NEXT Focus: Emerging Verticals New York 2027

NEXT Focus: Emerging Verticals is a single-day event from NEXT.io, the company that also runs NEXT.io Summit New York. It focuses on newer U.S. gaming formats: prediction markets, social casino, sweepstakes and skill-based games. The 2027 edition is set for 12 April at Convene Hudson Yards, on the 24th floor of 30 Hudson Yards in Manhattan. It falls the day before NEXT.io Summit New York (13 and 14 April), and NEXT.io Prediction Markets follows on 15 April. The organiser cites more than 400 senior attendees. The groups it names are operators, suppliers, start-ups, investors, venture capital firms and regulators, along with developers of social games, real-money operators and legal advisers. The official page links a PDF list of companies that attended the 2026 edition, useful for checking who tends to attend before buying a pass. The format is a half-day conference with an expo floor and a networking event, with lunch and refreshments provided. Published themes cover how regulation is shifting from one U.S. state to the next, responsible gaming frameworks, and where growth is coming from in social casino and prediction markets. The 2027 agenda and speaker line-up have not been released; the relevant sections of the official page still carry material from 2026. The venue spans 72,000 square feet; the closest subway stops are 34th St-Hudson Yards and 34 St-Penn Station. One ticket type is on sale, the Event Pass, at US$499 before tax, or US$543.29 once US$44.29 of tax is added. It covers the conference and expo on 12 April, lunch, refreshments, snacks and the networking event. It does not include NEXT.io Summit New York or NEXT.io Prediction Markets, which are sold as separate events. The fit is closest for affiliates and media buyers who promote sweepstakes, social casino or prediction market products to U.S. players, because the rules for those models differ by state and the regulatory discussion addresses that directly. Operators and suppliers in the room are possible partners, and the short format suits anyone already in New York for the main summit. It is not an affiliate show, though: affiliates are not among the attendee groups the organiser lists, so the value lies in meeting operators and tracking regulation rather than in sessions on traffic or acquisition.