Beyond the Booths: Inside SiGMA World’s 120,000 SQM Expo

The SiGMA World floor has neither an obvious beginning nor an obvious end.

If you enter through the east side of Fiera Roma, the experience immediately divides into a number of different routes, with gaming suppliers and operators taking up the major B2B areas, consumer-oriented brands having their own sections, affiliates gathering around AGS, AIBC incorporating AI, blockchain and emerging technologies, and finance and FX also having their own dedicated presence.

As a result, the floor resembles not a typical trade show but rather a number of industry events put together.

Hall 3 forms one of the natural junctions, since SiGMA’s B2B and B2C activities are located around the Main Stage, together with a Media Zone and a Platinum/VIP Lounge in the vicinity. The stage hosts some of the summit’s most prominent sessions, starting off with investor Tim Draper and then covering the topics of international expansion, regulation, betting operations, compliance and leadership over the subsequent days.

Hall 5 includes yet another major gaming cluster, but with a clearly Italian character, since the Italy Stage is being introduced this year, the total number of conference stages is rising from four to five and a special forum is being set up for the home market.

The additional stage is important since Italy is not being regarded merely as the host nation. Instead, local regulations, the operators, the institutions, and the market opportunities are being incorporated directly into the conference experience.

If you continue across the venue, then the character changes once more.

Hall 2 is that of the Affiliate Grand Slam and includes the AGS Stage. Hall 7 is occupied by the AIBC, the programme shifting towards topics such as AI, blockchain, crypto and emerging technologies. Hall 8 involves financial markets via the Global Finance Stage, with discussions covering FX, fintech, payments and digital assets.

For those delegates whose businesses are already situated between different sectors, this closeness could be just as important as attending any one of the individual sessions. An affiliate, for example, can go from talks on acquisition to taking part in operator meetings. A payments company can move from discussions in the finance area to those in gaming. And a supplier of AI or blockchain needn’t spend the entire week only speaking to other technology companies.

The chance lies in the part where the two things intersect.

With more than 1,000 stands taking shape across Fiera Roma, the floor is as much about how exhibitors use their space as how much of it they occupy.

Last year’s Rome expo set the bar high. Uplatform transformed its booth into an Italian courtyard with real lemon trees, fresh lemon gelato and a lemon-toss game. BetConstruct went in a different direction, combining technology with classical architecture through exhibition spaces inspired by the Garni Temple and the Colosseum.

Elsewhere, Betmen Affiliates created a Mediterranean-style setting with a working fountain, greenery and a classic Vespa, while Black Flag Affiliates went full pirate ship, complete with sails and a giant octopus.

Last year’s designs showed how far exhibitors can take the idea of a booth when the stand itself becomes part of the experience.

Of the new additions, the most distinctive one is not of a commercial nature.

The SiGMA Foundation is making its debut with a dedicated area on the exhibition floor: the Positive Impact Village, co-hosted by the SiGMA Foundation and SiGMA World.

The space is designed to give greater visibility to the social-impact work taking place across gaming, emerging technology, affiliate marketing and financial services. Foundations, NGOs, corporate CSR programmes and social enterprises will be able to present their initiatives directly on the main show floor rather than in a separate side room.

Participation is not limited to registered charities. Companies operating within or alongside the SiGMA, AIBC, AGS and FXWorld industries can also take part if they have an active social-impact initiative, including charitable arms of industry businesses, independent NGOs, social enterprises and media organisations covering impact in technology and gaming.

Each participant receives a dedicated display panel outlining its initiative, the scope of its work and a contact for follow-up, together with a listing on the official SiGMA World Rome floor plan.

The fact that it is there is important. Instead of being located some distance from the main event, the zone is situated within Hall 5, next to the commercial exhibition space, the Italy Stage and one of the summit’s VIP areas.

This ensures that the Foundation has a continuous presence as part of the expo and provides delegates with yet another reason to stop by at a venue which is not focused on products, sales, or investment.

At an event of this size, where attention is usually counted in terms of meetings booked and leads generated, the Positive Impact Village introduces a distinctly different element to the floor.

Padel has changed from being a side activity to becoming part of the venue. The Bloko Padel Tour starts outside at Caesar’s Club Padel on 02 November, but the competition then moves to Fiera Roma. On 03 November, Hall 9 hosts the Media Duel Tour, the Bloko Padel Tour Finalissima is on 04 November, and the Media Groups Finals and Super Cup are on the last day.

The GoKart track goes an even greater distance towards departing from the standard expo format by offering an authentic racing experience in addition to the exhibition halls, with SOFTSWISS acting as sponsor.

It is only in this case that the size of the venue becomes understandable. The additional space is not merely being used to accommodate more rows of booths, but some of it is being converted into areas where delegates can compete, watch, eat or talk outside the normal meeting format.

The amount of floor space being put to use for purposes other than in a traditional booth varies. Occasionally, brands go into lounges, bars, competitions and other areas where meetings can take place without people having to sit opposite a branded desk.

Digistore24 is responsible for the Affiliate Lounge in Hall 2, whereas Stake has a VIP Lounge in Hall 5. Soft2Bet operates its own networking bar in Hall 4, and BETBY is linked to a dedicated chess area.

In other areas of the map, there is a VIP Lounge operated by bet365, another one run by Wicked Games & QTech, workshop spaces, a Shisha Lounge, a Retro Bar and a section marked Rocket League Football.

There is also a Snakes & Ladders section.

You might spend the morning attending meetings with different suppliers and still end up playing chess, racing a kart or standing by a gin bar without having left the business programme.

There will be a great many places where you can eat.

The outdoor area is going to have over 90 food and activity points. Inside the venue there are food courts in Halls 4 and 6, about 20 food trucks at the event, together with a sorbet bar, a gin bar and a beer garden.

The venue has nineteen meeting rooms, together with networking areas and a number of lounges. In Hall 3, the Media Zone and the Platinum/VIP Lounge are situated around the Main Stage, and Hall 8 has a special networking area near the finance and AIBC sections.

To anyone who has already filled their calendar, these intervals might turn out to be some of the most valuable entries on the map.

Across 120,000 sqm, SiGMA Match app helps delegates zone in on the people, booths and meetings that matter most to them. It can also be used to browse the floor plan and arrange meetings before you arrive.

When the delegates arrive, the expo will appear to have been neatly put together. Behind the scenes, however, there had been a ten-day building process in which more than 7,000 professionals turned nine empty halls into over 1,000 stands, five stages, lounges, meeting rooms, food areas, sports spaces and temporary hospitality venues.

SiGMA World will be taking place at Fiera Roma from 02 to 05 November 2026, bringing together gaming, affiliates, frontier technology and financial markets for the last major SiGMA event of the year.

The fact that there are nine halls means that there will always be another aisle to turn into. Since there are five stages, one thing will certainly clash with another thing you wanted to hear. And as a result of there being padel, GoKart, dinners, lounges, bars and side events arranged around the main business programme, it’s probably impossible to see everything.

That could well be the strongest reason for going there.

Ready to experience it for yourself? The latest SiGMA World programme and tickets are available on the official event page. If you haven’t already, secure your tickets now!