Canada

Gaming industry heavyweights team up to launch $250m gold-standard SPAC

Published

6 years ago

November 18, 2020

The SPAC market may be flavor of the month on Wall St, but few can boast the credentials of Tekkorp Digital Acquisition Corp (TDAC). Bringing together first-class industry expertise, TDAC announced its $250m initial public offering on the Nasdaq and is now ready to accelerate the future and develop its mission to unlock the potential of fast-growing digital sports, media, entertainment and gaming companies by bringing speed and certainty to the process of becoming public.

Leading the blank check company’s $1bn-plus acquisition plans are Matt Davey, CEO, and Robin Chhabra, President, backed up by a board of directors which features a who’s who of digital and gaming industry titans, including former Caesars’ CEO Tony Rodio, Sean Ryan from Facebook, and Atlantic City veteran Morris Bailey.

This management team combines for an unrivalled track record of building, investing, nurturing, acquiring and leading digital companies in the public markets across an ever-evolving media, sports, entertainment, leisure and gaming landscape. It intends to start an aggressive acquisition drive to identify this sector’s most innovative and exciting companies whose transformation into public entities will foster metamorphic growth impact.

Matt Davey is an experienced public company executive officer, who has overseen more than ten mergers and acquisitions and over $1.2 billion in debt and equity capital raised to support the companies he has led. Most recently, he was CEO of SG Digital, the digital division of Scientific Games Corp. following a $631m purchase in 2018 by Scientific Games of NYX Gaming Group Ltd, where Davey also previously served as CEO.

For his part, Chhabra has been front and center of many of the biggest M&A deals in the digital gaming marketplace over the past decade, namely when at The Stars Group and William Hill, as well as launching FOX Bet, a landmark media-betting partnership with FOX Sports, as CEO.

Leveraging deep experience and expertise, alongside an extensive network of long-standing relationships, TDAC is uniquely positioned to strategically identify, evaluate and grow target businesses.

The leadership team’s members have been involved in a substantial number of the digital media, sports, entertainment, leisure and gaming industries’ most significant merger and acquisition transactions, invariably creating and realizing significant shareholder value amid the complexity and risk of M&A consolidation.

By corralling and maximizing the potential of its target(s), this emerging force plans to capitalize on the convergence of sports, media and gaming and the rapid growth and regulation of these sectors powered by the inexorable and catalytic trend towards the digitization of entertainment.

Matt Davey, Chief Executive Officer, said: “An acquisition by a blank check company with a management team that is well-known to, and respected by, technology company founders, their current third-party investors, their management teams and the public markets, we believe, can provide a more transparent and efficient mechanism to bring a private technology company to the public markets.”

“We intend to focus our target-sourcing efforts on assessing companies that we believe would benefit significantly from being publicly-traded.”

Robin Chhabra, President, added: “We look forward to providing attractive investment opportunities to our shareholders which capitalize on trends that fundamentally reshape the way we consume sports, media, gaming and entertainment.”

affiliate marketing

SEOBROTHERS’ Aleksandra Drigo flags higher barriers for affiliates in regulated Alberta

Published

30 minutes ago

July 6, 2026

Wladimir P.

seobrothers’-aleksandra-drigo-flags-higher-barriers-for-affiliates-in-regulated-alberta

SEOBROTHERS Chief of Business Development Aleksandra Drigo says Alberta’s move toward a regulated online gambling market is likely to raise the cost and complexity of affiliate acquisition, reshaping competition for SEO-led publishers. Drigo shared the view in an exclusive interview with SiGMA News focused on Canada’s affiliate landscape.

Drigo said regulation can bring more transparency, but also higher compliance demands and tougher economics for smaller players. “Many affiliates, especially independent SEO players, may decide not to enter fully regulated markets and instead focus on regions with more predictable economics and lower regulatory pressure,” she said.

She added that regulated markets typically advantage well-funded affiliate groups with the ability to invest in legal and compliance support and tracking infrastructure. “Regulated markets tend to favour larger players. Big affiliate companies have the resources for legal support, compliance teams, advanced tracking infrastructure, and long-term investment without expecting fast ROI.”

On partner selection, Drigo said affiliates are increasingly weighing operators on operational quality and regulatory readiness, not just commercial terms. “We pay close attention to how consistent an operator is in terms of reporting, responsible gaming policies, speed of communication, and local regulations compliance. Reputation risks affect both sides. If an operator lacks transparency or fails to follow compliance standards, it directly impacts the affiliate business as well.”

Drigo also pointed to communication and access to performance data as major friction points in operator-affiliate relationships. “Financial disagreements can usually be resolved quickly if there is trust and clear communication between both sides. Whereas, when affiliates do not receive timely information, face unclear reporting, or get no explanation for performance changes, tensions escalate very quickly. In regulated markets, communication and transparency become just as important as the financial terms themselves.”

Looking ahead, Drigo said affiliates targeting regulated North American markets will need stronger localisation, trusted brands and more diversified traffic strategies as search behaviour changes. “With AI and online search ecosystem changes already transforming the SEO landscape, affiliates need to become much more flexible and technology-driven than before. And compliance-friendly SEO strategies and diversification beyond traditional search traffic are becoming increasingly important.”

The post SEOBROTHERS’ Aleksandra Drigo flags higher barriers for affiliates in regulated Alberta appeared first on EE Gaming | Global iGaming & Tech Intelligence Hub.

Affiliate Industry

SiGMA exclusive: Aleksandra Drigo on traffic shifts, transparency, and the future of SEO affiliates

Published

3 hours ago

July 6, 2026

GamingAmericas.com

sigma-exclusive:-aleksandra-drigo-on-traffic-shifts,-transparency,-and-the-future-of-seo-affiliates

In an exclusive interview for the SiGMA News, Aleksandra Drigo, Chief of Business Development at SEOBROTHERS, shared her perspective on the future of affiliate marketing in Canada.

She discussed how Alberta’s upcoming market launch could reshape competition, why transparency has become a cornerstone of operator-affiliate partnerships, how compliance is changing the way affiliates choose partners, and why localisation, trusted brands, and data-driven decision-making will define the next generation of SEO affiliates.

Regulation will reshape Alberta’s affiliate landscape

As Alberta prepares to regulate its online gambling market, affiliates are entering a more challenging environment. While regulation brings greater transparency, it also increases compliance demands, acquisition costs, and competition – particularly from larger, well-funded companies.

“Many affiliates, especially independent SEO players, may decide not to enter fully regulated markets and instead focus on regions with more predictable economics and lower regulatory pressure,” Aleksandra said.

Bigger brands gain the advantage

According to Drigo, regulated markets naturally favour established affiliate businesses, whereas smaller publishers face much higher barriers to entry despite niche opportunities still existing.

“Regulated markets tend to favour larger players. Big affiliate companies have the resources for legal support, compliance teams, advanced tracking infrastructure, and long-term investment without expecting fast ROI.”

Compliance is now a deciding factor

Operator selection is no longer based solely on commercial terms. Affiliates increasingly assess partners by their transparency, reporting quality, responsible gaming standards, responsiveness, and ability to meet local regulatory requirements.

“We pay close attention to how consistent an operator is in terms of reporting, responsible gaming policies, speed of communication, and local regulations compliance. Reputation risks affect both sides. If an operator lacks transparency or fails to follow compliance standards, it directly impacts the affiliate business as well.”

Communication matters more than financial disputes

Drigo believes that most partnership conflicts arise not from payment issues, but from poor communication and limited access to performance data.

“Financial disagreements can usually be resolved quickly if there is trust and clear communication between both sides. Whereas, when affiliates do not receive timely information, face unclear reporting, or get no explanation for performance changes, tensions escalate very quickly. In regulated markets, communication and transparency become just as important as the financial terms themselves.”

The future belongs to trusted brands and localisation

Looking ahead, Drigo expects meticulous localisation, brand authority, first-party audiences, and community-driven products to define success in regulated North American markets. As AI reshapes search, affiliates will need stronger technology, diversified traffic sources, and compliance-friendly SEO strategies to remain competitive.

“With AI and online search ecosystem changes already transforming the SEO landscape, affiliates need to become much more flexible and technology-driven than before. And compliance-friendly SEO strategies and diversification beyond traditional search traffic are becoming increasingly important.”

The post SiGMA exclusive: Aleksandra Drigo on traffic shifts, transparency, and the future of SEO affiliates appeared first on Americas iGaming & Sports Betting News.

Canada

St8 expands Octoplay aggregation deal to Ontario and the UK

Published

4 days ago

July 2, 2026

Wladimir P.

st8-expands-octoplay-aggregation-deal-to-ontario-and-the-uk

St8 has extended its content partnership with Octoplay into Ontario and the UK, expanding distribution of Octoplay’s casino games in two regulated markets. The companies announced the move on 2 July, 2026.

Under the expanded agreement, St8 will make Octoplay’s full portfolio available to operators in both jurisdictions through St8’s single API integration.

David Fall, Business Development Manager at St8, said:

“Expanding our partnership with Octoplay into Ontario and the UK is another important milestone as we continue to strengthen our aggregation platform with premium content from leading suppliers.

“Octoplay has built an excellent reputation for developing engaging, high-performing games, and we’re delighted to extend this collaboration into two highly strategic regulated markets. This agreement enables our operator partners to access even more quality content through a single integration while supporting their growth in competitive jurisdictions.”

Ralitsa Georgieva, CEO at Octoplay added:

“We’re pleased to expand our partnership with St8 into Ontario and the UK, making our full portfolio available to even more operators through its aggregation platform. St8 has established itself as a trusted technology partner for regulated markets, and we look forward to building on our successful collaboration together.”

The post St8 expands Octoplay aggregation deal to Ontario and the UK appeared first on EE Gaming | Global iGaming & Tech Intelligence Hub.