olga Polishchuk, iGaming regulatory compliance consultant, leads a session on channelisation, competition and tax yield drawn from CEE licensing frameworks.

Running in parallel on day two is the iGaming 3Tech stream, structured around three focused blocks: RegTech, MarTech and FinTech. Topics include embedding compliance into operational systems, responsible use of first-party data and personalisation, and what organisers frame as the convergence of data, regulation and performance in modern regulated gaming markets.

A keynote from Nikolas Monti-Potsolakis, CEO and founder of Black Lantern Marketing, is headlined for day two. Titled “SEO to AIEO: Transitioning from Ranking Websites to Becoming the Direct Answer in AI Search”, the session addresses how AI-driven search is reshaping organic visibility for operators and affiliates navigating a rapidly changing digital landscape.

Confirmed speakers

The programme spans compliance, payments, marketing, legal and operations. Sarafina Wolde Gabriel, CEO of Rightlander, and Robert Stoica, COO of Winbet, are among the confirmed names. Antony Jordan, head of payments and KYC at ODDSET Sportwetten GmbH, provides a payments and compliance perspective, alongside Arjan Korstjens, principal of the Casino Marketing Academy, and Christian Piska, professor at the University of Vienna’s Faculty of Law.

The expanded format also broadens the sponsor and exhibitor proposition. The combined programme opens access to compliance teams, marketing decision-makers and technology buyers alongside the operator and affiliate base SPARK’s original positioning targeted.

Eventus International has been expanding its event footprint throughout 2026, with separate summits spanning Africa, Latin America and Southeast Asia. A parallel affiliate event expansion trend is visible across the calendar, with conferences increasingly carving out dedicated streams for specialist disciplines rather than consolidating them into broad-agenda formats.

As operators across Southeast Europe face compounding pressure from evolving licensing frameworks, tighter affiliate compliance standards and AI-driven shifts in player acquisition, the merged SPARK and iGaming 3Tech format is positioned to address those intersecting pressures in a single programme.

Registration is open at eventus-international.com/spark.