Fanatics Betting and Gaming is not operational yet but the company has hired Jason White as the Chief Marketing Officer (CMO) for the division. He joins the company after serving as the Chief Marketing Officer of MTV Entertainment.
Fanatics anticipates accessing its over 90 million sports fans to gain an advantage in the online sports-gambling market.
The new CMO will report to Fanatics Betting and Gaming Chief Executive Matt King, who joined the company last year and was the Chief Executive Officer of FanDuel.
White added that he and other marketing leaders will collaborate with former Airbnb Inc. CMO and Fanatics board member Jonathan Mildenhall in the coming months to develop a cohesive brand strategy across the company’s divisions.
He commented: "We’re going to want to build the brand and the business at the same time." White also stated that he's begun the process of recruiting executives for his own team.
At the moment, the Fanatics Betting and Gaming division only has the approval to operate in Maryland after being denied by New York. White stated that he was attracted by the company’s potential for growth in the future.
In previous positions, White led marketing for the cannabis distributor Curaleaf Holdings Inc. and Apple Inc.
Action Network asked White why he was interested in getting into sports betting.
White replied: "I’ve always enjoyed disrupting nascent businesses. Whether it was when I moved to Shanghai specifically to help Nike with the Olympics in Beijing or started working with Beats By Dre and eventually for them, and then, more recently navigating the cannabis space, I love this type of challenge."
The Fanatics Betting and Gaming division now has over 150 employees.
