2023 Global Gaming Awards and Top Executive Nominations Announced
It’s that time of year again; the Global Gaming Award London Nominations are out! This year’s event has two new accolades: online slot of the year and platform provider of the year.
History of GGA
The Global Gaming Awards are among the most prestigious in the industry, and the 2023 event will be the sixth London round. There are three GGA ceremonies per year. The UK event is the first, held in February, recognising the gambling industry’s finest companies and individuals across Europe and Africa. The second event focuses on Asian operators, and the third; the flagship Global Gaming Awards, takes place in Las Vegas in October, covering the Americas.
How do the nominations and awards work?
Nominations are made based on merit, and yearly performance, with the reason for nomination made public in the GGA’s, shortlist magazine. Gambling Insider runs the awards, and KPMG governs the voting and adjudication. BetConstruct is the lead partner this year, while category sponsors include Bragg Gaming, Wazdan, Evoplay, GET, SOFTSWISS, Upgaming, Amusnet and Digitain.
The winners are decided by a panel of 60 industry executives (these can be viewed on the GGA website), with KPMG ensuring fairness and complete transparency. No executive can sway decisions in any company or person’s favour. There are additional rules to ensure this; for example, if you are a judge and your company is nominated (or a company you are associated with), you may not vote in that round/s. Only one judge per company is allowed.
What awards are given?
The awards cover the whole industry, online and land-based, business and customer-facing:
- Retail Operator of the Year
- Online Sports Betting Operator of the Year
- Retail Supplier of the Year
- Online Sports Betting Supplier of the Year
- Casino of the Year
- Online Casino of the Year
- Casino Supplier of the Year
- Online Casino Supplier of the Year
- Online Slot of the Year
- Payment Solution of the Year
- Service Provider of the Year
- Product Launch of the Year
- Affiliate Program of the Year
- Social Responsibility of the Year
- Executive of the Year
Who is nominated?
The full shortlist is yet to be published, but it will be released on January 12th. For now, we know the Executive of the Year shortlist (detailed below). Julian Perry, Editor in Chief of Gambling Insider, commented, “We are particularly excited about the 2023 edition of our London Awards […] Every year we receive more and stronger nominations than the year before, so naturally, it gets harder and harder to finalise the Shortlist. All I can say is anyone who is shortlisted should be immensely proud.”
Who’s in the running: executive of the year
- Robert Chvátal: Allwyn
- Gustaf Hagman: LeoVegas
- Natalia Gilevich: Parimatch, Ukraine
- Jette Nygaard-Andersen: Entain
- Carsten Koerl: Sportradar
- Simon Thomas: The Hippodrome Casino
- Neil Fairweather: bet365
- Jenna Ekström: Paf
- Aregnaz Hakobyan: Digitain
- Walter Bugno: Games Global
- Simon Hammon: Relax Gaming
- Tsachi Maimon: Aspire Global
- Dan Taylor: Flutter Entertainment
- Itai Pazner: 888 Holdings
- Olabimpe Akingba: Association of Nigerian Bookmakers
- Valentina Bagniya: SOFTSWISS
- Brigid Simmonds: Betting & Gaming Council
- Erwin Van Lambaart: Casinos Austria
- Pascal Camia: Monte-Carlo Société des Bains de Mer
- Michael Silberling: Metropolitan Gaming
- Stéphane Pallez: FDJ
- Irina Cornides: Pragmatic Play
- Lara Falzon: Bragg Gaming Group
- Petra de Ruiter: Holland Casino
- Jesper Svensson: Betsson Group
When will we know the winners?
Nominees are notified by email, with shortlists published in the official GGA shortlist magazine. The winners will be announced on February 6th at London’s Hippodrome Casino. The event will be live-streamed via social channels for those who cannot attend. While the awards recognise the achievement of the last twelve months, they set the tone for which operators and companies are the ones to watch for the year ahead.
