ICE 2025 Post-Show Report & Comparative Analysis

I attended ICE 2025 in Barcelona on Wednesday 22 January, the show's last day. ICE stands for “International Casino Exhibition,” and represents sectors such as gambling and iGaming (i.e., online betting). Aside from this basic level of information, I must admit that didn’t know much about the event before attending.

Why did I attend? Firstly, it is always refreshing to attend events in adjacent industries to be inspired by new people, perspectives, and trends. Secondly, sectors such as iGaming and betting are part of the entertainment sphere, and this show could present interesting crossovers with the broadcast and media industry. And it did, albeit perhaps not as much as I expected.

ICE attracts 55,000 visitors from 170 countries, and it was great to meet a few people from the Media Tech industry at the show. I recommend reading the report that Janet Greco did to share her reflections on the show.

Below is a short report on my experience at the event, my key observations and comparative analysis to highlight similarities and differences between ICE and important shows in our sector such as IBC or NAB Show.

This report is particularly aimed at people who do not know anything about the show and would like to find out more about it.

Key Observations

Size and Distribution of the Event

As I said earlier, the show attracts 55,000 visitors from 170 countries. Hence, it is quite a big show. Compared to shows I know better like ISE, NAB Show and IBC, however, this is an industry with bigger and fewer exhibitors, which is immediately noticeable as soon as you step into the event. The ICE website reads that it features 630+ exhibitors, which is less than half of the 1,400 attracted by ISE in 2024, for example.

Look and Feel

I thought that the look and feel of the booths at ICE reflected the industry’s grandiose approach and glamour. Some booths like Novomatic’s were massive and covered the full length of the hall (see this video about Novomatic's booth at ICE London in 2023 to have an idea of what I mean). Some of the booths featured casino-themed layouts as well as bars that resembled those in Las Vegas.

The size of the booths was also a sign of the opulence of this sector, as this is an industry growing at a rapid pace, particularly in its iGaming segment. There was no evidence of market saturation or cautiousness in spending, something we have heard much recently in broadcast, media and streaming.

Marketing and Messaging

This was perhaps the most interesting aspect to me. Compared to Media Tech shows, the marketing and messaging on the booths were less focused on specific technologies (e.g., cloud, IP, AI, AR, etc.) and more on business outcomes and functions (e.g. customer retention, compliance, etc.).

This might reflect a less technical and/or more pragmatic audience, though I am not sure about the principal cause behind it. Definitively, there was less buzz surrounding specific technologies at this show.

Aside from the largest booths, most of the technology presentations were also basic and simple, focusing on a single, powerful message rather than on a list of features or applications.

Technology Trends and Crossovers

Despite the wealth of data in sectors such as betting, there was not as much focus as I had expected on Gen AI at the show. Even though there was some Gen AI here and there (at the Sportsradar booth, for example), I thought that there was a greater emphasis on analytics tools and AI technology for pattern recognition (e.g., tracking player behaviour, understanding user journeys, and optimizing engagement).

Concepts like loyalty engines, bonus programs, and churn prevention are core to this industry. And this is one of the crossovers with broadcast and media, particularly with streaming, which has increasingly focused on using data for engagement and subscriber retention in the last few years.

There was some AI in compliance and fraud detection solutions, which are natural application areas for the technology as they are essentially about recognizing patterns.

I also saw very little immersive technology at the show. The only company focused on this I can remember is Zeus VR, which, according to its website is:

“Reshaping the gaming landscape by seamlessly combining blockchain technology and virtual reality to create the largest gaming platform in Web3. Experience luxurious casino gaming from the comfort of your own home.”

Potentially, this could also be a crossover with broadcast and media though it was featured too little to add it to the list.

The other relevant crossover was the technology infrastructure for online betting which was prevalently showcased in halls 4-5. Betting requires low latency as many applications in broadcast and media, particularly in live settings.

I also saw several companies focused on Crypto payments in this area. Payment technology was heavily featured at the show, and this could represent another “fringe” crossover, particularly for those interested in B2C business models and monetization.

Finally, there was an Esports area at the show, though this was a bit isolated from the main halls. This is another crossover with our industry, as in the Esports realm live broadcasting and gaming intersect.

ICE by Hall

Hall 2: iGaming

iGaming refers to online gambling and betting, including software for casinos, poker, and more. This is a report on the sector I found through a QR code exhibited at the show (the report was published just before the event), for those of you interested in diving deeper into this topic. The iGaming hall featured a range of companies including software businesses, white-label platforms, analytics tools and immersive experiences.

Hall 3: Land-Based Gaming

“Land-based” refers to traditional, physical casinos and their operations. This hall felt as if a slice of Las Vegas had been transported to Barcelona! It reminded me of ISE’s LED display technology hall as well, though these displays were all looking similar. Despite its brightness, this part of the exhibition was a bit less relevant and exhibited almost no crossovers with Media Tech.

Halls 4-5: Betting and Payments

For me, this was perhaps the most interesting part of the exhibition. These halls were the most mixed, featuring a wide variety of technologies representing the backbone of the betting industry: payments, compliance, and regulatory technology. The booths here showcased solutions for fraud detection and financial risk management as well. Moreover, the hall also featured technologies addressing latency for betting, essential for real-time applications, and innovations in crypto payments and identity verification. There was a lot, and more parts of this hall were relevant to our industry.

Conclusion

ICE 2025 provided a fascinating glimpse into an industry that, while adjacent to broadcast and media, operates on different priorities.

The show also provided valuable insights into the fast-growing iGaming and betting sectors, revealing a few crossovers with broadcast and media.

Key areas of overlap include the use of analytics for user engagement and low-latency technology for live applications.

Our objective at Dovetail Pulse is to help companies navigate the convergence between different media sectors by providing a deep understanding of market dynamics and audience needs through data. Reach out if you are interested.