Fanatics Betting and Gaming has overhauled its top-level leadership on the legal and compliance side of its business.
The online sports betting and casino operator has promoted its Vice President of Legal and Regulatory Compliance, Alex Smith, to the C-suite role of Chief Legal Officer. Fanatics has also recruited former Indiana Gaming Commission Executive Director Sara Tait to take on the newly titled role of Senior Vice President and Head of Legal and Regulated Industries.
Smith has been with Fanatics since 2021 and helped to oversee the company’s entry into and rollout of regulated online sports betting and casino in the U.S. after it took over PointsBet USA’s licenses. He will report directly to Fanatics Betting and Gaming CEO Matt King.
“Alex was one of our first hires and he helped build our legal and regulatory apparatus that has allowed us to launch products rapidly in legal sports betting, iCasino and prediction markets,” said King in a press release. “As we continue to grow, Alex is the perfect person to lead our legal and regulatory functions into the future.”
Tait to talk with government & regulators
Ex-Indiana regulator Tait worked for the IGC for more than a decade, including six years as its executive director. She will report to Smith in his new role. Her responsibilities will include serving as legal counsel for Fanatics Sportsbook, Fanatics Casino gaming and the newer Fanatics Markets prediction markets product.
Fanatics offers Sportsbook in 23 states plus D.C. and Casino in four states (Michigan, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia). Its Markets platform, which offers event contracts from Crypto.com on sports, elections, economics and culture, is available in 25 states as well as the U.S. territories of Puerto Rico, American Samoa, Guam and the U.S. Virgin Islands.
Tait will be tasked with developing and managing Fanatics Betting and Gaming’s relationships with federal and state regulators, contributing to government affairs efforts and strategic industry initiatives, furthering FBG’s consumer protection measures and maintaining licenses and registrations with federal and state oversight bodies. Those bodies will include state gaming regulators in Fanatics’ sports wagering and casino markets and federal agencies such as the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), which oversees prediction market platforms.
“Sara is a well-respected former gaming regulator who also has experience in the private sector, making her the ideal choice to lead critical legal and regulatory efforts,” said Smith. “The legal and regulatory landscape for sports betting, iCasino and prediction markets are constantly changing and having someone that has been on both sides of the regulatory landscape will be invaluable to us as we continue our growth trajectory.”
Fanatics’ predictions pivot
As Fanatics’ sports betting and casino operations continue to grow, it is one of several leading online gaming operators to embrace prediction markets. It was the first to launch a standalone predictions product, facilitated by its acquisition of the CFTC-licensed Paragon Global Markets last summer.
In the wake of that move, it severed ties with the American Gaming Association (AGA) in December, citing “a difference of opinion” on prediction markets. Fanatics left the AGA weeks after FanDuel and DraftKings did the same as they prepared to launch FanDuel Predicts and DraftKings Predictions. Fanatics remains a member of the Sports Betting Alliance (SBA) along with FanDuel and DraftKings and two online sports betting and casino operators that have not yet entered the world of prediction markets, BetMGM and bet365.
Meanwhile, the new legal appointments at Fanatics Betting and Gaming come less than a month after the Fanatics parent company’s Chief Business Officer Ari Borod confirmed he had left the company to become President of Sports Business Development at Polymarket.
