Bragg Gaming restructures executive team amid North American growth push

Charlotte Capewell

4 March 2026 at 5:57am UTC-5

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Bragg Gaming Group has appointed Morten Tonnesen as Chief Operating Officer while promoting Garrick Morris to Executive Vice President of Global Content US and Canada.

The restructuring comes as Bragg seeks to enhance operational output and focus on its regional operations in the US and Canada, as well as internationally.

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Bragg said it recorded major growth in its fourth quarter, up 76% year-on-year and up 69% for the full year compared to 2024. Bragg links the growth to its ‘Bragg AI Brain’ plan, which looks to integrate AI into its day-to-day operations and transform the company into an AI-first business.

Tonnesen brings with him more than 17 years of industry leadership experience. Before joining Bragg, he was Chief Growth Officer at engagement software group Xtremepush from 2024 to 2025. Between 2021 and 2024, he served as Chief Commercial Officer at the igaming service provider Shape Games.

Tonnesen also founded the LatAm-focused sports betting operator BetWarrior in 2018 and spent six years working at online operator PokerStars. In a statement, he added that his focus would be on expanding the company’s growth through its new AI initiative.

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Morris joined Bragg in 2024 as Senior Vice President for the US and Canada. He had 15 years of experience in igaming management, including four years as Chief Operating Officer at Digital Gaming Corporation from 2020, Operations Manager at Microgaming from 2014 to 2018, and was an IT Platform Manager at Derivco from 2011 to 2014.

Speaking about his promotion, he said he looked forward to accelerating the company’s growth, especially through its planned expansions in prediction markets and historic and live racing.

Charlotte Capewell brings her passion for storytelling and expertise in writing, researching, and the gambling industry to every article she writes. Her specialties include the US gambling industry, regulator legislation, igaming, and more.

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The Backstory

Why Bragg is reorganizing now

Bragg Gaming’s latest leadership shuffle lands after a run of moves aimed at turning North America into its fastest-growing market and embedding artificial intelligence across the business. The company has highlighted sharp year-over-year gains in the fourth quarter and for the full year, crediting early steps toward an “AI-first” model. Elevating operational oversight and separating regional mandates is a logical follow-on to initiatives Bragg has already set in motion: deeper U.S. partnerships, a credit cleanup to back expansion and a technical roadmap centered on data science-driven product decisions.

The timing also reflects a shifting competitive field. Suppliers are racing to win distribution and content deals with U.S. operators as more states warm to online casino, while Canada continues to mature as a regulated market. Headline growth is no longer enough. Vendors need differentiated content pipelines, interoperable tech stacks and faster iteration cycles to keep pace with operator demands and player churn. Bragg’s restructuring acknowledges that stakes.

Content deals set the North American pace

Bragg signaled its U.S. ambitions by deepening its collaboration with Hard Rock Digital this year, agreeing to build a slate of exclusive online casino titles for Hard Rock Bet. The company framed the arrangement as a way to showcase its development capabilities while scaling its presence in a priority market. The exclusive portfolio will debut in New Jersey with the option to expand alongside Hard Rock’s footprint. The move builds on a prior integration of proprietary Bragg content, including titles from its Wild Streak Gaming, Atomic Slot Lab and Indigo Magic studios, into Hard Rock Bet’s catalog.

Securing exclusive shelf space at a brand with national recognition is more than a marketing win. It grants Bragg a controlled testing ground for iterative design, data collection and promotional mechanics tailored to U.S. preferences. If well executed, the Hard Rock pact can shorten feedback loops between player behavior and product updates, aligning with the company’s emphasis on faster, AI-informed development. Read more about the company’s plans to deliver exclusive online casino games for Hard Rock Bet.

The broader market backdrop shows why this matters. Other suppliers are moving to lock in distribution and market access through platform partnerships that lift their visibility with operators and regulators. Sydney-based studio Red Desert Games, for example, tapped Light & Wonder’s Spark partner program to take its titles across North America via the Infinity aggregation platform. That alliance underscores how newer studios can accelerate entry by leaning on incumbent infrastructure rather than going state by state alone. The Red Desert-Light & Wonder tie-up offers a reference point as Bragg pursues a hybrid approach of proprietary content, partner studio output and selective exclusives. See details on Red Desert’s distribution deal with Light & Wonder.

AI-first strategy moves from vision to execution

Bragg has sketched a plan to become a fully AI-first company by 2027, with near-term deliverables focused on predictive modeling for player value, churn windows and personalization. A recent partnership with Golden Whale Productions advanced that agenda by plugging machine learning and proprietary models into Bragg’s player account management platform. The integration is designed to automate workflows, refine incentive strategies and tailor casino experiences at scale, while giving operators proof-of-concept access to evaluate uplift before committing to broader rollouts.

Crucially, the Golden Whale collaboration ties AI outputs to time-bound commercial goals. Forecasts at 30-, 90- and 365-day intervals and churn probabilities over three to 30 days translate directly into retention plays, cross-sell timing and bonus efficiency. That kind of instrumentation is increasingly expected by enterprise operators that calibrate spend around lifetime value and compliance constraints. Formalizing executive oversight, as Bragg just did, can ensure these models inform content roadmaps and market prioritization, not just post hoc analytics. Learn more about Bragg’s data science push in its AI partnership with Golden Whale.

Balance sheet cleanup to back expansion

Product and partnership strategies are only as durable as the financing behind them. Bragg recently retired US$5 million of a US$7 million loan from entities tied to a board member and extended the remaining US$2 million to June 6, 2025. The board unanimously approved the extension, and the company said it is pursuing a new third-party credit facility on better terms, targeting lower borrowing costs and more flexible access to capital. Management framed the moves as a way to reduce reliance on working capital support while preserving standby credit for strategic opportunities.

For a supplier investing in exclusive content, AI infrastructure and U.S. market launches, cheaper and more flexible debt can be a competitive lever. It allows Bragg to time investment around regulatory openings and partner roadmaps, weather seasonal revenue swings and react quickly to content performance signals. The company also pointed to an unaudited outlook calling for revenue growth in 2024 and double-digit expansion in 2025, framing the capital structure work as a confidence marker. More on the liability reduction is in the company’s note on settling US$5 million of debt and pursuing a new credit facility.

Rising competitive pressure across the supply chain

North American momentum has pulled a wider ecosystem of technology providers into the arena. Sportsbook platform vendors are beefing up local sales and partnerships to capture demand from operators seeking modular stacks and faster integrations. Sportsbook software provider Altenar, for instance, appointed a Miami-based sales manager dedicated to North America to expand relationships with U.S. operators. The company highlighted direct operator pain points and the need to tailor B2B offerings to evolving compliance and performance requirements. That type of specialization is becoming the norm along the value chain. For context, see Altenar’s North American sales appointment.

For Bragg, the takeaway is clear: suppliers that match content with demonstrable performance lifts and local operating expertise will have an edge. Exclusive game pipelines with marquee brands can open doors, but ongoing placement depends on measurable retention, conversion and ARPU gains. The company’s AI-first posture and recent capital moves position it to argue those gains with data, not just pipeline headlines.

The executive restructuring closes the loop by aligning leadership around these priorities. With U.S. and Canadian growth singled out, and a mandate to fold predictive intelligence into development and operations, Bragg is betting that tighter regional focus and faster decision cycles will convert recent partnerships and technology bets into durable share. The next milestones to watch are exclusive title performance at Hard Rock Bet, the pace of AI model deployment into operator workflows and the terms of the anticipated credit facility that will underwrite the company’s North American push.