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Web3 Fantasy Sports Platform Gambit’s Private Alpha Launch Sees 23,000 Registered Players in First Two Weeks Following US$1.5M Pre-Seed Funding Round

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  • Pioneering a more accessible fan-centric gaming environment for the web3 fantasy sports ecosystem

  • NBA Finals excitement brings in players from across the world, with especially high engagement in Indonesia, Vietnam, the Philippines, and India 

  • Powered by crypto venture studio SuperLayer, backed by innovators across web3, sports, and technology  such as Joe Montana and Marc Andreessen 

Gambit, a tokenized fantasy sports platform that allows players to build, trade, play, and earn through their favorite sports, has enjoyed a successful Private Alpha Launch throughout the NBA Playoffs and is capitalizing on the excitement of the NBA Finals this week as the Warriors and Celtics tie going into Game 3.

Gambit has seen significant and sustained user growth over the course of the NBA Playoffs with over 26,000 registered players invited to test the Alpha product from a waitlist of over 130,000. Engagement has been highest in Southeast Asia and India, accounting for over 60% of players.

Communities are at the cornerstone of web3 ecosystems and Gambit has already seen mass appeal on a global level, with players across Asia accounting for the majority of its current users. This is in line with the growing internationalization effort driven by the NBA, which has seen significant popularity in markets across Southeast Asia such as the Philippines and Indonesia. Compounded with strong adoption of play-and-earn and free-to-play (FTP) gaming across the region, Gambit has experienced impressive global engagement figures through the NBA Finals, with a more winnable and fan-friendly product.

Once the NBA season comes to a close in mid-June, Gambit will be gearing up for its next milestone — a public allowlist Beta launch — focusing on bringing a new sport and over 100,000 users onto its platform. Soccer will be making its debut on the platform this year, starting with the “Big Five” European leagues. While the Beta waitlist for the soccer season will begin with current players, new members will be given many opportunities to experience the Beta product for themselves. Gambit will also be working to release its platform to a wider audience during its full public launch later this year.

Commenting on the growth seen to date, Riaz Lalani, Founder of Gambit, said: “Today’s fantasy sports ecosystem has largely forgotten about the fans — games are more about crunching numbers than the fun and enjoyment that comes with being a sports fan. At Gambit, we want to put the power back in fans’ hands, enabling them to own the fantasy sports journey from start to finish. We’re taking the play-and-earn dynamic one step further, empowering our users to play-to-own. We’re excited to offer an ecosystem that every sports enthusiast deserves and has a collective stake in.”

Rather than simply address the shortcomings of existing fantasy platforms, Gambit is forging a new path by prioritizing accessibility, ownership, and fun over the transactional nature of traditional web2 fantasy sports. The community ethos of web3 ensures greater persistence and retention among users through the $GMBT token, which encourages alignment across customers, builders, and stakeholders. However, Gambit does tackle the critical pain point of equal odds and equal outcomes in today’s fantasy sports market. With existing platforms heavily skewed towards experts, Gambit ensures that casual fans have the opportunity to win alongside hardcore players, making the gameplay equally enjoyable and accessible for everyone involved.

To support Gambit in its next phase of growth as it transitions out of its Alpha Launch, the project has received US$1.5 million in pre-seed funding from SuperLayer, a venture studio born out of and made exclusively for web3. Incubated through SuperLayer, Gambit also benefits from unparalleled access to the resources and expertise of the $RLY Network, which supports multiple layer-one protocols including Ethereum and Solana, providing liquidity across tokens.

Mahesh Vellanki, Managing Partner of SuperLayer, said: “Over the past year, NFTs have radically transformed the world of sports — from the gamification of the digital sports collectible market to the rising popularity of NFTs across basketball to Formula 1, it’s clear that franchises, teams, leagues, and fans alike have all come to recognize the value that crypto brings. Gambit is taking this one step further by leveraging fungible athlete tokens in a way that provides a next-gen product experience for players, while simultaneously solving tangible problems faced by traditional fantasy sports operators. We’re thrilled to be supporting Gambit as they demonstrate the true utility that crypto can bring to traditional consumer applications.

Led by a team with a proven track record across the worlds of crypto and venture capital, projects within the SuperLayer ecosystem benefit from access to a best-in-class network of founders and a multi-disciplinary bench of successful backers. These include Andreessen Horowitz managing partner Marc Andreessen, Animoca Brands co-founder Yat Siu, former NFL quarterback Joe Montana, Japanese professional football player Keisuke Honda, early-stage blockchain investor Jehan Chu, and many more. SuperLayer is also a partner of the RLY network, an open, decentralized network, that supports an ecosystem of consumer crypto applications with the goal of bringing the next 100 million users into crypto.

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Bragg Gaming Group

Bragg Strengthens Executive Team for Enhanced Content Strategy, North American Growth, and AI-First Transformation

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Bragg Gaming Group has announced the appointment of Morten Tonnesen as its new Chief Operating Officer and the promotion of Garrick Morris to the position of Executive Vice President of Global Content, US and Canada.

These immediate management changes emphasize Bragg’s strategic focus on aggressively scaling and expanding the high-margin content business globally, especially throughout the US and Canada. This global content business demonstrated significant growth, increasing by 76% in Q4-2025 compared to Q4-2024 and achieving 69% growth for the full year 2025 compared to 2024. This growth is supported by the acceleration of the “Bragg AI Brain” initiative and the company’s future presence in key emerging markets, such as Historical and Live Racing and Prediction markets. The organizational realignment represents the necessary final steps following the structural cost changes announced in January 2026.

Matevž Mazij, CEO of Bragg Gaming Group, said: “I’m thrilled to welcome Morten to Bragg and congratulate Garrick on his promotion. Both leaders are highly qualified, bringing extensive iGaming expertise that will be vital as we embark on our next chapter: becoming a global B2B leader in Content, Engagement, and Infrastructure and what we believe will be iGaming’s ‘AI-First’ company. Our cutting-edge tech stack has moved beyond the investment phase and is now a proven cash generator engineered for horizontal scaling.

“We believe their contributions will strengthen our ability to deliver operational leverage, meet our goals to streamline internal processes, enhance overall efficiency across our organization, and advance us further along the path toward EBITDA growth and net profitability. Importantly, with Morten streamlining operations and Garrick focused on U.S. and Global content expansion, we also believe that we are uniquely positioned to provide the robust iGaming ecosystems required by leading players in the evolving Historical and Live Racing and Prediction markets. We believe Bragg will stand out as the sole B2B provider operating at the convergence of iGaming, Sports, and Predictions.”

As Chief Operating Officer, Mr. Tonnesen’s mandate includes driving operational leverage and implementing Bragg’s ambitious artificial intelligence (AI) transformation. The goal of this transformation is to establish Bragg as an AI-First company by 2027. This transition is supported by specific 2027 objectives: ensuring AI-Enhanced Products are standard in over 90% of new launches and integrating AI into more than three-quarters of Bragg’s operational workflows.

Mr. Tonnesen brings over 17 years of progressive leadership experience in the iGaming, sports betting and technology sectors. He is recognized for his expertise in scaling complex businesses, driving cost efficiencies and operational excellence, and successfully executing high-impact initiatives to expand into new markets and achieve profitable growth. Before joining Bragg, Mr. Tonnesen served as Chief Growth Officer at Xtremepush, a leading provider of AI-powered CRM and loyalty marketing. Prior to his role at Xtremepush, which he joined in 2024, he was Chief Commercial Officer at Shape Games, an award-winning digital B2B platform and service provider for the iGaming industry, which was subsequently sold to Kambi. Earlier in his career, he co-founded and successfully exited the sports betting operator BetWarrior, now a major player in LatAm. He also spent six years in various roles at PokerStars. Mr. Tonnesen holds a Bachelor of Science in General Economics and a Master of Science in Strategy, Management, and Organisation from Copenhagen Business School.

Mr. Tonnesen said: “It has been captivating to watch the scale, scope and speed with which Bragg is already building the Bragg AI Brain and, thereby, transforming itself into an AI-first company. With Bragg navigating a combination of increasingly complex regulatory compliance requirements and recent tax headwinds in the Netherlands and other regions, exciting new emerging market opportunities in the U.S. and elsewhere, and potential consolidation in the overall global iGaming and Prediction markets, my near-term focus will be squarely on helping steer the Bragg AI Brain toward protecting the Company’s cash runway and driving its EBITDA growth.”

Mr. Morris first joined Bragg as Senior Vice President Commercial for the U.S. & Canada in 2024. In an iGaming management career spanning more than 15 years, before joining Bragg, he served as Chief Operating Officer at Digital Gaming Corporation, Operations Manager at Microgaming, and IT Platforms Manager at Derivco. Mr. Morris has a Bachelor of Economics from Stellenbosch University.

Mr. Morris said: “Since I first joined Bragg in May 2024, we have significantly expanded our U.S. content footprint through the launch of our newest games, Remote Gaming Server technology, and Player Account Management platform. I look forward to working with the team to help further accelerate growth, including via our planned strategic entrance into the Historical and Live Racing, and Prediction markets segments, with the aim of enhancing value for our shareholders.”

The post Bragg Strengthens Executive Team for Enhanced Content Strategy, North American Growth, and AI-First Transformation appeared first on Americas iGaming & Sports Betting News.

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Wazdan’s North American Growth Accelerates Following FanDuel Alliance

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Wazdan, the player-centric developer, has further strengthened its notable North American presence by forming a partnership with FanDuel, a top iGaming company in the area.

The deal represents a crucial milestone in Wazdan’s continuous global growth, as FanDuel introduces two feature-packed games at the same time in Ontario and Michigan, enabled by Light & Wonder’s aggregation platform.

In Ontario, gamers can experience Mighty Fish: Blue Marlin and 36 Coins, two games that highlight Wazdan’s distinctive blend of familiar themes and performance-focused mechanics. In Michigan, 12 Bells and Hot Slot: 777 Crown will offer players captivating gameplay designs centered on clarity, rhythm, and extensive features.

After the initial launch, FanDuel’s famous iGaming platform, FanDuel Casino, will have its collection expanded by a wide array of new slot games, each meticulously selected to include various Wazdan features that enhance player engagement like Cash Infinity™, Hold the Jackpot, and Sticky to Infinity™, all aimed at increasing entertainment and providing tangible growth for operators.

The newest expansion capitalizes on Wazdan’s progress in North America, succeeding in Michigan, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and previous entries into West Virginia.

Radka Bacheva, Head of Sales at Wazdan, said: “Partnering with FanDuel represents a major milestone in Wazdan’s North American growth strategy and underlines the strong demand for our engagement-driven portfolio across regulated markets.

“FanDuel’s reach and reputation make them an ideal partner, and launching simultaneously in Ontario and Michigan is a powerful way to introduce our games to new audiences. We are confident that our feature-rich titles and proven mechanics will resonate strongly with players and deliver tangible value for FanDuel as we continue to scale our presence across the region.”

The post Wazdan’s North American Growth Accelerates Following FanDuel Alliance appeared first on Eastern European Gaming | Global iGaming & Tech Intelligence Hub.

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Canada

PointsBet Canada to Contest Proposed 5-Day Suspension by AGCO

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PointsBet Canada confirmed it will request a hearing before the independent Licence Appeal Tribunal to contest the Notice of Proposed Order issued by the Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario (AGCO) on February 12, 2026, proposing a five-day suspension of its operator registration.

PointsBet claims that the proposed sanction overemphasized an isolated incident that was a result of human error, not a systemic issue. The company also said that it did not intentionally withhold information from gaming regulators, and it immediately sent the necessary information once it was discovered.

The operator, which launched in Ontario in April 2022, also said that it cooperated fully with the AGCO’s investigation.

“We have a strong compliance record in Ontario and remain fully committed to the highest standards of integrity and player protection. We look forward to presenting our case at the Tribunal,” said Scott Vanderwel, PointsBet Canada Chief Executive Officer.

The post PointsBet Canada to Contest Proposed 5-Day Suspension by AGCO appeared first on Americas iGaming & Sports Betting News.

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