Latin America’s biggest iGaming conference wrapped its fourth edition in São Paulo last week with record attendance figures that reflect how dramatically Brazil’s regulated market has matured in a single year.
BiS SiGMA South America 2026 ran from April 6 to 9 at the Transamerica Expo Center, drawing more than 18,500 delegates, 400 exhibitors and 250 speakers across four days of conference sessions, exhibition floor business and the now-established awards dinner that opened the event on Monday night.
The delegate count roughly doubled compared with the 2025 edition, a number that captures how many global operators and suppliers have reoriented their commercial roadmaps around Brazil since regulated sports betting and online casino went live at the start of 2025.
The tone was set on the opening night at the awards ceremony, where industry figures dressed in black tie gathered to celebrate a year of genuine transition. Carlos Cardama, widely credited as the founding figure behind the Brazilian iGaming Summit, was inducted into BiS SiGMA’s Hall of Game, an acknowledgement of his role in building the event from a niche local gathering into the dominant commercial meeting point for operators doing business across the entire region.
Conference sessions ran in Portuguese, Spanish and English simultaneously, reflecting a delegate mix that extended well beyond Brazil’s own borders. Colombian, Argentine and Chilean regulatory representatives appeared on panels alongside Brazilian officials from the Secretariat of Prizes and Betting, the new federal body overseeing the licensed market.
That government participation was one of the distinguishing features of 2026’s edition: regulators did not just attend, they led discussions. The presence of Fábio Macorin, the deputy secretary of Monitoring and Enforcement, on one of the most attended panels of the conference sent a clear signal that Brazil’s regulatory apparatus is now operational, not aspirational.
The land-based casino question dominated April 8 discussions across multiple stages. Brazil’s longstanding gambling ban under the 1941 Criminal Misdemeanour Act remains technically in place for physical casinos, but congressional movement and judicial rulings throughout 2025 have created a legislative environment that most attendees described as a matter of when rather than whether physical gaming is authorised.
Multiple panels examined the potential licensing structures, the commercial models being proposed and the international operators already positioning themselves for the opportunity.
Latin American iGaming revenue is projected to surpass $8 billion by 2028, and the prospect of a Brazilian casino licensing programme adding to that figure is driving extraordinary international attention.
Sports figures added commercial and cultural texture to the event. Rubens Barrichello, the former Formula One driver who serves as SOFTSWISS’s Non-Executive Director for Latin America, delivered a keynote on the relationship between elite sport and iGaming technology.
Former Brazil international goalkeeper Júlio César announced a partnership with game provider BGaming for the development of a game featuring his likeness, part of a broader trend of sports-personality brand deals that have accelerated since regulated betting normalised sponsorship and endorsement in the market.
The illegal market remains the most immediate challenge facing Brazil’s regulated industry. Panel discussion on enforcement was candid, with presenters acknowledging that offshore unlicensed operators are still capturing significant volumes despite the licensing framework. Brazil’s Secretariat of Prizes and Betting has moved to block unlicensed domains and payment channels, but the speed of technological workarounds available to black market operators means enforcement is a continuous operational challenge rather than a one-off policy decision.
The event closed on April 9 with sessions focused on crypto payment integration and esports betting regulation, two areas where Brazil’s framework is still catching up with operator demand. A post-event retreat saw 50 top affiliates fly to Florianópolis, reinforcing the event’s role as a relationship-building engine as much as a knowledge exchange. The message that echoed across every session was the same: Brazil is no longer an expectation, it is a reality, and the industry arriving in São Paulo next year will be larger, more competitive and more regulated still.
