Exclusive: Is Retention Now the Real Growth Engine? Entain COO Dainis Niedra on Building Long-Term Value

As competition for new players intensifies across mature gaming markets, operators are increasingly looking beyond acquisition to build sustainable long-term growth. Retention, localization, customer experience and operational discipline are becoming critical to maximizing player lifetime value.

In this exclusive interview with iGaming News Today, Dainis Niedra, COO at Entain, reflects on more than two decades in the gaming industry and discusses managing operations across multiple markets, balancing centralization with local freedom, responsible gaming, data-driven decision making, AI, European regulation and the lessons poker has taught him about strategy and risk.

Q1. Looking back across your career-from marketing and acquisition to regional leadership and now Chief Operating Officer-what experiences have had the biggest influence on the leader you are today?

Dainis:

There isn’t one defining moment. It’s the result of years of hard work, taking on challenges, building teams, and being willing to take risks.

I’ve always believed that if you have the right strategy and the right people, execution is what makes the difference. I don’t believe in shortcuts-consistent effort is what ultimately drives success.

Q2. As COO, you’re responsible for operations across 13 markets and multiple brands. How do you balance consistency across the business while giving local teams the freedom to adapt to their own markets?

Dainis:

My approach is to give local teams as much freedom as possible, but that only works if you have the right people in place. Recruitment, onboarding, and building strong local teams are critical.

I don’t believe in running a heavily centralized business. Functions like finance, payments, or customer support can be centralized, but anything that directly impacts the customer-such as product and marketing-needs to be highly localized to reflect each market’s language, culture, and customer behaviour.

Q3. You’ve always focused on both customer acquisition and increasing lifetime value. Do you think the industry still spends too much energy chasing new players, or has long-term retention become the real competitive advantage?

Dainis:

For established brands, acquisition has become increasingly difficult, which makes retention the real growth driver.

Building a loyal customer base and increasing lifetime value requires much more than bonuses or loyalty programs. It also depends on product development, content, and delivering a better overall customer experience.

Acquisition remains important, but for mature operators, long-term growth comes from keeping players engaged over time.

Q4. As COO, you’re responsible for both commercial performance and responsible gaming. How do you ensure business growth and player protection support each other rather than compete?

Dainis:

Responsible gaming starts with setting clear boundaries that should never be crossed.

Once those red lines are established, the business can focus on being creative within them. Those principles shouldn’t change because of commercial pressure or high-value players.

For me, responsible gaming isn’t something added later-it’s a fundamental part of how the business operates from the very beginning.

Q5. You’ve often described yourself as someone who believes in data-driven decision making. Have there been times when the data suggested one direction but your experience told you something different?

Dainis:

Data is usually right, but numbers alone don’t tell the whole story.

To interpret data correctly, you need to understand the context behind it. Two people can look at exactly the same numbers and reach completely different conclusions because they understand the business differently.

Experience helps you read data properly. The real value doesn’t come from the numbers themselves-it comes from understanding what those numbers actually mean.

Q6. AI is one of the biggest topics in the industry today. From an operational perspective, where do you think it’s already creating real value, and where do you think expectations are still too high?

Dainis:

There’s definitely a lot of hype around AI today, and expectations are probably ahead of reality.

That said, AI is already creating significant value in software development, content creation, design, and creative testing by saving time and allowing teams to experiment much faster.

Looking ahead, I think AI’s biggest impact will be in data analysis and personalization. It will help operators create much more personalized customer experiences, but reaching that level will still require continued investment in technology and product development.

Q7. Having worked across both Western and Eastern Europe for more than two decades, which changes in the European gaming market have surprised you the most, and what should operators prepare for next?

Dainis:

One of the biggest surprises has been how regulation has evolved in some Western European markets. In certain cases, regulation has become so restrictive that unlicensed operators have gained significant market share.

At the same time, Eastern Europe continues to offer strong long-term opportunities despite ongoing geopolitical challenges. Once stability improves, I believe the region will attract even greater investment and growth.

Q8. Poker has played an important role throughout your career. Have the lessons you’ve learned from poker influenced the way you approach leadership and business?

Dainis:

Absolutely. Poker has influenced the way I think about strategy, decision-making, and risk throughout my career.

Like business, poker is about making the right decisions over the long term rather than focusing on individual outcomes. Sometimes you’re dealt great cards, sometimes average ones, but success comes from having the right strategy and sticking to it.

Over time, skill matters more than luck. I believe the same principle applies in business-if your strategy is right and you execute it consistently, you’ll succeed in the long run.

About Entain

Entain is a global sports betting and gaming group operating across multiple regulated markets. The company operates a portfolio of betting and gaming brands and provides customers with sports betting, online gaming and related entertainment experiences.

Entain’s business spans multiple international markets, with a focus on regulated growth, technology, customer experience, responsible gambling and long-term sustainability.