The gambling industry learned the hard way in 2020 that Soccer, or Football if you prefer, is an irreplaceable part of any sportsbook offering. At a pair of panels at the SBC Digital Summit CIS, experts looked at the best way to keep the offering alive going forward, and the lessons learned from when it mostly went away.

At the first panel, named “Betting and Sports,” retired Barcelona midfielder Gaizka Mendieta discussed the need to keep sports betting safe for the customer to keep regulators in countries like, oh let’s say Spain, happy. “There’s now a sense of responsibility from official bodies and organizations to make it responsible for those who have access to these platforms. I know for sure because I’ve worked with different organizations that they’re trying to combine those two things.”

Speaking of Spain, which placed sponsorship and advertising limits on gambling operations, Mendieta believes there is a way forward to make everyone happy. “In particular, the Premier League and La Liga are working on trying to find a middle point where they’ll be allowed to do so and La Liga is now in talks with the government. In La Liga, I think about all but four or five clubs all have some sort of partnership with betting related companies.”

He revealed that sports leagues can do more thanks to gambling partnerships. “Thanks to these revenues and income, they can support grassroots, academies, etc. It’s beyond what most people do actually see in this relationship.”