SiGMA North America celebrates Football, LATAM growth and brings the iGaming community together in Mexico City

Building on years of experience organizing events across multiple continents, SiGMA World delivered its established combination of business, networking, education and entertainment.

It began with the Nexus Elite Golf Experience, offering participants a dedicated day of high-quality networking in a more informal environment. This was followed by the SiGMA Awards Gala, awarding the industry's leading companies and professionals, alongside the renowned charity auction showcasing both local and international artists, celebrating art and culture for a cause while raising funds for the SiGMA Foundation NGO.

At the heart of the event was the expo itself, where leading companies from across the iGaming ecosystem presented their technologies, products and services through their booths. Alongside the exhibition floor, the conference program provided a platform for industry leaders to discuss some of the most important questions shaping the sector today.

Connected Football: Data, AI, Integrity and Betting Growth

Immediately following the inauguration ceremony, the first panel of the conference addressed a particularly strategic topic for both Mexico and the global sports betting industry:

"Connected Football: Data, AI, Integrity and Betting Growth."

The discussion brought together different perspectives from across the football and sports betting ecosystem:

• Guilherme Buso, VP LATAM — BetGenius
• Salvador Salazar, Commercial Director — FMF (Federación Mexicana de Fútbol)
• Enrique Romero, Country Manager — GoldenBet Online
• Matt Sahakian, iGaming Consultant & Advisor — Moderator

Together, the panelists explored both the present and future relationship between football and the iGaming industry, with particular attention to artificial intelligence, data, integrity, streaming and the continued evolution of the sports betting experience.

One of the strengths of the discussion was the diversity of perspectives represented on stage, allowing the subject to be examined across the full value chain.

From the Mexican Football Federation's perspective came questions surrounding sporting rights, integrity, governance and streaming. From the technology and sportsbook side, the discussion moved toward real-time data, the challenges of collecting and processing increasingly sophisticated information, cameras and technology inside stadiums, and the growing role of AI-powered tools.

Ultimately, all of these developments converge at one critical point: the player experience and the way operators transform technology, data and live sporting content into an increasingly dynamic sports betting offering.

Mexico, football and the World Cup opportunity

Hosting this conversation in Mexico gave the panel additional relevance.

As a country with a deep football culture and one of the host nations of the 2026 FIFA World Cup, Mexico provides a particularly interesting environment in which to examine the relationship between major sporting events, technology and betting market development.

The panelists discussed lessons surrounding major football events and considered their implications for the market, not only in terms of the immediate increase in engagement and betting activity, but also the longer-term opportunities they can create for operators, technology providers, rights holders and the broader sports ecosystem.

The discussion therefore went beyond the World Cup as a short-term commercial opportunity. It also examined how major global sporting events can accelerate technological adoption, strengthen fan engagement and influence the evolution of local markets over time.

Giving iGaming voices a global reach

The impact of the conference extended beyond those physically present in Mexico City.

SiGMA North America's panels were live-streamed, giving participating speakers and industry voices the opportunity to reach a global audience and extending the conversations beyond the conference floor.

This is ultimately one of the most important roles of major industry gatherings.

As iGaming markets continue to expand and technologies such as artificial intelligence, real-time data and advanced streaming reshape the industry, major events are not simply places to exhibit products or develop commercial relationships. They are also spaces where the industry can collectively examine the changes taking place around it.

By bringing together regulators and sporting institutions, operators, technology providers, advisors and other industry stakeholders to debate strategic topics, SiGMA North America created an opportunity to think collectively about both the present and the future of iGaming, combining LATAM's market growth with the technological transformation reshaping the global industry.