With comings and goings commonplace across the industry, the Tennessee Sports Wagering Advisory Council, SIS, and Kaizen Gaming, all feature in our latest rundown of a number of recent manoeuvres.
Kaizen Gaming
Kaizen Gaming has confirmed the appointment of Pablo Puertas as group marketing director, where he will form part of a marketing leadership team led by CMO Panos Konstantopoulos, that is charged with leading the strategic oversight and performance of Kaizen’s flagship Stoiximan and Betano brands.
In his remit, Puertas will oversee team management and strategic planning across Kaizen’s seven market territories consisting of Greece and Cyprus under Stoiximan and Germany, Romania, Portugal, Brazil and Chile under the international brand of Betano.
He joins Kaizen from William Hill, where he formerly served as head of digital marketing for international brands (2020-to-2021), and as digital marketing manager for Spain.
“Kaizen Gaming is on a strong international growth path and in order to deliver on our expansion targets we need a team with solid international exposure,” Konstantopoulos commented.
“I am confident that Pablo brings the experience and skills we need to reinforce our brands across all markets. I am very pleased to welcome him on-board and look forward to working towards reaching our ambitions.”
Tennessee Sports Wagering Advisory Council
The Tennessee Sports Wagering Advisory Council has named Mary Beth Thomas to the role of executive director, with all nine council members voting in her favour. She beat Roger Guillemette and Scott Sloan in the vote to earn the position.
The vote by the council sees Thomas become the latest executive director, adding to its team ahead of when it takes over the regulation of sports betting in the Volunteer State from the Tennessee Lottery by January.
Thomas steps into the role with experience in the gaming sector, as she currently serves as the general counsel in Secretary of State Tre Hargett’s office, whose duties in Tennessee include regulating fantasy sports and charitable gaming.
Sports Information Services
Sports Information Services has announced the appointment of a pair of non-executive directors with a view to building further international expansion.
The group says that Dr Laila Mintas, CEO of Play Up USA, “will be invaluable in supporting the US business” as legislation for fixed odds betting starts to be approved.
She will be approved by Giovanna D’Esposito, who is currently general manager in southern Europe for Uber, and is said to boast “extensive experience” in complex, multi-jurisdiction businesses and brings “high level operational excellence”.
“Laila and Giovanna are both tremendous signings for SIS. We are very much looking forward to working with them and tapping into a combined knowledge that will have serious benefits to our work outside the UK,” noted Richard Ames, SIS CEO.
“Laila joins following the announcement of our US subsidiary, SIS Content Service Inc, and will be an invaluable support to the team there, whilst Giovanna provides a real boost in European online markets and beyond at a time when our international expansion continues apace.”
Huddle
Huddle, the igaming tech provider, has hired former Stars Group compliance manager Zeljka Perkovic as its VP of compliance. She becomes the latest senior employee to join the rapidly growing startup from a large corporate entity.
Perkovic, who was at the Stars Group for more than a decade, joins numerous other new hires that have made the switch to the provider from suppliers and brands including Kambi, Entain, William Hill and others.
Francesco Borgosano, CEO and co-founder, said: “I’m delighted to welcome Zeljka to Huddle. She brings great experience from her many years in the sector and will be a hugely valuable member of our growing team.
“We are attracting some serious talent at Huddle, with people drawn to the unique product capabilities and culture we are building, and I’m really looking forward to working with Zeljka and our many new senior hires.”