Wager Games won the SBC First Pitch at SBC Summit Americas after competing against a group of startups aiming to win a prize package to support expansion.
The B2B social sports betting software provider won the 2025 edition of the SBC First Pitch competition after presenting an overview of its product offerings and a business plan to a panel of industry and investment experts. The competition saw Wager Games compete against four other finalists who also presented in front of the panel and a live audience.
The panel of esteemed judges included Defy the Odds and Life Winning founder Paris Smith, Land Vegas CEO and founder David Fica, Drive by DraftKings partner KiKi Mills Johnston, Nvenue COO Quinton Singleton, Cardinal Sports Capital Managing Partner Scott Secord and Open Venture Capital Managing Partner Kimberly Nixon.
Wager Games used First Pitch as an opportunity to expand its reach in the industry.
“SBC is the premier sports betting conference in America,” Wager Games CEO and founder Kelson Quan told SBC Americas. “As a startup, it’s good to get involved in the community and past winners have done really well so we wanted to be part of that.”
Wager Games provides its clients with social content to integrate in sportsbook and online casino apps to bolster customer retention and engagement. Since its launch in 2019, the content provider has landed deals with major gaming entities including Kambi and Bally’s.
Earlier this month, Wager Games secured a deal with Kambi to integrate its social infrastructure into Kambi Engage, a third-party supplier ecosystem. The partnership provides Wager Games with access to more than 50 sports betting and iGaming brands.
Wager Games’ recent growth in the industry resonated with the panel of judges. The company works with gambling brands and is also eyeing sports leagues and teams.
“We’ve got media outlets, affiliates and leagues talking to us that believe the real estate we have inside of sportsbooks is really cool and they want their stuff there too,” said Wager Games CPO Ben Levitt. “On the partnership side, we expect to do some things with large media companies and hopefully leagues.”
Wager Games also used First Pitch to network and see where it can improve as a business.
“It was great getting feedback from the judges and getting your name out there,” added Quan. “We’re in a place where we want to be meeting as many people as we can.”
Wager Games will continue its upward trajectory with a prize bundle valued at over $110,000. The company has won one year of API access to sports data from Are You Watching This? and MetaBet, which is valued at $48,000. Wager Games is taking home $10,000 in promotional credits from AWS, and $5,000 in credit toward gambling-related legal services provided by Royer Cooper Cohen Braunfeld LLC. The California-based content supplier also received a $5,000 package from Square in the Air, an exclusive brand or web design package worth $3,100 from Vegas Kings, press distribution worth $2,550 from GameOn and a 6-month Sports & Emerging Verticals subscription from Eilers & Krejcik Gaming valued at $25,000.
Wager Games also received an SBC promotional package. The package, valued at $11,000, includes six months of advertising on SBC sites.
“It’s an exciting time for us,” continued Levitt. “We’re incredibly excited to continue learning about how to deliver the best product that we can and also continue delivering the most value to our clients to provide the best experience to their users.”
The four other First Pitch finalists included live poker odds engine Sidebetz, AI-driven SaaS platform provider PromptBet.ai, video game wagering platform Gamewagrs and AI-powered B2B audio platform Staked AI.
