Episode 95·16:36·26 Oct 2026

Key Takeaways from SOFTSWISS’ 2027 iGaming Trends Report

with Alexandra Kavelich, Deputy CMO, SOFTSWISS

Surya Palli

Founder of iGaming Real Talk.·26 Oct 2026

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iGaming is often criticised for being slower to innovate than other digital industries. The SOFTSWISS 2027 iGaming Trends Report points to a very different picture.

In Episode 95, Surya speaks with Alexandra Kavelich, Deputy CMO at SOFTSWISS, about the fifth edition of the company's annual trends report and why SOFTSWISS started producing the research in the first place.

Alexandra says the original problem was simple: iGaming did not have enough structured data for companies trying to build business and marketing strategies. Five editions later, the report brings together surveys, industry experts, media analysis and perspectives from both inside and outside iGaming.

One of the biggest surprises is the report's new Digital Maturity Index. According to the report, iGaming scored 4.67 out of 5 and ranked first among the digital industries compared in the research. For Surya, this challenged something he had said repeatedly before: that iGaming was years behind sectors such as Silicon Valley technology.

They also discuss prediction markets. Alexandra says the subject was one of the loudest trends when SOFTSWISS started preparing the report, but the noise has already reduced. Demand remains strong, yet questions around regulation, liquidity and the right long-term model are still unresolved.

The conversation closes with another sign of maturity. Alexandra says the report expects annual industry growth to slow significantly over time. Rather than seeing that only as a negative, she views it as evidence that iGaming itself is becoming a more established industry.

Download the full 2027 iGaming Trends Report.

“We didn’t have enough structured data or research to build a full business and marketing strategy.”

“If you don’t have this data, the best idea is to create it.”

“Reports like this are helping to build strategy and make the strategic decisions needed to grow your business.”

“We can clearly see what changes are happening, what became hype and what can be read as a real signal.”

“Technology, the industry perspective and regulatory frameworks are moving at slightly different speeds.”

I don’t think it’s correct to look at the industry in isolation.”

Key takeaways

The report started because iGaming lacked structured data
When SOFTSWISS began the project more than five years ago, Alexandra says there was not enough organised research available for companies building business and marketing strategies.
“If you don't have this data, if you don't have this information... the best idea is to create it.”
The intention was not only to create something useful for SOFTSWISS, but also for partners and the wider industry.
Five years of research gives the report something new: comparison
The fifth edition is not starting from zero.
SOFTSWISS can now compare previous findings with current data and see which topics became real trends and which were temporary hype.
Alexandra says that the historical base makes it easier to identify genuine signals.
The methodology goes well beyond one survey
The report brings together input from more than 500 industry professionals and 65 experts, alongside analysis of around 480,000 media signals.
SOFTSWISS also worked with external partners and looked outside iGaming to bring in perspectives from other digital sectors.
iGaming may be more digitally mature than many people assume
The new Digital Maturity Index was one of the findings that surprised Surya most.
According to Alexandra, iGaming scored 4.67 out of 5, in the Digital Maturity Index, placing it first among the digital industries compared in the study, including e-commerce, film and sports.
Prediction markets are still promising, but the hype has cooled
Alexandra says prediction markets were one of the first topics people mentioned when research for the report began.
By the time of the interview, she had already noticed less noise around the subject.
She still sees a promising opportunity, but says technology, industry demand and regulation are moving at different speeds.
The right prediction-market model is still unclear
SOFTSWISS has introduced a B2B prediction-market solution using a fixed-odds approach.
Alexandra believes this model may fit the regulated iGaming environment better than some earlier versions of prediction markets.
But she says it is still too early to know which model will be most sustainable long term.
Industry growth slowing may actually signal maturity
One of Alexandra's more surprising observations comes near the end of the conversation.
She says the report points toward annual growth slowing from around 30% to around 9%.
For her, that does not simply mean weaker growth.
“The industry is indeed becoming more and more mature.”

About the guest

Alexandra Kavelich

Deputy CMO, SOFTSWISS

LinkedIn profile

Extended summary

Published by the podcast, not written by our newsroom.

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(00:00 - 00:48) Surya: We are in an industry that wants to hold information secret before things go live. Alexandra: Look at the industry from different angles, from different perspectives. We didn't have enough structured data. The best idea is to create it. Surya: 500 industry professionals, 65 experts, after analysing 480,000 media signals. How did they actually do it? Alexandra: The audience base is growing year by year. We can clearly see what changes are happening.

Surya: Is it a trend or is it a big bubble? Alexandra: Definitely a promising area for the industry. Reports like this are helping to build the strategy. (00:48 - 01:34) Surya: We are here in Lisbon. iGaming Real Talk is launching the seventh edition of Real Roadshow, where we spoke to 24 leaders and experts covering insights and conversations from the expo floor, but also from the sky. Stay tuned for more on that.

This series is brought to you by the SOFTSWISS 2027 iGaming Trends Report, featuring five years of insights and trusted by 32,000 readers. (01:34 - 02:12) Surya: Hello and welcome back to another episode of iGaming Real Talk. We are here in Lisbon with Alexandra from SOFTSWISS. Today we're going to discuss the SOFTSWISS 2027 iGaming Trends Report. Alexandra, welcome to the show. Alexandra: Thank you so much.

It's really a pleasure to join you here today, especially since we have just launched the fifth edition of our report. We started it more than five years ago, and having the fifth edition in my hands is a great pleasure for me today. Surya: Definitely. I was at the press event yesterday. Very exclusive, very well organised, and we discussed the takeaways.

(02:12 - 04:56) Surya: One of the things that really came to my mind is that over the last five years, there have been more than 30,000 downloads across the editions. We're in an industry that wants to hold information secret before things go live. Companies don't always want to share before they launch. But you've been running this report for about five years now. What's the whole intention behind the report itself?

Alexandra: When we started this project more than five years ago, we faced the issue that we didn't have enough structured data. Not enough research. Not enough information for building a full business and marketing strategy. If you don't have this data, if you don't have this information, which is pretty common for other industries, the best idea is to create it. It will obviously be useful not only for your brand but for other brands as well and for the industry itself.

Therefore, we started this project with our marketing team, especially the content team. Moreover, SOFTSWISS is a technology strategic partner, which means we're working with different types of businesses across the industry. We work with operators, service providers and payment providers. We have the ability to look at the industry from different angles and different perspectives and connect all these insights together. That was another idea behind the report.

We were the first back then. Now it's the fifth report and the audience base is growing year by year. You mentioned more than 30,000 downloads. Namely, it's more than 32,000 downloads and we expect even more this year. I think it's really valuable not only for us and our partners, but for the whole industry. Reports like this are helping to build strategy. They're helping to create the strategic decisions that are needed to grow your business.

That's why we keep doing this and pushing the idea behind the report. (04:56 - 07:26) Surya: When it comes to the methodology itself, I saw at the beginning of the report that the insights were gathered from more than 500 industry professionals, 65 experts and after analysing 480,000 media signals. That's a lot of analysis and insight gathering before publishing the report. But someone watching the show might still think, how did they actually do it?

How can this be trusted and considered credible? What would you tell them? Alexandra: First of all, we have quite a lot of experience. We have four editions that have already been published. We have that base. That's one of the advantages we have at the moment. We're not taking insights from nowhere. We can compare what facts were given back then with what facts are being given today.

We can clearly see what changes are happening, what became hype and what can be read as a real signal. That base of many years of research gives us confidence that the material we're doing is much stronger. As you mentioned, we interviewed different internal and external experts. We conducted different surveys across industry events and beyond. We also worked with co-authors and partners.

We worked with industry organisations and data partners who helped us with particular numbers related to the industry. We also went beyond iGaming. We worked with Amazon Web Services to discover more about AI issues related to the industry and other digital industries as well. We wanted to connect different perspectives, including perspectives that aren't directly related only to iGaming.

(07:26 - 09:41) Surya: I was checking the report again this morning to prepare for the interview. Alexandra: A lot of pages, right? Surya: A lot of pages. It felt like I went back to school preparing some reports. One thing that really caught my attention is the Digital Maturity Index. Alexandra: My favourite one, by the way. Surya: Even during interviews, I've used the phrase many times that iGaming is less innovative compared to other industries.

That iGaming is a few years behind when compared with something like Silicon Valley. I've said those things a lot. But looking at the Digital Maturity Index and comparing iGaming with other digital industries like e-commerce, film, sports and others, it seems like iGaming is ranking first. Alexandra: Exactly. Surya: In terms of how digitally mature the business is being operated. That was a surprise for me.

Alexandra: It's great that you mentioned that because it's something created internally. Our analytics team introduced that index to support the research. Surya: Is it quite new? Was it in the last edition? Alexandra: No. It's completely new. We went beyond iGaming and wanted to compare the industry with other digital industries. We found a lot of really interesting facts. iGaming got 4.67 out of five in terms of digital maturity.

As you correctly mentioned, that's the top position among the other industries compared. We can also take a look at overall market size and growth speed. We see that iGaming is growing faster than many other industries. (09:41 - 11:44) Surya: Prediction markets have obviously been the talk of the year. I'm curious to understand what experts in the report have to say about prediction markets. Where is it going? Is it a trend? Is it a big bubble? What's the key insight?

Alexandra: Honestly, I would say that a few months ago, prediction markets were probably the first thing I heard when we started talking about trends. Yesterday, for example, during our presentation, and around these days, I don't hear it as much. Surya: Exactly. I was expecting something but I didn't hear it. That's why I wanted to ask you directly. Alexandra: I don't feel that it's as noisy right now as it used to be. But it's definitely a promising area for the industry.

At the same time, prediction markets are showing us that technology, the industry perspective and regulatory frameworks are moving at slightly different speeds. We see a lot of difficulties around this approach. We also see different ways to present prediction markets. For example, at SOFTSWISS we recently introduced a prediction-market platform. It's a B2B solution using a fixed-odds approach. That's different from what I would call the initial version of prediction markets.

This version could potentially be more promising for our industry in terms of regulation and the specifics of the iGaming market. But there is still space to review and observe what happens next. We definitely see high demand at the moment. The question is which model will be the most efficient over the long term. (11:44 - 12:45) Alexandra: By the way, what do you think about prediction markets? Surya: There's a lot of noise. And there are still relatively few solutions.

A lot of people come to me because I'm involved in the B2B community and ask if I know solutions that offer prediction markets. I think one issue is liquidity. It's mostly P2P. If the operator doesn't have liquidity, it's tough to maintain and sustain a prediction-market operation. Alexandra: Exactly. It's difficult in terms of regulation as well. Surya: It's still very undefined at the moment. In Europe, in many cases, it is being treated closer to sports betting.

In the US, we're seeing legal disputes involving some of the major players. It's very volatile at the moment. We have to wait and see. That's what I was trying to hear more about. (12:45 - 13:40) Alexandra: We actually have another piece of research specifically related to prediction markets.

If you're interested, or if the listeners are interested, there is a lot of information about different models, approaches to prediction markets and how the sector may grow and evolve over the short and long term. What I can say on behalf of the SOFTSWISS team is that we received a lot of requests once we introduced the prediction-market platform. We were among the first B2B providers in the industry to introduce it. We found a lot of interest from day zero.

Surya: Absolutely. It's been the talk of the year. (13:40 - 14:13) Surya: One thing to close off this quick interview. The report is obviously very big. You've probably gone through it many times already. Alexandra: Sorry for interrupting you. I have one funny fact about the report. It is that big, but the weight of the report is 900 grams. Surya: Yeah. Alexandra: I love this fact. It's really heavy. A lot of knowledge is hidden there.

Surya: If you're looking to grow some muscle, you can also use the report. But jokes apart... (14:13 - 15:55) Surya: Is there something in the report where you thought, “This is a complete surprise for me. I didn't expect this would be the case”? Did any single fact surprise you compared with what the industry always says or what we hear at conferences?

Alexandra: What surprised me most, and honestly probably the most interesting part for me, is the comparison of the iGaming industry with other digital industries. I don't think it's correct to look at the industry in isolation. Now we can see a broader picture. It helps us understand what place the industry has among other industries that work with high-load systems and face very similar challenges every day. We see that we're much closer than some people might think.

Surya: And the thing you mentioned about digital maturity? Alexandra: Yes. It's just a proof point of that. Honestly, the fact that the growth of the industry is going to decrease from around 30% annually to around 9% annually is also giving us a very visible and important signal that the industry is indeed becoming more and more mature. I think that's a really good sign. (15:55 - 16:27) Surya: Cool.

Thank you for joining me and for sharing the key takeaways, as well as discussing some of the elements I've been curious about since yesterday. I'll see you on the next one. Alexandra: Thank you so much. Surya: Thank you, guys. That's it for this one. Do share your thoughts in the comments below. You can download the report from the SOFTSWISS website. If you have any questions for Alexandra, ask them in the comments below. We'll see you on the next show.

Alexandra: Thank you for the interesting conversation.

(00:00 - 00:48) Surya: We are in an industry that wants to hold information secret before things go live. Alexandra: Look at the industry from different angles, from different perspectives. We didn't have enough structured data. The best idea is to create it. Surya: 500 industry professionals, 65 experts, after analysing 480,000 media signals. How did they actually do it? Alexandra: The audience base is growing year by year. We can clearly see what changes are happening.
Surya: Is it a trend or is it a big bubble? Alexandra: Definitely a promising area for the industry. Reports like this are helping to build the strategy. (00:48 - 01:34) Surya: We are here in Lisbon. iGaming Real Talk is launching the seventh edition of Real Roadshow, where we spoke to 24 leaders and experts covering insights and conversations from the expo floor, but also from the sky. Stay tuned for more on that.
This series is brought to you by the SOFTSWISS 2027 iGaming Trends Report, featuring five years of insights and trusted by 32,000 readers. (01:34 - 02:12) Surya: Hello and welcome back to another episode of iGaming Real Talk. We are here in Lisbon with Alexandra from SOFTSWISS. Today we're going to discuss the SOFTSWISS 2027 iGaming Trends Report. Alexandra, welcome to the show. Alexandra: Thank you so much.
It's really a pleasure to join you here today, especially since we have just launched the fifth edition of our report. We started it more than five years ago, and having the fifth edition in my hands is a great pleasure for me today. Surya: Definitely. I was at the press event yesterday. Very exclusive, very well organised, and we discussed the takeaways.
(02:12 - 04:56) Surya: One of the things that really came to my mind is that over the last five years, there have been more than 30,000 downloads across the editions. We're in an industry that wants to hold information secret before things go live. Companies don't always want to share before they launch. But you've been running this report for about five years now. What's the whole intention behind the report itself?
Alexandra: When we started this project more than five years ago, we faced the issue that we didn't have enough structured data. Not enough research. Not enough information for building a full business and marketing strategy. If you don't have this data, if you don't have this information, which is pretty common for other industries, the best idea is to create it. It will obviously be useful not only for your brand but for other brands as well and for the industry itself.
Therefore, we started this project with our marketing team, especially the content team. Moreover, SOFTSWISS is a technology strategic partner, which means we're working with different types of businesses across the industry. We work with operators, service providers and payment providers. We have the ability to look at the industry from different angles and different perspectives and connect all these insights together. That was another idea behind the report.
We were the first back then. Now it's the fifth report and the audience base is growing year by year. You mentioned more than 30,000 downloads. Namely, it's more than 32,000 downloads and we expect even more this year. I think it's really valuable not only for us and our partners, but for the whole industry. Reports like this are helping to build strategy. They're helping to create the strategic decisions that are needed to grow your business.
That's why we keep doing this and pushing the idea behind the report. (04:56 - 07:26) Surya: When it comes to the methodology itself, I saw at the beginning of the report that the insights were gathered from more than 500 industry professionals, 65 experts and after analysing 480,000 media signals. That's a lot of analysis and insight gathering before publishing the report. But someone watching the show might still think, how did they actually do it?
How can this be trusted and considered credible? What would you tell them? Alexandra: First of all, we have quite a lot of experience. We have four editions that have already been published. We have that base. That's one of the advantages we have at the moment. We're not taking insights from nowhere. We can compare what facts were given back then with what facts are being given today.
We can clearly see what changes are happening, what became hype and what can be read as a real signal. That base of many years of research gives us confidence that the material we're doing is much stronger. As you mentioned, we interviewed different internal and external experts. We conducted different surveys across industry events and beyond. We also worked with co-authors and partners.
We worked with industry organisations and data partners who helped us with particular numbers related to the industry. We also went beyond iGaming. We worked with Amazon Web Services to discover more about AI issues related to the industry and other digital industries as well. We wanted to connect different perspectives, including perspectives that aren't directly related only to iGaming.
(07:26 - 09:41) Surya: I was checking the report again this morning to prepare for the interview. Alexandra: A lot of pages, right? Surya: A lot of pages. It felt like I went back to school preparing some reports. One thing that really caught my attention is the Digital Maturity Index. Alexandra: My favourite one, by the way. Surya: Even during interviews, I've used the phrase many times that iGaming is less innovative compared to other industries.
That iGaming is a few years behind when compared with something like Silicon Valley. I've said those things a lot. But looking at the Digital Maturity Index and comparing iGaming with other digital industries like e-commerce, film, sports and others, it seems like iGaming is ranking first. Alexandra: Exactly. Surya: In terms of how digitally mature the business is being operated. That was a surprise for me.
Alexandra: It's great that you mentioned that because it's something created internally. Our analytics team introduced that index to support the research. Surya: Is it quite new? Was it in the last edition? Alexandra: No. It's completely new. We went beyond iGaming and wanted to compare the industry with other digital industries. We found a lot of really interesting facts. iGaming got 4.67 out of five in terms of digital maturity.
As you correctly mentioned, that's the top position among the other industries compared. We can also take a look at overall market size and growth speed. We see that iGaming is growing faster than many other industries. (09:41 - 11:44) Surya: Prediction markets have obviously been the talk of the year. I'm curious to understand what experts in the report have to say about prediction markets. Where is it going? Is it a trend? Is it a big bubble? What's the key insight?
Alexandra: Honestly, I would say that a few months ago, prediction markets were probably the first thing I heard when we started talking about trends. Yesterday, for example, during our presentation, and around these days, I don't hear it as much. Surya: Exactly. I was expecting something but I didn't hear it. That's why I wanted to ask you directly. Alexandra: I don't feel that it's as noisy right now as it used to be. But it's definitely a promising area for the industry.
At the same time, prediction markets are showing us that technology, the industry perspective and regulatory frameworks are moving at slightly different speeds. We see a lot of difficulties around this approach. We also see different ways to present prediction markets. For example, at SOFTSWISS we recently introduced a prediction-market platform. It's a B2B solution using a fixed-odds approach. That's different from what I would call the initial version of prediction markets.
This version could potentially be more promising for our industry in terms of regulation and the specifics of the iGaming market. But there is still space to review and observe what happens next. We definitely see high demand at the moment. The question is which model will be the most efficient over the long term. (11:44 - 12:45) Alexandra: By the way, what do you think about prediction markets? Surya: There's a lot of noise. And there are still relatively few solutions.
A lot of people come to me because I'm involved in the B2B community and ask if I know solutions that offer prediction markets. I think one issue is liquidity. It's mostly P2P. If the operator doesn't have liquidity, it's tough to maintain and sustain a prediction-market operation. Alexandra: Exactly. It's difficult in terms of regulation as well. Surya: It's still very undefined at the moment. In Europe, in many cases, it is being treated closer to sports betting.
In the US, we're seeing legal disputes involving some of the major players. It's very volatile at the moment. We have to wait and see. That's what I was trying to hear more about. (12:45 - 13:40) Alexandra: We actually have another piece of research specifically related to prediction markets.
If you're interested, or if the listeners are interested, there is a lot of information about different models, approaches to prediction markets and how the sector may grow and evolve over the short and long term. What I can say on behalf of the SOFTSWISS team is that we received a lot of requests once we introduced the prediction-market platform. We were among the first B2B providers in the industry to introduce it. We found a lot of interest from day zero.
Surya: Absolutely. It's been the talk of the year. (13:40 - 14:13) Surya: One thing to close off this quick interview. The report is obviously very big. You've probably gone through it many times already. Alexandra: Sorry for interrupting you. I have one funny fact about the report. It is that big, but the weight of the report is 900 grams. Surya: Yeah. Alexandra: I love this fact. It's really heavy. A lot of knowledge is hidden there.
Surya: If you're looking to grow some muscle, you can also use the report. But jokes apart... (14:13 - 15:55) Surya: Is there something in the report where you thought, “This is a complete surprise for me. I didn't expect this would be the case”? Did any single fact surprise you compared with what the industry always says or what we hear at conferences?
Alexandra: What surprised me most, and honestly probably the most interesting part for me, is the comparison of the iGaming industry with other digital industries. I don't think it's correct to look at the industry in isolation. Now we can see a broader picture. It helps us understand what place the industry has among other industries that work with high-load systems and face very similar challenges every day. We see that we're much closer than some people might think.
Surya: And the thing you mentioned about digital maturity? Alexandra: Yes. It's just a proof point of that. Honestly, the fact that the growth of the industry is going to decrease from around 30% annually to around 9% annually is also giving us a very visible and important signal that the industry is indeed becoming more and more mature. I think that's a really good sign. (15:55 - 16:27) Surya: Cool.
Thank you for joining me and for sharing the key takeaways, as well as discussing some of the elements I've been curious about since yesterday. I'll see you on the next one. Alexandra: Thank you so much. Surya: Thank you, guys. That's it for this one. Do share your thoughts in the comments below. You can download the report from the SOFTSWISS website. If you have any questions for Alexandra, ask them in the comments below. We'll see you on the next show.
Alexandra: Thank you for the interesting conversation.