“In 2026, our focus at PowerPlay is straightforward: double down on Ontario and execute a disciplined entry into Alberta”

As 2025 comes to a close, online sportsbook and casino operator PowerPlay is ending the year after what it describes as a transformational period for the company. Over the past 12 months, the operator focused on repositioning itself in Canada and upgrading its product and marketing foundations in a regulated market.

During the year, PowerPlay migrated to a new platform provider, GiG, and relaunched its app. The company expanded sports markets, deepening its casino offering, and improving performance and payments. The company also moved its affiliate tracking to RavenTrack, invested in CRM segmentation, and leaned into local partnerships to support its positioning. 

In an exclusive interview with Yogonet, Thomas Vermeulen, Marketing Director at PowerPlay, reflects on a year that saw the operator reposition itself as a local hero brand in Canada, complete a major platform migration, refine its marketing and CRM approach in Ontario, and prepare for further expansion with Alberta set to open.

Looking back at 2025, how would you assess the year for the company? What are some of the major takeaways/highlights, achievements, or lessons learned over the past year?

2025 was a transformational year for PowerPlay – the year we did the heavy lifting to be seen as a serious local hero brand in Canada, not just a noisy challenger.

The biggest change was migrating to our new platform provider, GiG, and relaunching our app. That’s been a big experience upgrade for our players: more markets on key sports, a deeper casino lobby with games that resonate here, faster performance, smoother onboarding, and noticeably quicker payments. Our team put in a huge amount of work behind the scenes to make that transition feel seamless for players. In a regulated market like Ontario, getting those basics right decides whether you’re even in the game.

On the marketing side, we moved our affiliate tracking to RavenTrack and deliberately spread out our acquisition. We now balance regulated affiliates, high-intent search and app campaigns, and brand-driven partnerships instead of relying on a single tap.

It was also a standout sports year. The Toronto Blue Jays’ World Series run gave the whole country a story to rally around, and we used it to speak to both hardcore bettors and casual fans in a controlled way.

We leaned into our local hero positioning through the Ottawa Black Bears partnership and invested heavily in CRM, moving from blanket campaigns to segmented journeys. The key lesson: in regulated Canada, you can’t shortcut trust. Platform, payments, brand and CRM all have to line up.

Which issues and trends would you say dominated the conversation this year? Any specific trends, markets, or technologies that you believe will drive change in 2026?

In 2025, a few themes kept coming up in every serious conversation: regulation, AI and automation, cost efficiency, search volatility, and the rise of crypto casinos.

Ontario continued to mature as one of the key online gambling markets in North America, with higher expectations around product quality and responsible gaming. Alberta was more in the background, but everyone knows it becomes a main focus in 2026 when the market opens.

On the tech and marketing side, AI and automation moved from buzzwords to everyday tools. They help us create and test creatives faster, automate CRM triggers, and build better cohort forecasts so we scale only what really pays back. We also introduced SEON for smarter fraud prevention, KYC and bonus abuse control, which shows how much attention the industry is putting on risk and player protection alongside growth. At the same time, repeated Google updates made SEO and paid search less predictable, pushing operators to rely more on first-party data and brand strength instead of easy clicks.

Crypto casinos stayed in the background of all this. Their promise of speed, privacy and aggressive offers clearly influences what players expect on UX, responsiveness and value.

Looking to 2026, we have the FIFA World Cup arriving in Toronto and Vancouver. That gives us a long runway to connect sports, casino and live entertainment into one cohesive player experience.

What can we expect from the company in 2026? What are the main challenges and opportunities you see in the gaming industry in the upcoming 12-month period?

In 2026, our focus at PowerPlay is straightforward: double down on Ontario and execute a disciplined, well-planned entry into Alberta.

On the product side, that means getting even more out of our GiG migration: more Canadian-relevant games and markets, a faster and cleaner app, and payments that keep building confidence. On the marketing and CRM side, it means strengthening our analytics capabilities and rolling out Fasttrack as our new CRM engine, so we can run AI-supported but human-controlled campaigns, more tailored journeys, and activity that favours long-term engagement and responsible play over one-off spikes.

We’ll keep refining our acquisition mix so no single channel can make or break us, and we’ll use major events as moments to connect and celebrate sports successes with our players.

The main challenges are rising acquisition costs in regulated provinces, the difficulty of doing more with tighter cost and compliance limits, and standing out in a field that includes tier-one global brands and nimble crypto operators. The opportunity is that Canada is still growing, Alberta is opening, and the sports calendar is packed. If we execute well on product, operations and brand, PowerPlay can be the local hero brand Canadian players trust for the long haul.