DraftKings has broadened out its geographical reach with the opening of a new office in San Francisco and has plans to launch another in Las Vegas. The announcement was made alongside the news that the firm has appointed several gaming and sports betting executives.
The newly established downtown San Francisco office will be home to some of the company’s growth marketing executives and their team. This office, said the firm, will focus primarily on ‘building out a best-in-class growth marketing organisation, expanding the DraftKings digital brand and driving customer acquisition’.
In terms of the newcomers to DraftKings, Jamie Shea joins as head of digital sportsbook operations. After spending more than 10 years as a sportsbook and racebook director in Las Vegas, she most recently led North American growth opportunities for International Game Technology. Frank Kunovic joins as director of retail sportsbook operations from Caesars, where he most recently oversaw over 20 sportsbooks and racebooks.
They are joined by Sean Hurley who is now head of commercial growth, working with the company’s business development team based in New York City. According to the company, he brings a wealth of experience in this critical area, most recently as the head of commercial for Amelco, and was instrumental in forging deals that enabled the first-to-market DraftKings Sportsbook in New Jersey.
DraftKings’ co-founder and chief revenue officer Matt Kalish commented: “I am excited to welcome this new group of executives, while expanding the company to San Francisco and Las Vegas. Presence in these international hubs of technology and gaming, respectively, allows us access to a tremendous talent pool and strengthens our position as leaders in this dynamic industry.”
Last week, DraftKings announced the addition of chief marketing officer Tom Goedde and chief product officer Andy Yang, both to be based in Boston. With its Massachusetts-based workforce expected to grow by 75% over the next year, the outfit is also in the process of creating a new state-of-the-art headquarters in Boston slated to open in early 2019. The 105,000 square foot space, which was the largest single-floor space available in Boston, is more than double the size of DraftKings’ current office and will be custom designed to accommodate the company’s burgeoning gaming and media divisions
