One of North America’s largest and fastest-growing daily fantasy sports operators has added a pair of significant hirings in two key leadership positions.
Amidst a push to expand its workforce, PrizePicks has announced the hiring of former Warner Bros. Discovery Executive Renee White as its Chief People Officer. Additionally, the organization also announced the appointment of Phil Sherwood as its new Senior Director of Responsible Gaming, an announcement that comes amidst continued discussion on what space DFS operates in within the context of legalized sports betting.
"Renee and Phil bring invaluable experience that will accelerate our growth as a company," PrizePicks Co-founder & CEO Adam Wexler said via a release. "Renee's storied career as a people leader and her ties to the Atlanta community cannot be understated; having her join us at such a crucial phase for the company is pivotal. Combined with Phil expanding upon our responsible gaming initiatives, I'm excited to see both play a role in ensuring our business continues to prioritize its two most valued assets: our people and our players."
White joins PrizePicks having spent substantial professional time in PrizePicks' headquartered region, including previous time with Turner Broadcasting and the Atlanta Braves. Sherwood, meanwhile, represents continued winds of change in the sphere of Daily Fantasy Sports.
According to PrizePicks' release, Sherwood will “lead the evolution of PrizePicks' responsible gaming initiatives to continue fostering a safe, responsible, and secure daily fantasy sports experience.” Notably, the longtime responsible gaming executive has previously spent time as the Chief Communications officer at the Massachusetts Council on Gaming and Health and has served in leadership roles around problem gambling for much of his career.
DFS continues shakeup
These leadership changes don’t appear to be developing in a vacuum for PrizePicks, which is amongst the fastest-growing companies in the legal sports betting industry. With plans to open a new headquarters in Atlanta and add over 1,000 new jobs over the next seven years, White’s addition to the fold is set to align with the company's continued expansion and growth, even as Georgia sports betting remains illegal for the time being.
As for the addition of Sherwood as Senior Director of Responsible Gaming, the news comes in light of plenty of shuffling on the legality and regulation of DFS across the United States. Recently, Florida allowed PrizePicks, alongside several other DFS operators such as Underdog Fantasy to re-enter the market with an altered approach, moving to peer-to-peer games as opposed to the legally grey-area pick’em style games previously offered.
“This model of games of skill was not subject to scrutiny in Florida,” a PrizePicks spokesperson said of the company re-entering the Sunshine State market. “While we prefer state codification for all fantasy games of skill, rather than the common law, we look forward to working with policymakers to protect the DFS games sports fans across Florida love.”
The growth of responsible gaming leadership roles across the legal sports betting sphere has also not only been isolated to daily fantasy sports. Recently, DraftKings announced the hiring of Lori Kalani as its first chief responsible gaming officer, with her responsibilities largely related to elevating and integrating player safety and protection across all facets of the DraftKings platform and player communities.
