Fanatics is getting one step closer to launching its highly anticipated sports-gambling division, nearly five years after the Supreme Court overturned the rule preventing states from legalizing bets on sporting events.
The sports platform and e-commerce company, which has been valued at more than $27 billion, said Tuesday it hired Andrea Ellis to be the chief financial officer of its betting and gaming division. Fanatics CEO Michael Rubin said last week the company expects to launch the unit in January.
Fanatics enters a crowded market in an uncertain economy at a time some executives say is ripe for consolidation. Yet Rubin is betting the company’s e-commerce success will translate into sports-betting customers.
Ellis brings expertise in technology, products and operations to the Fanatics executive team. She worked as CFO at Lime, the largest electric scooter and bike share company, for the past two years. Previously, she worked with Burger King owner Restaurant Brands .
At Fanatics, she will be tasked with scaling the new division and providing strategic and operational leadership, the company said.
She’ll report to Matt King, Fanatics Betting and Gaming CEO, who previously was CEO at FanDuel. “We are thrilled to welcome Andrea to our team as we inch closer to formally launching a new, dynamic online sports-betting and gaming product for fans,” King said.
A January launch would coincide with the very lucrative NFL playoffs. By the start of football season next autumn, Fanatics anticipates being up and running everywhere it’s legal to do business.
“We’ll be in every major state other than New York, where you can’t make money,” Rubin said at a Sports Business Journal World Congress of Sports event. Last fall, Fanatics applied for a mobile-betting license in New York, but was not selected.
Rubin predicts sports betting and Fanatics’ other business segments “could be $8 billion, even in the next decade, in profits.”