Within two weeks of dismissing more than half of its workforce, EBET is bringing on a new advisor to help the company right the ship. According to an announcement released by the company today, Jon Najarian is coming on board in an advisory role.
Najarian’s career expands well beyond financial markets. He played linebacker in the NFL for the Chicago Bears and is also a regular on-air contributor at CNBC. His company, Trade Monster, which he founded in 2005, sold to E*TRADE in 2015 for $750 million.
Now, Najarian will put his experience with the stock market to use for EBET.
“EBET is an exciting company with a solid strategy, field-tested products in the wagering space, and a management team that can drive the business into a new era,” said Najarian. “Their geographic reach, expansion plans, and customer base, I believe, will help them carve out a leadership position within the industry. I am thrilled to be joining and contributing my experience to accelerate the growth of EBET, helping it realize its enormous potential.”
The company’s potential has been subject to much scrutiny recently. Last year, the company rebranded to EBET from Esports Technologies. Now, the entire esports wing of the organization is on the chopping block. The company’s decision to shut down nonprofitable esports projects to focus more directly on igaming lends credence to rumors the company will soon be abandoning esports altogether.
Without esports, the company can instead focus on its gaming-focused goal of “entertainment and technology solutions to cater to the Millennial and Gen Z demographics in the wagering space.” Many in the industry believe esports will inevitably be a part of the Gen Z betting experience, but so far, not many regulators are willing to greenlight esports betting within the US market. Some notable exceptions are Colorado and New Jersey.
At the time of the cuts, CEO Aaron Speach remained unusually optimistic about EBET’s future:
“I have never been this excited about EBET’s future for our executive team and our shareholders. We are seeing significant scalable gains and look to continue the path to increase profitability and shareholder value.”
When speaking about Najarian’s involvement, he reiterated his belief the future is bright for the company:
“We are delighted to welcome Jon Najarian as an Advisor. His vast experience will undoubtedly provide EBET with strategic insight that will help shape the direction and further success of the company.”
During EBET’s Q2 call, the company released a list of steps it will take in order to move towards a more profitable path:
- Re-aligning resources to escalate and expand its focus to igaming
- Optimizing the efficiency of marketing campaigns
- Generally reducing the operating costs of the business
- Reducing investment in non-revenue-generating esports products
- Elimination of non-material contracts
- Reducing the total number of employees and contractors by approximately 54%
Najarian’s appointment comes despite the company’s intent to cut down on contractors but does fit in with the company’s goal of optimizing towards profitability.
