Bragg Gaming CEO Matevž Mazij transitioned to Strategic Adviser, COO Morten Tonnesen made Interim CEO

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The Backstory

Shareholder pressure set the stage

Bragg Gaming Group’s leadership change followed months of pressure over governance, strategy and the company’s ability to convert market access into sustainable earnings. The move of Matevž Mazij from chief executive to strategic adviser, with Chief Operating Officer Morten Tonnesen stepping in as interim CEO, was not an isolated boardroom reshuffle. It came after shareholders delivered a clear rebuke at the company’s annual meeting and as Bragg prepared to report third-quarter results against a backdrop of uneven revenue trends, restructuring and an ambitious North American growth agenda.

The key inflection point came in June, when Mazij offered to resign as a Bragg board director after failing to win majority shareholder support. He received 44.33% of votes in favor and 55.67% against, a sharp contrast with the other directors up for re-election, who secured support ranging from 82% to 99.84%. Under Canadian corporate rules and Bragg’s governance policy, he could remain a director until the resignation offer was accepted, a successor was appointed or elected, or 90 days had passed from the annual meeting.

At the time, the company did not specify whether the vote against Mazij’s board re-election would affect his executive role. That distinction mattered. Mazij had been CEO since August 2023 and had chaired the board from June 2023 until April 2025. His history with Bragg also ran deeper than the CEO title: He previously led Oryx Gaming, the supplier Bragg acquired in 2018, making him central to the technology and content assets that remain core to Bragg’s investment case.

Growth story met earnings volatility

Bragg’s strategic narrative has focused on regulated-market expansion, proprietary content and technology services for operators looking to differentiate their digital casino products. The company has repeatedly highlighted growth in the United States, Canada, Brazil and other regulated markets as a counterweight to pressure in parts of Europe. Yet the financial picture has been mixed, leaving investors to assess whether Bragg’s product momentum can scale fast enough to improve margins and cash generation.

In the first quarter, Bragg reported a 7.1% revenue increase to €25.5 million, with gross profit rising 20.3% to €14.3 million and adjusted EBITDA increasing 19.7% to €4.1 million. The company attributed much of the improvement to the U.S., where revenue rose 150% and accounted for about 15% of total revenue. Brazil, where the regulated igaming market opened in January, contributed about 10% of revenue. Those gains were important because the Netherlands, historically a major market for Bragg, was under pressure from higher gambling taxes and stricter deposit limits.

The company said that excluding the Netherlands, revenue grew 27% year over year in the first quarter. That framing underscored both the opportunity and the vulnerability: Bragg was reducing dependence on a challenged market while relying on rapid expansion elsewhere to offset the drag. The first-quarter update, detailed in Bragg’s report of revenue growth driven by the U.S., helped support the case that the business could diversify geographically. But subsequent figures showed the transition was not linear. In the second quarter, Bragg recorded €22.9 million in revenue, down 12% from a year earlier, narrowed its operating loss to €1.9 million and saw its net loss widen to €2.9 million.

North America became the proving ground

The company’s North American strategy has been built around supplying online casino content and technology to major operators rather than competing directly for consumers. A central example was Bragg’s expanded relationship with Caesars Entertainment, which moved beyond standard content supply into exclusive game development and technology leasing. The arrangement allowed Caesars to use Bragg’s Remote Gaming Server technology to support proprietary online casino games in regulated Canadian and U.S. markets.

That deal gave Bragg a higher-profile role in one of the most competitive regions in digital gaming. Caesars also had options to license Bragg HUB, the company’s product delivery and aggregation platform, and Bragg’s Fuze player engagement tools, including bonuses, jackpots, free rounds and AI-powered recommendation features. The expanded partnership, described in Bragg’s online casino collaboration with Caesars, was positioned as a driver of double-digit revenue and profitability growth in 2025.

The stakes are significant because the U.S. online casino market remains limited to a smaller number of states than online sports betting, but revenue per market can be substantial where full igaming is legal. For suppliers such as Bragg, winning proprietary game development and platform roles with large operators can provide recurring revenue, credibility and a route to scale without carrying the marketing costs of consumer-facing brands. At the same time, major operators can demand high execution standards, leaving less room for operational missteps.

Bragg’s performance in the U.S. also intersects with broader questions about its balance sheet and cash flow. The company has talked up opportunities in regulated markets, but investors have been watching whether those wins translate into improved profitability. The leadership change places Tonnesen in the position of having to sustain commercial momentum while tightening execution.

AI-first push brought restructuring

Bragg’s leadership reset also followed a broader internal restructuring tied to its push to become an AI-first company. The company has promoted its Bragg AI Brain initiative as a way to improve operations, product development and customer engagement. It has also reduced its global workforce by about 12% and pursued technology-led changes, including a plan to acquire Drayton International. The shift suggests management sees automation and data-driven tools as central to protecting margins and increasing competitiveness in a crowded supplier market.

Tonnesen’s rise fits that strategy. Bragg appointed him chief operating officer during an executive restructuring designed to increase operational output and sharpen focus on the U.S., Canada and international markets. He brought more than 17 years of industry experience, including roles at Xtremepush, Shape Games, BetWarrior and PokerStars. His background spans commercial growth, sports betting, engagement software and digital gaming operations, giving the board an operator with experience across products and markets.

At the same time, Bragg promoted Garrick Morris to executive vice president of global content for the U.S. and Canada. That appointment signaled that proprietary and exclusive content for North America would remain a priority. Morris had joined Bragg in 2024 after roles at Digital Gaming Corporation, Microgaming and Derivco, adding experience in game operations and platform management. Together, the changes pointed to a company trying to align management with the markets and product categories it believes can drive growth.

Commercial depth remains a priority

Bragg has also sought to strengthen its sales organization as it expands beyond legacy revenue concentrations. In September, the company named Matej Filipančič global sales director, bringing back an executive who had previously spent more than five years with the company. Filipančič had worked on adapting Bragg’s player account management platform for regulated markets, including the Netherlands, which later became the company’s largest revenue source.

His return came at a pivotal moment. Bragg’s portfolio includes aggregation, proprietary games, player account management technology and Fuze engagement tools. Selling that mix requires more than adding casino titles to operator lobbies. It involves positioning Bragg as a technology partner able to help operators launch, localize and differentiate products in regulated jurisdictions. The company’s expansion with Caesars, its U.S. growth and its Brazilian revenue contribution all depend on that kind of commercial execution.

The leadership transition therefore places Bragg at a crossroads. Mazij remains connected to the business as a strategic adviser, preserving institutional knowledge and relationships. Tonnesen, however, now carries responsibility for day-to-day execution at a time when the board has emphasized balance sheet strength, operating cash flow and disciplined deployment of technology, content and services. The immediate test is financial: showing that Bragg can stabilize revenue, narrow losses and turn market access into durable profitability. The broader test is strategic: proving that its AI-led restructuring, North American expansion and proprietary content push can deliver value after shareholders signaled impatience with the prior governance path.