A new month brings new opportunities for North American gaming companies to bolster their leadership teams.
Each week, SBC Americas provides a roundup of the latest workforce and infrastructure changes for emerging brands and some of the largest corporations in gaming.
Betr strengthens executive team
Less than two months after completing a major acquisition to support its entry into the prediction market space, Betr announced several key promotions as the company reaches its next phase of growth. On Thursday, Betr promoted Alex Ursa to chief operating officer.
Ursa had previously served as Betr’s head of gaming. He had held the role since 2022 and was the first employee hired at Betr.
Before joining Betr, Ursa worked for Flutter in various roles, including senior product director at FanDuel and product manager for the company’s Paddy Power brand.
Alex Kuwada also received a promotion. His new role at Betr is chief marketing officer, with a responsibility of leading the company’s acquisition and retention efforts. Kuwada was promoted after serving as Betr’s head of marketing, a position he assumed when he joined the company in 2024.
Kuwada is also a FanDuel veteran. He worked for the gaming giant for more than five years. His roles included senior director of acquisition, growth director, and digital manager.
Betr also elevated Mike Denevi to a new role. Denevi was the second employee hired by Betr, with the company veteran being promoted to chief commercial officer. Before the promotion, he served as head of media for the company. Denevi spent nearly a decade at Bleacher Report before joining Betr in 2022.
Aristocrat Interactive welcomes new COO
On Wednesday, Daniel O’Donoghue announced that he accepted a role at Aristocrat Interactive as the company’s new chief operating officer.
“I am very excited to be on this ambitious team as we seek to execute on our strategy and deliver on the growth potential of the business,” said O’Donoghue in a LinkedIn post. “Looking forward to meeting the team and working together to continue delivering innovative online real money gaming products, platforms, and solutions for our customers and partners.”
O’Donoghue joins Aristocrat Interactive after spending nearly five years at Light & Wonder as its iGaming COO. Before entering the gaming space, he spent time in the business consulting sector as a director with stops at Alvarez & Marsal and Accenture.
O’Donoghue joins Aristocrat Interactive CEO Dylan Slaney as a former Light & Wonder executive. Slaney was hired in September 2025 to lead Aristocrat’s online casino business after former iGaming CEO Moti Malul decided to relinquish his role at the company.
Aristocrat Interactive launched in 2024 as a new business structure for Aristocrat. The segment allowed Aristocrat to bring its Anaxi and NeoGames brands under one roof.
Former DraftKings exec joins B2B tech provider
B2B sportsbook technology provider FIRST.bet has appointed Ian Bradley as co-CEO. Bradley joins Tom Light as co-CEO’s responsible for leading the company’s strategy.
“FIRST.bet has built something rare—a world-class team and genuinely Tier-1 technology, with the trading depth and product to back it,” said Bradley in a statement. “I wanted to work alongside a team like this and help build on the success they’ve already created.”
Bradley’s experience in sports betting and trading also includes a stop at DraftKings. At the Boston-based gaming giant, he served as a senior vice president and managing director of B2B. Bradley joined DraftKings as part of the company’s merger with SBTech in 2020.
His gaming experience also includes nearly a decade at Sporting Solutions.
