In the newly created role of Head of Sportsbook, Sean Hurley will help build, launch and drive the sports betting vertical at DraftKings, reporting directly to Chief Revenue Officer and Co-Founder, Matt Kalish.
Prior to joining DraftKings, Hurley led the sales and commercial departments for London based sportsbook and trading platform supplier Amelco and has also held a number of roles in online gaming with B2B and B2C companies.
In a statement announcing the appointment, Matt Kalish said: “Sean brings a wealth of gaming experience to DraftKings and furthers our ability to be a leader in the sports betting market.”
The company has also confirmed that it will be opening an office in Hoboken, New Jersey, which is ironically the state in which the appeal against the constitutional validity of PASPA first began.
DraftKings have confirmed that Sean Hurley will be at the Hoboken office and 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”.
Should New Jersey prove to be successful in its efforts, it will be one of the first states to offer sports betting having already laid all of the necessary legislatory groundwork. Indeed last year, New Jersey Governor Chris Christie famously claimed that New Jersey could have sports betting within ‘as little as two weeks’ of any reversal of PASPA.
Having an office and a division ready to pounce on this will undoubtedly give DraftKings an edge against its competitors, including FanDuel and may give it the impetus it needs to become the number one sports betting operator in the US.
