People – Bookielink

July 5, 2024

Veikkaus lands former Kindred exec Reimblad as sports betting VP

Finland’s Veikkaus has appointed Andreas Reimblad, formerly director of sportsbook at Kindred Group, as its new vice-president of sports betting.

Veikkaus confirmed the news in a LinkedIn post and Reimblad begins his new role today (5 July). He joins having only left Kindred last month following 12 years with the business.

Reimblad spent three and a half years as director of sportsbook at Kindred. Prior to this, he held a number of development roles for the vertical. Reimblad also had a short spell at IGT as product manager for betting and bingo, sandwiched by another stint at Kindred in the Unibet days.

“I’m excited to be part of Veikkaus’ journey,” Reimblad said. “The opportunity that Veikkaus may have to enter the global stage fits well with my experience of operating in several markets.

“I’m eager to contribute my knowledge to this exciting journey. Veikkaus has a respected reputation in the industry among both operators and suppliers. So, the timing of my transition feels per..

June 17, 2024

Weekend Report: FanDuel the US leader

Welcome to the Weekend Report, where iGB updates you with the stories you may have missed over the last few days.

FanDuel still the US leader

A new report from Jefferies shows FanDuel is leading the US sports betting market.

Of the 11 states to have reported online sportsbook revenue for May, FanDuel captured 45% gross gaming revenue market share. DraftKings was second with 36%, followed by BetMGM (6%), Fanatics (3%) and ESPN Bet (2%).

Mavericks owner: Patience on Texas gambling

Patrick Dumont, the governor of the NBA’s Dallas Mavericks, is unsure when gambling will be legalised in Texas.

Despite progress seemingly being made last year, Texas remains one of the biggest US states without a legal sports betting market. The state legislature meets only in odd years, so the next opportunity is 2025.

Dallas Stars president says sports betting legalization is still a difficult proposition in Texas… 🌟🌟
Legislators in Texas are still trying to legalize sports betting. It's been a f..

June 6, 2024

Truesdale to exit as chief executive of Jockey Club

The Jockey Club has announced Nevin Truesdale is to step down as its group chief executive, with his departure expected by the end of the year.

Nevin Truesdale has led the Jockey Club as chief executive since April 2020. Prior to this, he spent time as its chief financial officer and group finance director.

Before joining the organisation, Truesdale worked at British Gas for almost five years. This included spells in various senior financial roles.

Truesdale will continue to lead the Jockey Club in the coming months. He will work with the board of stewards and executive team to manage the transition to his successor.

Under his leadership, the Jockey Club has seen growth across all revenue lines and attracted new commercial partners to racing. The organisation has also expanded its customer base and digital platforms.

Truesdale has also played a prominent role in campaigns against various issues facing the racing sector. These include leading the petition to parliament against bett..

May 13, 2024

Fanatics SVP of trading Wright departs after two years

Andy Wright has announced he has left his role as senior vice-president of trading at Fanatics Betting and Gaming (FBG).

Wright joined Fanatics in May 2022 from his previous position of trading director at KingMakers.

Wright’s time at Fanatics saw the company launch its sportsbook offering in January 2023. With its launch at the then-named FedExField in Maryland, Fanatics became the first sports betting operator to open a retail sportsbook within a National Football League stadium.

Fanatics has since expanded across the US, launching its online casino in November 2023. Additionally during Wright’s tenure, FBG acquired PointsBet’s US business for $225m (£179.2m/€208.5m).

In a Linkedin post, Wright stated he was “incredibly grateful” for his time at Fanatics helping to build its betting and gaming division.

“Now it’s time to recharge the batteries and spend more time with the family before finding a new venture,” Wright said.

“All the best to the team at Fanatics Betting & Gaming. ..

March 21, 2024

Racecourse Media Group names Dowding as chief betting officer

Racecourse Media Group (RMG) has announced the appointment of Ben Dowding to the new role of chief betting officer.

Dowding takes up the position following the merger of the organisation’s domestic and international betting teams. He was previously director of betting at Racecourse Media Group.

RMG took the decision to combine its teams as more bookmakers are approaching rights acquisition on a global basis. Dowding will now oversee the enlarged team, taking on the new role with immediate effect.

Dowding is a long-serving member of the RMG team having joined the business in March 2013 as head of partnerships. He went on to become head of B2B and then director of betting, holding the latter role for more than six years.

Prior to his time with RMG, Dowding worked for The Jockey Club. Here, he spent time as sponsorship manager and regional sponsorship manager.

In addition, for the past three years, he has combined his duties at RMG with serving as a non-executive director at BocaSpor..

March 12, 2024

Waterhouse VC: Spotlight on industry leaders

In his latest column, Tom Waterhouse of Waterhouse VC shines a spotlight on three industry leaders and discusses their paths to success.

In every industry, there are prominent figures who stand out and the wagering industry is no exception.

This month, we shine a spotlight on three distinct leaders in the industry: Tim Heath, a crypto wagering pioneer; Peter Jackson, CEO of Flutter Entertainment; and David Walsh, renowned as one of the world’s largest professional horse racing gamblers.

Over the last decade, the online wagering industry has expanded significantly through the proliferation of mobile-focused platforms. Heath and Jackson lead companies at the forefront of digital innovation in the industry.

YOLO

Originally from Australia, Heath is a serial wagering industry entrepreneur and venture capitalist. After university, he started a software development and ecommerce firm, Heathmont.net.

In 2013, he launched Coingaming Group, a crypto wagering operator and supplier which reb..

March 11, 2024

Entain, Betfred and Flutter join GC Industry Forum led by Nick Rust OBE

Directors of Flutter, Betfred, Entain and The Rank Group have been named among the nine appointed members of the Gambling Commission’s (GC) new Industry Forum, which will be chaired by Nick Rust, OBE.

Rust, who previously spent six years as British Horseracing Authority chief executive, was appointed as Industry Forum chair in November 2023.

Over a two-year term, Rust will oversee a forum that includes Ashley Padgett, director of compliance and anti-money laundering at Flutter’s UK and Ireland (UK&I) division, as well as Entain’s customer operations director for UK&I Leo Walker.

As well as Entain and Flutter, other UK gambling industry leaders will be represented. Betfred’s head of media Mark Pearson has been appointed to the forum, as well as David Williams, director of public affairs at Rank Group.

Merkur UK’s director of public and political relations, Tony Boulton, and Betsmart Consulting founder and director, Kirsty Caldwell, will also be joined on the forum by Charles Cohen,..

January 8, 2024

Kambi CEO Kristian Nylén announces resignation

CEO and co-founder of Kambi, Kristian Nylén, has notified the board of his intention to step down from his current position during the year, upon the appointment of a successor.

Nylén co-founded Kambi with Anders Strom in 2010. He has since built the company into one of the industry’s leading sportsbook suppliers.

It is understood that Nylén’s decision to resign is driven by his desire to spend more time with his family.

Commenting, Nylén said: “The decision to stand down from my position at Kambi after so many enjoyable years has been difficult, but one predominantly driven by my desire to spend more time with my young and growing family.”

Nylén plans to stand down from his current position during the year, upon the appointment of a successor.

The market has so far not reacted too heavily to the news. At the time of writing, Kambi’s share price was down 1.83%, to SEK160.50 (€14.79/ £12.29/ $15.69).

Timing of Nylén’s resignation

Nylén’s announcement follows a period of sustai..

September 14, 2023

Spajic tapped as Betfred USA CEO

Kresimir Spajic will lead Betfred USA as its new chief executive.

Spajic will oversee the sportsbook’s strategy and operations across 10 US states. Betfred is licensed to operate in Nevada, Pennsylvania, Colorado, Louisiana, Arizona, Iowa, Washington, Virginia, Ohio and Maryland.

Read the full article on iGB North America

July 25, 2023

Missing an open goal

This year promises to mark a pivotal moment in women’s football – the point when the women’s game finally comes into its own. But Christina Thakor-Rankin, co-founder of the All-In Diversity Project and principal consultant at 1710 Gaming, doubts operators are taking full advantage of the Women’s World Cup.

The Fifa Women’s World Cup in New Zealand and Australia this summer offers bookies worldwide a much bigger opportunity than the World Cup “proper”.

By replicating the same range of markets they offered on the men’s event, including groups and player markets, they have the opportunity to re-engage with those who bet on the men’s game.

And by tweaking the way they present these opportunities, an even bigger opportunity becomes available – to attract a whole new sports betting demographic: women.

Christina Thakor-Rankin, co-founder, All-In Diversity Project and principal consultanT, 1710 Gaming

The statistics are certainly there to back this up. The numbers from a wide range of so..

April 26, 2023

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..

March 13, 2023

Fredrik Elmqvist: Other side of the coin

Slots veteran Fredrik Elmqvist is turning his luck to the mad bad world of sports betting – but will it work?

Elmqvist is well-deserving of his reputation as the king of slots.

However, more than 10 years on from his epoch-making launch of Yggdrasil, the Stockholm native is turning his luck to the decidedly different proposition of sports betting in his latest project ParlayBay, which seeks to make its name as the new champions of micro betting.

The Swedish entrepreneur certainly has a nose for where the action is, describing it a “pretty interesting” time to be setting out on a venture such as this.

Elmqvist describes a US sports betting landscape that is shifting into a new, subtler gear following the marketing wars that characterised the earlier days of the PASPA repeal.

“For a few years there’s been a shift into sports betting and you see, in the United States rollout, both the need for new products and to keep the marketing costs down, as well as still [the need to] get new..

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Tag: People