Phil Pearson: iGaming Industry 2025 in Review

Phil Pearson: iGaming Industry 2025 in Review

🎙 NEXT.io Podcast #256 with Phil Pearson, iGaming Consultant.


Another year. Another cycle of hype, pressure, pivots, and hard lessons.


In this episode of the NEXT.io Podcast, Phil Pearson joins Pierre Lindh to unpack what really happened across iGaming in the past 12 months beyond the headlines.


Together, they explore the widening gap between innovation headlines and real progress, the pressure leaders are facing behind the scenes, the growing importance of focus over scale, and why many companies are quietly reassessing their priorities.


It’s a grounded conversation about what moved the needle, what didn’t, and what lessons are worth carrying into the year ahead.


⏰ Timestamps:

00:00 - Intro

00:41 - Sponsor messages

02:04 - Welcome Phil Pearson

04:06 – Yolo’s move into regulation: why it matters

06:38 - Personal reset: health, sabbatical & perspective

11:55 - Biggest industry stories of the year

14:19 - Charity, Dar Bjorn & responsibility in iGaming

16:17 - Investigative journalism

33:27 - Game Studio Awards: overview

33:33 - Best studio of the year

39:29 - Best newcomer studio

40:39 - Worst studio of the year

44:01 - Most underwhelming game releases

49:56 - Live game of the year

51:21 - RNG game of the year

52:36 - Best industry freebies & swag

57:23 - Grey products explained

58:12 - Sweepstakes, prediction markets & loopholes

01:12:56 - The defining trend of 2026: grey products

01:30:02 - Events review: what worked, what didn’t

01:49:00 - Final outlook: where the industry is heading


🔔 SUBSCRIBE TO THE PODCAST

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Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/next-io-podcast/id1515442333


CONNECT WITH NEXT.IO

✩ Website - https://next.io/


This episode of NEXT.io is brought to you by:

Pragmatic Solutions – Leading iGaming platform technology.

https://pragmatic.solutions/


Pragmatic Play – Industry-leading content provider.

https://www.pragmaticplay.com/en/


Sponsored by:

Creedroomz - https://www.creedroomz.com/

Jaksot(467)

Pierre Lindh #45 - Ben Clemes, CCO, GiG (Past, Present, and Future)

Pierre Lindh #45 - Ben Clemes, CCO, GiG (Past, Present, and Future)

Ben oversees the Commercial team at GiG, with responsibility for commercial agreements with our various suppliers and pricing models for GiG’s ever-expanding product range. His background is casino management, including MGM in Las Vegas, and Head of Casino Operations for Nordic Gaming Group. Ben joined GiG in 2013, as Head of Casino Operations and co-founder of Guts, and progressed to Managing Director of iGaming Cloud (a vertical in GiG now called GiG Core) in 2016, and was announced as CCO in late 2017.

26 Helmi 202153min

Pierre Lindh #44 - Robert Andersson, CEO, Acroud (Acroud future, leadership, Streaming, USA)

Pierre Lindh #44 - Robert Andersson, CEO, Acroud (Acroud future, leadership, Streaming, USA)

Robert Andersson is a passionate company builder with 18 years in leading positions with a great network in the Swedish and Baltic investment community. Focus on Business Development, marketing, strategic and organizational planning in the areas of Media, Games, and Product Development.

24 Helmi 202157min

Jesper Kärrbrink #3 - Sergey Portnov, Parimatch, CEO (Why go west when you can go east?)

Jesper Kärrbrink #3 - Sergey Portnov, Parimatch, CEO (Why go west when you can go east?)

Sergey became Chief Executive Officer of Parimatch Holding in 2015. He has transformed the Company from a bookmaker trading out of physical stores into an innovative online technology business and internationally recognized lifestyle brand. Sergey has restructured the Company and transformed critical operational and business processes, leading to the Company's vigorous growth and performance. As CEO, Sergey's primary responsibilities at Parimatch include the development and implementation of high-level strategy, managing overall trading operations and resources as well as acting as the contact between the board of directors and the wider business. Under his leadership, Parimatch has become a unified team with shared values of integrity and responsibility.

16 Helmi 202146min

Pierre Lindh #43 - Björn Nilsson, Triggy, Co-founder and CSO (The imminent disruption of the sports betting market)

Pierre Lindh #43 - Björn Nilsson, Triggy, Co-founder and CSO (The imminent disruption of the sports betting market)

Björn started as a management trainee to Pontus Lindwall more than 20 years ago. Since then he has been committed to the industry and worked in various capacities with betting, trading, poker, and casino in both b2b and b2c businesses of various sizes. A serial entrepreneur that launched Triggy with two colleagues in 2017.

15 Helmi 202129min

Pierre Lindh #42 - Oisin Lunny, Senior Forbes Contributor (ESG is King)

Pierre Lindh #42 - Oisin Lunny, Senior Forbes Contributor (ESG is King)

Oisin Lunny is an award-winning marketer, webinar and podcast host, MC, public speaker, virtual event consultant, and journalist. His work has been read over half a million times as a senior contributor to Forbes, The Guardian, and others. Oisin has spoken at over 250 conferences in every corner of the world, including TEDx and six times at SXSW, and he has worked in a series of leading global technology firms over the past 20 years.

11 Helmi 202148min

Jesper Kärrbrink #2 - Paris Smith, CEO, Pinnacle

Jesper Kärrbrink #2 - Paris Smith, CEO, Pinnacle

Paris Smith’s career in online gaming spans more than two decades, which includes more than 12 years as CEO of Pinnacle (www.pinnacle.com), one of the world’s most respected online bookmakers. Paris’ unmatched understanding of the online gaming business has led to her advising governments to develop regulatory frameworks, as well as working closely with key industry service providers.

10 Helmi 202143min

Karolina Pelc #1 - Ulrik Bengtsson, WilliamHILL, Chief Executive Officer

Karolina Pelc #1 - Ulrik Bengtsson, WilliamHILL, Chief Executive Officer

Ulrik Bengtsson was appointed CEO of WilliamHILL on 30 September 2019, having been appointed CEO Designate on 5 September 2019. He had joined the Group as Chief Digital Officer and a member of the Group Executive Committee in April 2018. Ulrik was previously President and Chief Executive of Betsson Group, the Stockholm listed betting and gaming company that operates via gaming licences in 11 countries across Europe and Central Asia, until stepping down in September 2017. Ulrik has a B.Comm. from Dalhousie University in Canada, where he also played varsity ice-hockey. He is a fan of Chelsea FC.

9 Helmi 202125min

Jesper Kärrbrink #1 - Kresimir Spajic (Deep dive into the US market)

Jesper Kärrbrink #1 - Kresimir Spajic (Deep dive into the US market)

Kresimir Spajic is Senior Vice President of Online Gaming for Hard Rock International. Spajic is responsible for leading the vision, strategy and operational execution behind the brand’s investment across interactive gaming platforms. Spajic is instrumental in securing new strategic partnerships and future opportunities to further position Hard Rock Hotels & Casinos as a global leader in the international and online gaming spaces. Spajic holds a multidisciplinary graduate degree in management, law and humanities from SDA Bocconi School of Management (Italy), University of Neuchâtel (Switzerland) and De Montfort University (England). He is based in Hollywood, Fla., at the Hard Rock International headquarters.

9 Helmi 202151min

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