Draftkings appoints Hurley as head of sportsook

Daily fantasy sports operator DraftKings showed its determined move into the sports betting vertical this week with the appointment of Sean Hurley as head of sportsbook, based in New Jersey and reporting directly to  co-founder and chief revenue officer Matt Kalish.

In a statement Monday DraftKings outlined Hurley’s responsibilities as assisting in the build, launch and drive of the new vertical.

Hurley was formerly head of commercial operations for Amelco, a UK-based business-to-business sports betting technology developer and supplier. His industry experience also includes three years in management at Whale Global, a sportsbook and online casino provider.

Hurley’s appointment is confirmation that DraftKings chief executive Jason Robins was serious when he revealed earlier this year that the company was gearing up for sports betting operations, motivated by the possibility of wider legality for the vertical in the United States pending a decision by the Supreme Court (see previous reports).

The decision to base Hurley in New Jersey is also interesting, and comes shortly after the state regulator invited suitable operators to apply for sports betting licenses, the awarding of which would obviously be contingent on a positive Supreme Court ruling.

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