Coral confirms hire of William Hill sportsbook chief
Hills' director of sportsbook operations Matt Warner to join rival bookmaker as director of sportsbook product
Coral has confirmed the hire of William Hill director Matt Warner as the bookmaker continues to re-shape its sportsbook operation ahead of parent company Gala Coral’s planned merger with Ladbrokes.
On Monday eGaming Review reported Warner had quit his role as Hills’ director of sportsbook operations in favour of a move to a rival bookmaker, believed to be Coral.
And this morning a spokesperson for Coral told eGR the firm had indeed secured the services of Warner with the sportsbook veteran to become the bookmaker’s director of sportsbook operations.
Gibraltar-based Warner will remain on the Rock where he will report into Coral’s sportsbook director Keith O’Loughlin, although Warner’s start date has still to be finalised with his period of gardening leave from Hills yet to be fully determined.
The hire of Warner is the latest change to Coral’s sportsbook set-up as the firm edges closer to its proposed merger with rival bookmaker Ladbrokes.
In September eGR revealed Coral had restructured its trading division in a move designed to closer align the operator’s retail and online trading functions.
As part of the process, head of sports Sam Foulkes relocated from Coral’s Stratford base to its Gibraltar offices to take on the new role of head of trading for Coral Interactive.
eGR also understands the firm recently split its trading team into four separate departments with its bet-in-play (BIP) traders split three-ways across football, tennis and other sports, complementing its existing pre-match pricing team.
The reshuffle resulted in the disbandment of the cricket team with cricket traders now split between the pre-match and BIP sports departments.
Gala Coral’s proposed merger with Ladbrokes is currently in the hands of the UK Competition and Markets Authority, however, Gala Coral CEO Carl Leaver and his Ladbrokes’ counterpart Jim Mullen are both confident the required regulatory approval will be granted.
At the time of the merger announcement, Mullen, who is to take on the role of CEO of the combined Ladbrokes Coral, said the firm would continue to operate with two distinct sportsbook brands along with two separate trading functions.
Ladbrokes has also seen changes within its sportsbook team with head of football David Burgin one of a number of recent departures after he decided to join Irish bookmaker BoyleSports.