Fanatics has appointed Deborah Crawford, formerly of Meta and Netflix, to the position of senior vice president and head of investor relations.
In the new role, Crawford will oversee the business’s investor engagement, with a focus on further institutionalizing its relationships with current and future shareholders. She will report to chief financial officer Glenn Schiffman.
Crawford joins Fanatics after more than a decade with Meta, where she was most recently vice president and head of investor relations.
Prior to this, Crawford was head of investor relations for Netflix, where she initiated the streaming company’s first formal investor relations function. She also served in the same role with Ancestry.com.
“Throughout my career, I’ve always admired and been attracted to organizations at the forefront of their industry, and in my eyes, there could not be a more exciting company to join right now than Fanatics,” Crawford said.
“I look forward to working with Glenn and the extended leadership team to further solidify Fanatics’ position within the market with current and future investors.”
Schiffman added: “As we continue to grow and mature as a global organization, getting our story right with the investor community remains critical. Deborah has a strong track record of developing and executing comprehensive investor relations programs at scale for top-tier organizations.
“We are thrilled to welcome her to Fanatics as we continue to expand upon our investor relations program.”
Denise Albero, who previously oversaw investor relations for Fanatics, will continue to lead financial planning and analysis, as well as take on expanded responsibilities overseeing the implementation of several new technology systems.
Expansion
The appointment comes as Fanatics continues to ramp up its sport betting activity in the US, following the launch of its Fanatics Betting and Gaming online and retail sports betting arm in January.
The division opened for business at the Washington Commanders’ FedExField in January and in doing so became the first retail sportsbook to open inside a National Football League venue.
Since this launch, the betting and gaming division joined the International Betting Integrity Association (IBIA)and pledged its support to the Responsible Gambling Collaborative (RGC), a group of leading online gaming operators in the US.
Recent media reports also suggest the business is planning to launch online sports betting in a number of states including Ohio and Tennessee.