Having taken the helm as Chief Commercial Officer at Soft2Bet just over six months ago, following over two decades building and scaling global businesses across the iGaming, sports betting and B2B SaaS sectors, Andrew Cochrane leads the Group’s global commercial strategy, international growth and strategic partnerships across highly competitive markets.
As part of the executive leadership team, Andrew is responsible for driving long-term value creation through scalable commercial execution and high-impact partnerships.
Immediately prior to iGB L!VE in London, we sat down with the CCO to talk markets, MEGA and much, much more…
GGN: Soft2Bet has expanded significantly across regulated markets – which markets are your strategic priorities for the rest of 2026, and what factors drive these decisions?
AC: When we think about the rest of 2026, North America is clearly where we are focused. It is a market with enormous long-term potential, but also one that rewards thoughtful, measured growth. Every jurisdiction is different, so success is not about expanding as quickly as possible but about entering the right markets in the right way.
Canada is a great example. We have built strong momentum in Ontario and continue to invest in the market while preparing for opportunities in Alberta. Partnerships like our recent agreement with the Hamilton Tiger-Cats are not just about visibility; they are about becoming part of the local sports ecosystem and building a brand that resonates with players over the long term.
In the US, New Jersey is our immediate priority. We are in the final stages of the licensing process, and that is an important milestone. As one of the most established markets in the country, it gives us the opportunity to demonstrate the strength of our platform in a highly competitive environment.
By leveraging technology that is already proven across multiple regulated jurisdictions and built with compliance at its core, we enable smoother market entry and greater confidence. This is the value we aim to deliver as we continue our expansion across North America.
GGN: How is Soft2Bet’s marketing strategy evolving to support both operator acquisition and long-term retention in increasingly competitive regulated jurisdictions?
AC: Customer acquisition has become a lot more sophisticated than just driving traffic. Players have high expectations, so the experience has to feel relevant from the outset. This is why we have invested heavily in hyper-localisation. Every regulated market has its own identity, behaviours and expectations, and the platform reflects this rather than taking a one-size-fits-all approach.
Retention follows the same philosophy. You build retention by delivering an experience that players want to come back to. This is where MEGA has become a real differentiator for us, giving operators the tools to personalise engagement and improve player experience.
After we activated MEGA Shoot in time for the 2026 FIFA World Cup, what we saw was that engagement did not just spike during peak periods and then fall away. We saw 31.9% engagement among active players, and 71.2% repeat participation. These numbers matter because they point to behaviour that persists beyond a single event cycle.
What this tells us is that we are creating reasons for people to come back after the World Cup ends. The next phase of iGaming will not be defined by who can acquire players fastest, but by who can design the most coherent experience within clearly defined market boundaries.
GGN: Looking at your pipeline, what are the most common operator challenges that Soft2Bet can solve in 2026?
AC: One of the biggest challenges of 2026 has been what happens immediately after the World Cup. This event will bring record volumes into sportsbooks and iGaming platforms, but the real test for operators is whether they can convert that spike in attention into sustained engagement once the tournament ends.
What we have focused on is building systems that extend the momentum of the tournament. The World Cup will drive record acquisition across the industry, and that part is straightforward. The harder problem is that post-event drop-off is where most operators could lose momentum. We have built tools that keep fans connected to the sport beyond the tournament cycle, ensuring continuity in player behaviour rather than a reset.
At the same time, operators face increasingly high acquisition costs and intense competition for players. In this environment, the focus has to shift from short-term acquisition to long-term player value. Successful operators recognise that these acquisition costs are now part of the equation and plan with retention and lifetime value in mind. Ultimately, increasing LTV and maintaining engagement beyond the tournament will be what separates sustainable growth from short-lived gains.
GGN: Which partnerships, sponsorships or strategic alliances have delivered the strongest commercial results for Soft2Bet this year, and where do you see the biggest opportunities ahead?
AC: One partnership that stands out this year is our collaboration with the World Poker Tour in Ontario. It is a great example of a strong brand with a platform built to operate in competitive markets. WPT brings a deeply engaged poker audience, and we were able to plug that directly into a localised, compliant product experience without losing speed or consistency. This combination is what operators are really looking for now.
Looking ahead, if we can continue to partner with world-class brands and give them a stable, regulation-ready pathway into new jurisdictions, then each new market entry becomes faster and more stable than the last. That is where the real scale comes from.
GGN: As regulatory requirements continue to evolve globally, how has this influenced Soft2Bet’s messaging and go-to-market strategy for new partners?
AC: Compliance is the foundation of how the Soft2Bet platform is built. Because we operate across highly regulated markets across both Europe and North America, we have had to design for regulatory complexity from the start, and that has become a real commercial advantage for our partners entering new markets.
What this means in practice is that operators are under pressure on two fronts: player expectations are rising, while traditional loyalty mechanics are losing effectiveness. Static bonus-led models do not hold up the way they used to, particularly in mature markets where margins matter more. We treat regulatory compliance as an opportunity to innovate our technology, enabling operators to use compliant frameworks as a foundation for better tools that support players and enhance engagement in a safer and more sustainable way.
Our response has been to move the product closer to engagement rather than promotion. MEGA is central to this. It is a gamified layer that replaces outdated loyalty structures with something more dynamic, whether that be tournaments, progression systems or real-time engagement mechanics. Operators also need visibility into what is actually working. We give them actionable insight at CRM level, allowing them to optimise personalisation and sustainability with clear, data-driven decision-making.
At the same time, it is important to note that you cannot scale engagement if localisation is not authentic. Each market behaves differently, and the product has to reflect this right from the start.
GGN: What trends are you seeing among operators regarding player engagement, loyalty and gamification, and how is Soft2Bet adapting its offering in response?
AC: The clear shift we are seeing is that traditional loyalty models are losing impact. Static rewards don’t really change behaviour anymore, especially in more mature markets where operators are under tremendous pressure. What is replacing this is a move toward more dynamic engagement such as gamification.
This is where MEGA comes in. It moves engagement into the product itself, whether that is through tournaments, scoring systems or ongoing challenges that keep players active in a more natural way.
Alongside this, operators want experiences that feel native to each market, and they want clear visibility on what is actually driving retention. We have built the platform around both of those needs.
GGN: By the end of 2026, what key marketing, commercial or brand milestones would you consider a successful outcome for Soft2Bet’s B2B business?
AC: Our ambition is to complete the transition from a high-growth provider to an established and trusted partner for global iGaming & entertainment brands by the end of the year. The commercial and operational disciplines we have embedded across the business allow us to consistently meet the exacting standards of leading operators. Expansion into newly established markets and the acquisition of additional licences will further entrench our position, while MEGA ensures that innovation continues to underpin our growth as we scale.
From a market perspective, securing additional regulatory licences is part of building this foundation. It is what allows us to keep expanding without losing speed or control in how we deploy.
And then on the product side, MEGA is the anchor. The goal is to keep raising the bar on engagement while staying grounded in reliability and compliance. If we continue to maintain our innovation in tech-leadership that actually improves operator outcomes at scale, then we are on the right track.
Our mission is not only about our own revenue growth, but about our partners’ revenue growth, as they grow with us.
