Daily fantasy sports operator DraftKings has hired a new ‘Head of Sportsbook,’ further undermining the façade that the company is most definitely not in the business of gambling.
On Monday, DraftKings issued a statement hailing the hiring of Sean Hurley to “help build, launch and drive the sports betting vertical at DraftKings.” Hurley will be based out of DraftKings’ newly opened office in Hoboken, New Jersey, and will report to co-founder and chief revenue officer Matt Kalish.
Kalish said Hurley, who joined DraftKings following a year-plus stint as head of commercial for UK B2B sports betting technology supplier Amelco and three years with boutique online sportsbook and casino provider Whale Global, “brings a wealth of gaming experience to DraftKings and furthers our ability to be a leader in the sports betting market.”
DraftKings has long maintained the fiction that its DFS activities aren’t gambling in the strictest legal sense, but while that stance may have kept its owners out of jail, it also hasn’t allowed the company to get into activities that might actually allow DraftKings to turn a profit.