2025 winners

Operator of the year

Kaizen Gaming
Gold

"Kaizen Gaming stands out as the Operator of the year 2025 due to their continued expansion, with more than 1.4 million total events, 1 million live events, and 600,000+ live-streamed matches annually across 44+ sports and 5,000+ tournaments, the judges recognise Kaizen Gaming's delivery of the scale, depth, and variety expected from a global market leader."

LeoVegas
Silver

tombola
Bronze

Affiliate of the year 

Gambling.com Group
Gold

"In a challenging market with regulatory and technology developments Gambling.com have been a stand-out performer, displaying huge growth.  They have successfully navigated these challenges focussing on their digital fundamentals, quality of traffic and being agile to diversify in their approach."

FairPlay Sports Media
Silver

skores media
Bronze

Casino operator

Kaizen Gaming
Gold

"Now operating in 19 international markets, the judges would like to reward Kaizen Gaming due to their unprecedented global expansion. Kaizen were the first to apply for a license in a newly regulated market, Peru, and subsequently achieved 100% provider retention. Their player centric approach and commitment to innovation firmly plants the operator as an industry leader."

Coolbet
Silver

PlayOJO
Bronze

Sports betting operator

Kaizen Gaming Gold

"Kaizen have successfully entered a number of new markets in the judging period whilst continuing to develop their brand in their already strong markets.  They saw a high level of revenue growth in the year driven by the entry into new markets, their focus on global brands, new partnerships and market leading innovative products."

Betsson Group
Silver

ComeOn Group
Bronze

Individual achievement award

Richard Kearns, Buzz Group

"The judges would like to reward Rich for his continued leadership which has been pivotal across a range of projects throughout Buzz Group including flagship club refurbishments, building Buzz’s live-streamed bingo operation and spearheading the creation and launch of Big Money Live, all while pushing boundaries and bringing teams together. Rich is truly recognised as a unifier across departments within the business and led by Rich, Buzz Group has delivered a truly transformative year."

Innovator of the year

Novibet
Gold

"Novibet launched in an entirely new marketing segment across Brazil, onboarding nearly half a million users in three months by leveraging innovative localization strategies and partnerships. Through pioneering Amazon Ads in casino marketing and introducing female voice-overs Novibet successfully drove impressive GGR growth."

PlayOJO
Silver

Buzz Group
Bronze

Employer of the year

Bally's
Gold

"The headline judging panel were impressed by the commitment to DEI and impeccably strong culture, particularly the values lived through the ‘All One Team DNA’ approach, especially given the transaction history over the past 6 years. This is to be commended, especially when recognising the long tenure of much of the workforce."

ComeOn Group
Silver

BetMGM
Bronze

Affiliate programme

bet365 partners

"bet365 Partners represents the industry benchmark: unparalleled acquisition and retention figures, world-class platform innovation, and a globally trusted brand that affiliates can bank on. Renowned for affiliate-friendly practices, bet365 builds lasting partner relationships through trust and transparency."

Bingo operator

Buzz Bingo

"Buzz Bingo is reshaping the bingo sector by combining innovation with a strong community focus. Live-streamed bingo and creative campaigns like Dab and Gab showcase both product quality and marketing strength, leading to a 38% increase in registrations on Big Money Live days. Engagement is further boosted through social media and live hosts, helping to build a lively and connected player community. Their bold vision and innovative approach set a new standard for the industry."

Highly commended: tombola

Casino product of the year

PlayOJO

"There's clear innovation with the new games and new functionality delivered over the relevant period. There's a clear commitment to a cross-platform approach and also clear evidence of a player-first approach as regards the Safe Mate Tool and commitment to responsible gambling messaging. There is also clear evidence of positive player metrics and commercial metrics. "

Crypto operator

Yolo Entertainment

"Yolo Entertainment’s crypto gambling products stand out for their innovation across Sportsbet.io and Bitcasino, with impressive metrics. Cross-platform support ensures a smooth experience on mobile and desktop, with 11 languages and multiple cryptocurrencies supported."

Football betting operator

Kaizen Gaming

"Kaizen Gaming’s football betting platform offers innovative features that boost user engagement and satisfaction. Offers a top-tier, fully owned tech stack with localized, high-quality football betting products."

Horse race betting operator

BOYLE Sports 

"There is clear evidence of commitment and a demonstration that they are super-serving punters with a SmartView product that is innovative, well-conceived and gives punters a new and superior proposition with very serious consideration given to user experience and flexibility."

In-house product

Betsson Group

"Anchored by Techsson playform and sportsbook, good information on significant enhancements in the past 12 months including a new front-end framework rolled out in 2025, improving site speed, flexibility, and UX across devices, as well as stronger AI and machine learning integration, particularly in our responsible gambling tools, support automation, and predictive models. Sown good growth in revenue tear on year and an increase margin."

In-play sports operator

Kaizen Gaming

"Kaizen Gaming delivers the most compelling case with exceptional quantifiable results: +25% growth in in-play users and revenue, supporting 650+ concurrent live events with >99.9% uptime. Their genuine innovations—zero-delay betting on safe incidents, industry-first Live Bet Builder across four sports, and AI-powered social features demonstrate true market leadership."

Lottery operator

Lottoland

"Growth, commercial success and great YoY financial improvements. Innovative partnership in Brazil and improvement in SA Android app (lite app)."

Marketing campaign - operators

BetMGM

"BetMGM UK turned both sponsorships and ambassador-driven messaging into a multi-layered, interactive campaign that delivered creative engagement, viral visibility, and commercial growth."

Highly commended: PlayOJO

North American operator of the year *new for 2025*

BetMGM

"BetMGM delivered market-leading financial growth, major omnichannel, sports, and iGaming innovation, and robust player safety leadership, establishing itself as one of North America's most mature and dynamic operators."

Omnichannel operator *new for 2025*

Hard Rock Bet

"Utilising a shared points scheme but have managed to get customers online into a land-based environment - not only for cross sell but also to allow online customers to engage in the Hard Rock experience which can only make them far more loyal. It’s the perfect brand for Omnichannel and executed in a very good way."

Highly commended: Buzz Group

Operator rising star

Jackpot

"Great business model and some great partnerships. 85% YoY growth and a 7-Eleven partnership is impressive scale and shows product strength in a tough market."

Poker operator

GGPoker

"GGPoker stands as the world’s largest and most innovative online poker operator, dominating the industry with unmatched growth, record-breaking tournament series, and a robust global player base. In the past year, GGPoker’s World Festival awarded over $324 million in prizes with 5.6 million entries—far surpassing all competitors."

Safer gambling operator

OPAP

"OPAP presents a highly impressive and comprehensive approach to responsible gambling, demonstrating strength across all judging criteria. The submission is exceptional for its scale, integration of technology, measurable outcomes, and clear evidence of both internal and external impact. They seem to be genuinely going the extra mile over and above the strict legal obligations that they have."

Highly commended: Bally's

Slots operator

PlayOJO

"PlayOJO’s submission demonstrates a strong combination of scale, innovation, brand strength, and commercial success. An impressive slots library, smart features (AI-powered recommendations etc), bold campaigns, their brand is fun, and their growth numbers are impressive. It’s a slots experience built around the player."

Sports product of the year

Kaizen Gaming

"A compelling submission with clear evidence of revenue growth, innovation and strong products. The metrics, growth and reach are persuasive. Crash-free sessions are important to every player and the levels quote here clearly evidence reliability."