Fresh off his departure from the National Indian Gaming Commission, former NIGC Chairman E. Sequoyah Simermeyer has found a landing place.
On Monday FanDuel announced that Simermeyer is joining its ranks, stepping into a newly created post, Vice President of Strategic Partnerships.
“Sequoyah Simermeyer has been at the forefront of shaping and safeguarding tribal gaming, focusing on priority issues and public policy for close to 25 years,” said Rikki Tanenbaum, Senior Vice President, Strategic Partnerships. “We are very honored to welcome Chairman Simermeyer to the FanDuel leadership team, as he brings a career dedicated to addressing tribal economic development. With his guidance, we look forward to learning how to best partner with and support native sovereign nations across the country.”
“I am joining the private sector for the first time, and it mattered to me to join a team where I could use my background as a former regulator, legislative staffer and public servant to Indian Country,” added Simermeyer. “FanDuel is the leader in mobile gaming and has helped shape the rise of the legalized and regulated marketplace in the U.S. Mobile gaming remains a very young and dynamic industry, and I’m excited to help the team build out our capacity to work within Indian Country nationally to take advantage of opportunities ahead.”
The announcement comes fresh on the heels of the Western Indian Gaming Conference where, according to PlayUSA, FanDuel President Christian Genetski admitted the operator did not handle the 2022 effort to legalize sports betting in California well.
During that contentious election cycle, mainstream operators squared off against state tribes in a battle between Prop 26 and Prop 27. The expensive campaigns created bad blood and resulted in a massive loss for both ballot questions.
Genetski described the efforts as “a well-intentioned but uninformed and misguided attempt”.
Simermeyer stepped down from his post at NIGC less than a week ago, with his final day coming last Friday. He served as Chairman from 2019-2024.
