In a revealing interview to mark Genetski’s imminent induction to the Sports Betting Hall of Fame during next month’s SBC Summit North America, he details not just the many positives of the FanDuel story, but also some of the greatest adversities it has faced.
“After the DraftKings merger was blocked by the FTC in August of 2017, FanDuel was pretty much out of money,” recalls Genetski. “So we had to immediately do an internal capital raise to keep the lights on and take in just enough money to say, ‘we’ve gotta sell the company, merge the company, or find a path to a much bigger capital infusion in the next nine months’.”
He also talks about his hugely important public affairs work, which is recognised across the industry as being instrumental in the spread of legal sports betting in the US, and FanDuel’s groundbreaking strategy to create partnerships with professional sports leagues and teams.
Rounding out the feature is a look at the FanDuel Principles and why that set of brand values are such an integral part of the company’s way of doing business.
“Sometimes you hang them on the wall and nobody ever talks about them again, but for whatever reason, these have really stuck and they’ve been really helpful to us during a period of immense growth,” says Genetski.
“We embrace these principles in the interview process. They’re part of the annual review process. We talk about them, people use them in emails, we use them in town halls, we do illustrative examples of people living the principles.”
Elsewhere in the special North America issue of SBC Leaders, BetMGM CEO Adam Greenblatt shares some of the thinking behind the brand’s huge Super Bowl activation campaign in Las Vegas, while Nevada Congresswoman Dina Titus explains why she is leading the fight to repeal the federal betting tax.
There’s also a focus on player protection in interviews with Martin Lycka, SVP for American Regulatory Affairs and Responsible Gambling at Entain, and The Digital Wellness Center’s Dr Mary Donohue.
We then shine a spotlight on two other important issues. Global Gaming Women’s President Lauren Bates enthuses about the potential benefits of the group’s new mentorship programme, while David Vialpando (Executive Director of the Pokagon Band of Potawatomi Gaming Commission), George Jenkot, VP of Security and Surveillance at Firekeepers Casino Hotel) and Sean Topchi (Director of Business Development at Kinectify) discuss the chilling problem of human trafficking in casinos.
Additionally, readers can find a host of content about igaming, payments and compliance, including interviews with PlayStar CEO Peter Ekmark, GAMOMAT’s Managing Director Dietmar Hermjohannes, Tipico Sportsbook’s VP of Finance Nicole Cemelli, mkodo’s Managing Director Stuart Godfree, and Erik Nyman, President of EveryMatrix US.
Read Issue 30 of SBC Leaders magazine here, or pick up a copy at SBC Summit North America, which takes place at Meadowlands Exposition Center in New Jersey from 7th to 9th May 2024.
Dingnews.com 24/04/2024