GR8_TECH on building champions, Jose Mourinho partnership and emerging markets

Partnering with Real Madrid manager Jose Mourinho is a match made in heaven given his dedication to building serial winning teams, according to GR8_TECH’s Chief Sales Officer Yevhen Krazhan. Mourinho, generally considered one of the greatest football managers of the 21st Century, became a brand ambassador at GR8_TECH in March as the iGaming supplier unveiled him as its ‘Chief Champion Officer’. Krazhan spoke to SBC at SBC Summit 2026 and outlined his view that GR8_TECH and Mourinho are the perfect partnership. He interviewed Mourinho on his podcast, Bet It Drives. “He is really an ideal brand ambassador because he is the champion himself,” he said. “He has trained champions, he has won multiple trophies, and we were really lucky to find that good of a fit to bring the ambassador close to the “winning and the champions” platform. He brings so much wisdom and so much experience. “It’s a great fit. He’s a great guy. I think his resonance and his spirit is very high, and we’re lucky to be here with the Champions positioning and having him around.” Mourinho is considered such an ideal fit for GR8_TECH because the company’s mantra is that it is building a ‘platform for champions’. The company’s stand at SBC Summit was the Champions Arena, and Krazhan explained that it was a continuation of its long-term strategy. “We expanded from the Champions Club into the Champions Arena: more open space, more opportunities, more power, energy, just more spirit to it,” he said. “As you can see, the open space format allows more people. The stand has grown just like the brand has grown, and the company has grown.” Core to this strategy is building and delivering products that can give operators the springboard they need to become champions in their respective markets. It is borne out of an understanding that not every operator has the biggest budget, but that having quicker solutions can help get to the end goal in a more efficient way. That’s why GR8_TECH headed to Lisbon to showcase a new white label sportsbook solution that is being rolled out first in Latin America. The white label solution is something that we are pushing heavily,” Krazhan said. “In the last three years, we focused mostly on turnkeys and sports solutions, but right now we see that there is a huge demand for a more sophisticated platform which needs more operational support like managed services. He added: “That’s why we’re bringing this white label (to market). We are focusing our white label on LatAm first, where we have seen huge growth. Our platform has been performing quite successfully with good conversion rates, good payback periods, break-even points are coming sooner than we are expecting according to our business cases. “That’s why LatAm was chosen as the pilot area where the white label will be, you know, initially deployed, but we will definitely expand it further.” Latin America has been a big growth region for GR8_TECH in the last few years which is another reason why it chose to pilot the white label solution there. It joins other regions like Africa at the top of the emerging markets list in the global industry. Krazahan explained how the provider approaches emerging markets, focusing on observing the local customs and adapting its strategy accordingly. He noted: “We’ve built a good understanding of the payments, of the sports content and of the casino and bonus gamification tools. “We have found a lot of keys to that market, which is a combination of good conversions, which normally requires a more operational tool, a more volume game rather than just a specific technology. It’s probably a good starting point which we could replicate and maybe increase the adoption into other macro-regions as well.”