Interactive
US – Sean Hurley to lead DraftKings into sports betting
By Phil - 27 February 2018
With legislation expected in North America to open the door to sports betting, Daily Fantasy Sports operator DraftKings has confirmed it is moving into the sports betting vertical.
The company made the announcement whilst confirming the appointment of Sean Hurley who has been hired as the new Head of Sportsbook to help build, launch and drive the sports betting vertical at DraftKings. In this newly created role, Mr. Hurley will report to Chief Revenue Officer and co-founder, Matt Kalish.
“Sean brings a wealth of gaming experience to DraftKings and furthers our ability to be a leader in the sports betting market,” said Mr. Kalish.
Mr. Hurley will be based in DraftKings’ newly opened office in Hoboken, New Jersey. He will focus on preparing Sportsbook as a potential new line of business for DraftKings in anticipation of the pending Supreme Court decision in Christie v. National Collegiate Athletic Association.
Prior to joining DraftKings, Mr. Hurley gained extensive knowledge of the iGaming space with senior roles in both B2B and B2C companies. Most recently, he led sales and commercial for Amelco, a sportsbook and trading platform supplier based in London.
DraftKings has begun an aggressive hiring campaign expected to increase the size of the company by 75 per cent in the next 18 months. DraftKings plans to grow from its current 425 employees to more than 700 by the middle of 2019, with at least 600 of those positions based in Boston. As part of this, DraftKings also unveiled plans for a new Boston headquarters designed to accommodate this workforce growth.
“We are entering an exciting phase of accelerated growth at DraftKings as we continue to develop new products and diversify our offerings. To meet these needs and remain at the forefront of innovation, DraftKings is focused on hiring top talent,” said Jason Robins, co-founder and CEO of DraftKings. “We are also honing in on our commitment to Boston by opening a new headquarters in the city. We’re especially thankful to Governor Baker, Mayor Walsh and the state’s legislative leadership for their continued support of our company and Boston’s thriving tech economy.”
The new state-of-the-art DraftKings headquarters will be located at 500 Boylston Street in the Back Bay neighborhood of Boston. The 105,000 square foot location – the largest single-floor space available in Boston – is more than double the size of DraftKings’ current office.
The sports-tech and entertainment platform will customize and invest significantly in the new location, with immediate plans to expand DraftKings’ in-house media production studio and create unique employee “neighbourhoods” designed to foster cross-department collaboration. The relocation is scheduled to be completed in the first half of 2019.
