On day 2 of conference at SiGMA Central Europe 2025, Fiera Roma, Rome, stage 2 hosted the panel; “Unlocking TikTok iGaming: Roadmap for Launch & Scale”, bringing together TikTok’s iGaming leads to outline where the opportunity sits now, how to enter markets quickly, and what it takes to scale responsibly in a regulated category. Moderated by TikTok’s Vertical Head, Leonid Blinov, the conversation set practical expectations for advertisers seeking sustained performance and compliant growth across multiple geographies.
TikTok’s iGaming leadership on stage comprised Vertical Head Leonid Blinov, Product Marketing Manager Luiza Blinova, Head of Advertiser Experience Maurizio Atzori, and Vertical Manager Timofey Gordienko, who oversaw the global iGaming rollout and manages cross-vertical projects spanning iGaming, gaming, e-commerce, and Big Tech. “This is our first time speaking about iGaming from the stage, so it’s a milestone,” said Blinov, noting dozens of live markets and a pace of updates that “policy and operations teams have to fasten their seatbelts” to match.
The panel challenged legacy assumptions about TikTok’s user base, pointing to a core audience aged 25 to 55 and early client performance “speaking for themselves” across multiple iGaming genres, including casino, sportsbook, rewarded gaming, and daily fantasy sports. “The idea that it’s only for youngsters is outdated; those users grew up, graduated, started jobs, and some now run your marketing,” said Blinov, highlighting clients spending “hundreds of thousands per day while meeting KPIs” as market availability broadens.
Product lead Luiza Blinova framed a clear funnel: “TopView captures attention, Smart converts it,” positioning TopView as the first video a user sees when opening the app for guaranteed impressions and upper-funnel impact, with current availability in the US, Australia, and Canada and more markets to follow, each with local rules on age targeting. Smart, an AI-powered automated solution, optimises budget use, reduces manual tasks, and improves creative return across objectives such as installs, registrations, and first-time deposits, with recent features including multiple URLs, product sets, creative-to-text pairing, and higher video quotas. “In a world of high content expectations and short attention spans, the challenge is being noticed and staying top of mind,” she said, underscoring why TopView sits at the top of the plan and Smart closes the loop.
Operationally, TikTok set out an eight-step onboarding flow, from advertiser account creation and net-30 payments to credit line configuration, business centre setup, allowlists, and creative reviews ahead of go live, with an agency pathway that can further simplify entry. “iGaming is a sensitive category,” noted Gordienko, urging strict adherence to local licensing, with three core requirements: provide a local licence where real-money activity is present, sign a local contract in each market, and, for social casino, share Apple and web pages for fast allowlisting since no licence is required.
Maurizio Atzori urged teams to right-size their content operations, whether in-house, through agencies, with creators, or using AI, and to anchor every build to country-specific policy pages in the Business Help Centre and the Ad Policy channel summaries. “If you want the easiest path, leverage Premium Support,” he said, citing tailored training by vertical and country, pre-reviews of storyboards and finished assets to flag issues before launch, and automated appeals handling, with API testing underway to pre-verify large volumes of assets in seconds.
TikTok’s iGaming roadmap is now live across dozens of markets, with a maturing product stack, clearer policy pathways, and support structures designed for speed and safety, giving operators a realistic route from first test to sustained scale.
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