Sports apparel giant Fanatics has announced the appointment of Sam Downey, formerly of Flutter Entertainment-owned Sky Betting and Gaming, as its vice president for online casino.
Downey moved into the new role earlier this month, having spent more than 12 years with the Sky-branded betting and gaming business.
He was most recently director of commercial and content for gaming at Sky Betting and Gaming, while he also spent nearly seven years as the head of casino and games for the Sky Vegas brand.
Before this, he was head of Sky Bingo and Sky Games for BSkyB, prior to the launch of the Sky Betting and Gaming, business, while he also had a two-and-a-half-year spell as casino and games manager for Boylesports.
“After 12 years of service, it feels impossible to recognise every individual that made my time there so enjoyable,” Downey said. “Instead, I’ll simply say thank you. Thank you to everyone in the SBG, Gaming Tribe and Studios business that played a role in creating the leading gaming brand in the UK.
“Thank you to every supplier that crafted experiences which made our destination unique and enjoyable to players. Thank you to the SBG leaders that invested their time and energy in my personal development.
“It always felt like a privilege to work with you. I’m so proud of the teams forged and the results achieved.
“So, with that, I’m happy to announce that my new role is with Fanatics Betting and Gaming as VP of iCasino. I’m excited to see what we can achieve as we take this hugely successful consumer brand into the US gaming market.”
The appointment comes at a time when Fanatics is seeking growth within the betting and gaming market. Last week, it was announced that Fanatics would use Amelco’s source code to power its sports betting product.
Fanatics had long made its intentions to enter sports betting known. The business was part of an application for a license in New York in 2021, while last year it created a betting and gaming arm and made a number of major hires within this division.