Another year, another 12 months of leadership changes across the ever so busy iGaming industry, as companies made structural adjustments to a period of countless business opportunities and challenges – including new CEOs.
As the industry readies itself for what will likely be another demanding year, with tax hikes and regulatory reviews either already in place or on the horizon in many markets, SBC News is taking a look back at this year’s biggest CEO appointments.
Stella David, Entain
Arguably the biggest appointment of the year, Stella David stepped up from the interim leadership role at Entain to become permanent CEO of one of the world’s biggest gaming firms.
It’s fair to say that David had a tough job on her hands this year, with Entain running the gauntlet of an increasingly challenging UK market where its Ladbrokes and Coral omnichannel brands are highly exposed.
The company’s financial performances continued to show improvements, however, after some struggles the year prior. The impact of UK tax hikes announced in November and set to roll out from April next year may prove to be David’s biggest challenge yet, though.
Gillon McLachlan, Tabcorp
Kicking off the year strong, Gillon McLachlan took on two of the most important roles at Australian market leader Tabcorp – Managing Director and CEO way back in January.
Tabcorp has dominated Australian betting, both retail and online, for many years, but has been facing increasing competition from the likes of Entain’s Neds and Ladbrokes, Flutter Entertainment’s Sportsbet, CrownResorts’ Betfair, and bet365, among others.
Australian betting has also been feeling the political pressure this year, and although widespread reforms have not materialised it’s highly likely that McLachlan will have to steer the company through some regulatory change at some point in the coming years.
Andrew Vouris, Entain Australia and New Zealand
Sticking down under and also returning to another familiar company, Andrew Vouris became CEO of Entain’s highly significant Australia and New Zealand division during the second half of the year.
Ladbrokes and Neds are two of Australia’s biggest betting brands behind Tabcorp, while the wider Oceania region is important to the firm due to it securing a 25-year deal to exclusively operate the TAB NZ state-owned bookmaker – becoming the only legal betting firm in New Zealand in the process.
It’s not all sunshine and sandy beaches in Australasia for Entain, however. The firm finds itself operating in the same challenging environment as Tabcorp, and to top it off is facing an extensive regulatory investigation by Australia’s finance watchdog AUSTRAC at the time of writing, though it strongly denies any wrongdoing.
Ulrik Bengtsson, Sun International
Gaming is no stranger to some big movers from firm-to-firm, and Ulrik Bengtsson is no stranger to some of the industry’s biggest international companies.
The iGaming veteran’s career has seen tenures as CEO of Betsson Group from 2012-2017 and William Hill from 2018-2022, while he was most recently Chairman of the Board at affiliate group Raketech.
Towards the start of the year, it was announced that Bengtsson would leave Raketech, and it was later confirmed that he was taking on the top job at South Africa’s biggest betting and gaming group, Sun International.
Easily Africa’s most lucrative and widely regarded as one of its best regulated markets, South Africa is at a critical juncture – the industry there is now a huge economic segment, but this has raised a lot of concerns around social responsibility and societal impact that operators regulators will need to address.
Mattias Wedar, LeoVegas
All good things must come to an end eventually, and this year saw a huge changing of the guard as LeoVegas Co-Founder and sole CEO for the past 14 years, Gustaf Hagman, announced his departure from the role.
Hagman was replaced in the leadership spot by Deputy CEO Mattias Wedar, having overseen the company from its Nordic origins to European expansion to acquisition by MGM Resorts.
Wedar takes the reins as CEO as LeoVegas navigates the same regulatory and taxation pathways as other prominent European iGaming firms while also continuing to upgrade and expand its sports betting propositions.
“The success story that Gustaf and Robin began 14 years ago is stronger than ever, and we see many exciting opportunities on the horizon,” he said at the time. “I am honored to have been entrusted with the challenge of taking on the role of CEO in LeoVegas Group’s new chapter, and I look forward to continuing to lead us towards new milestones.”
Sacha Dragic, SuperBet / Super Technologies
And last but not least, although not strictly a new appointment, Sacha Dragic found himself taking on more responsibilities as the sole CEO of SuperBet, coming at a significant time for the company.
Just under two months after he took on sole leadership duties from Jimmy Maymann, who will remain with the firm as an advisory, SuperBet announced a rebrand to Super Technologies – intended as a reflection of its new global focus.
On top of the leadership change and rebrand, SuperBet has continued to establish itself as a prominent brand in both its founding nation of Romania and new market Brazil, where it has secured a foothold as one of the biggest brands there. The firm also secured €1.3bn in capital investment from Blackstone this year.