People moves Archives

UK Tote Group brings in new senior leadership

UK and Irish pool operator UK Tote Group has hired two new CCOs to support its growth strategy and expand its international and domestic networks.

Jon Knapman joins Tote Group as chief commercial officer of the group’s international B2B business. With its recent expansion into US, South African and Hong Kong markets, the international business has seen substantial growth.

Dave Hammond becomes the chief commercial officer (UK) of the operator’s domestic operation. Hammond brings 25 years of experience in the industry from numerous senior operational roles in companies such as Inspired Gaming, Paddy Power, Betfair and DraftKings.

“As we continue to execute our growth strategy for the business and, following three years of significant expansion within international markets with many more opportunities on the horizon, we now have two extremely strong leaders focussed on driving the commercial performance of our international and UK businesses,” UK Tote Group chief executive Alex Fros..

February 20, 2023

MyRacehorse appoints ex-Betfair racing head as marketing director

Sports Betting News Bookiecity

MyRacehorse, a micro-share horse racing syndicate, has hired ex-Betfair head of racing Will De Nardo to lead on its UK and Ireland marketing efforts.

De Nardo has been appointed as MyRacehorse’s UK and Ireland marketing director and global gaming advisor.

In his new role, he will lead the company’s customer base expansion.

De Nardo joins MyRacehorse after close to 10 years working at various Flutter Entertainment brands, spending time at Sky Betting & Gaming and FoxBet before moving on to Betfair.

“Will brings an additional and important marketing skill set to our UK and Ireland business due to his invaluable experience at Flutter,” said MyRacehorse managing partner Jules Pittam.

“He will be influential in enhancing the owner experience as well as working with new partners as he develops gaming opportunities around the world. We are delighted to have someone of such high calibre join the team.”

de nardo said he aims to replicate the business’ success in new markets

De Nardo sa..

January 27, 2023

James Arnold appointed CEO of The Football Pools

Sports Betting News Bookiecity

Industry executive James Arnold has been appointed chief executive of iconic British betting business The Football Pools.

Arnold began his new role earlier this month, at the start of the business’ centenary year.

He joins from Noel Hayden’s LiveScore Group, which runs the Virgin Bet and LiveScore Bet sports betting brands, where he spent three years first as chief operating officer, then chief commercial officer.

Earlier in his career, Arnold worked for the likes of Betway, Boylesports and SportingBet, holding a number of marketing and executive roles during his tenure with each operator.

He replaces Derek Lloyd, who served as CEO of The Football Pools since July 2017.

Arnold said he was “delighted” to take charge of an iconic british brand

“I’m delighted to be joining such an iconic British brand at a time of significant change and development,” Arnold said.

“A lot of good work has already been done to reposition the company for growth and I look forward to working with ..

December 13, 2022

PointsBet nominates new non-executive director to board

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PointsBet has nominated William Grounds to its board as an independent non-executive director, in line with its recent activity in the US market.

Grounds previously served as president and chief operating officer of Infinity World Development Corp, an affiliate of Dubai World. Here, he headed up the $7bn (£5.69bn/€6.64bn) investment in CityCenter Resort & Casino in Las Vegas with joint venture partner MGM Resorts International.

He also served as a non-executive director of MGM Resorts International between 2013 and 2021. In this time, the BetMGM venture with Entain was formed after the repeal of PASPA. MGM said this gave Grounds a deep understanding of the igaming market with experience in ongoing governance and oversight of strategy and execution.

He has also been licensed in a number of jurisdictions in the United States.

The appointment comes after the Australia-founded bookmaker expanded its operations in the US igaming market. The company intends to rapidly grow its already p..

November 7, 2022

Laila Mintas announces new venture, PlayEngine

Sports Betting News Bookiecity

Former PlayUp US chief executive Laila Mintas has co-founded a new venture, PlayEngine, and joined as chief executive.

The new business is a “microservices-based” B2B sports betting and igaming platform. The business said that it will “provide its customers with a tailor-made, individual solution that is reliable, scalable, fast and secure”.

Its sportsbook offering will allow clients to accept payments from cryptocurrency as well as fiat money and will include a “travelling wallet” to allow players to use the same wallet in different jurisdictions.

PlayEngine was initially created through the Berkeley Skydeck startup incubator.

“I am very excited about being a co-founder and the CEO of PlayEngine,” Laila Mintas said. “The sports betting and igaming market is just too competitive to work off legacy tech.

“There is a huge need for agile and modern technology and I truly believe that we have the most automated and data-driven product in the market, which will enable the sportsbettin..

November 4, 2022

Fanatics hires Brandt Iden as VP of government affairs

Sports Betting News Bookiecity

Fanatics Betting and Gaming has hired former Michigan legislator Brandt Iden as its new vice-president of government affairs, as the business edges closer to launching its betting product.

Iden was elected to the Michigan House of Representatives in 2014, until 2020 when he reached the state term limit. During this time he spearheaded the efforts to legalise both sports betting and online casino gaming in the state.

He then joined Sportradar, where he was head of government affairs during a period in which the business went public on the Nasdaq exchange.

Now, he joins Fanatics ahead of the apparel brand’s long-rumoured launch of a sports betting operation.

Read the full story on iGB North America

July 28, 2022

Flutter to lay off staff in UK and Ireland

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Betting and gaming giant Flutter will make a number of redundancies in the UK and Ireland, following an internal review.

The business, which operates brands including Paddy Power, Betfair and Sky Bet in the region, did not provide details of how many redundancies there would be or which roles would be affected.

However, a spokesperson did say that it expects the majority of those whose roles are eliminated to find new positions with Flutter. As a result, there would be only a “small number” of job losses.

“These proposed changes reflect the next phase of our integration, as we look to consolidate parallel operating models and position the business to continue growing against a more challenging operating environment,” the spokesperson said.

“While we have sought to minimise the impact this will have on our colleagues, with most employees affected being redeployed into alternative or newly created roles, the proposals may lead to a small number of job losses.

“We are communicatin..

July 27, 2022

UK Tote Group names Spencer and Holt non-executive directors

Sports Betting News Bookiecity

Pool betting operator UK Tote Group has appointed Lord Spencer of Alresford and Mark Holt as non-executive directors to its board.

UK Tote said the double addition would support its ongoing growth plans, with the focus on product innovation, better value, improved customer experience and strong partnerships to create more liquidity and bigger pools.

Lord Spencer is an entrepreneur and founder of interdealer broker ICAP, which became a FTSE100 business in 2006, and its successor, electronic markets services provider NEX plc. He is also one of more than 150 investors in UK Tote.

In addition to acting as a board director of a small number of private businesses, Spencer became chairman of the Centre for Policy Studies in 2020.

Holt brings experience and knowledge from his time working in senior technology roles with a number of businesses. These included spells as chief technology officer at CPA Global and chief technology officer for Trainline.

He is currently chief product and engi..

June 10, 2022

BHA appoints Alison Enticknap to new strategy role

Sports Betting News Bookiecity

The British Horseracing Association (BHA) has appointed Alison Enticknap to the newly created role of director of strategy and change.

In her new position Enticknap will lead the BHA’s coordination of industry strategy, and work with colleagues across the industry.

Enticknap’s new role will be placed within the BHA’s new strategy and change department, which is currently in development.

The department will oversee cross-industry projects and project delivery, as well as building capacity.

Enticknap has held the role of interim director of communications and corporate affairs at the BHA since 2021, having first joined the company in 2018.

“I see this role as a huge opportunity for racing to work together to address our biggest challenges and to seize important opportunities, ” said Enticknap. “The prize is enormous if we can collaborate as an industry and get this right.”

“I look forward to working across racing, with its wealth of knowledge and expertise, and helping to secure t..

May 31, 2022

SIS appoints new heads for racing trading and esports

Sports Betting News Bookiecity

Live betting services provider Sports Information Services (SIS) has appointed Adam Conway as head of competitive gaming and Aiden Tracey as head of racing trading.

Conway moves into his new role having previously served as head of racing trading at SIS and will oversee the full operation of the esports-focused SIS Competitive Gaming division.

SIS said the business unit has been built specifically for sportsbooks, allowing bettors to watch and bet on live broadcasts of head-to-head events between gamers on esports titles such as CS:GO, as well as Ebasketball and Esoccer.

Tracey, who previously served as racing trading manager for SIS, will replace Conway. His new remit will be to continue the development of SIS’ trading offering, while also overseeing risk management for operators of all sizes.

Tracey has been with SIS for five years, starting out as lead horse racing trader. Prior to this, he spent eight years with Sporting Index.

“These new appointments serve to further strengt..

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