People news 5 June 2014
The latest people news from the egaming industry in the last seven days (30 May to 5 June 2014)
Paddy Power head of mischief takes Aus role
Ken Robertson will become head of brand for Sportsbet before returning to Paddy Power in autumn 2015
The man behind many of Paddy Power’s most infamous PR stunts, Ken Robertson, is to take on a new role at its Australian-facing brand Sportsbet later this summer, eGaming Review has learned.
Robertson joined the Irish operator as media and PR manager in 1999 but has since assumed the title of head of mischief.
He is credited with being the driving force behind Paddy’s often controversial PR activity including the banned Oscar Pistorius ad campaign and the recruitment of Danish football player Nicklas Bendtner, who displayed a pair or Paddy Power Y-fronts after scoring in the 2012 European Championships.
Robertson will leave the firm’s Dublin office in mid-August and begin his tenure at Sportsbet soon after, with a return to Paddy Power’s brand marketing team planned for autumn 2015.
Facebook RMG head Will Collins departs
Facebook’s head of real-money gaming (RMG) for the EMEA region Will Collins has left after two-and-a-half years at the company.
Collins, who left last month, was responsible for managing the social network’s real-money gaming business and also oversaw the launch of Facebook RMG advertising in New Jersey.
He is now preparing to launch a new gaming consultancy company with a number of clients already believed to have signed up.
eGR understands the real-money operations for the EMEA region have now been relocated to Dublin under the leadership of head of EMEA gaming sales Tarquin Henderson.
Seven days in people news:
Tailorbet appoints ex-Betsafe MD as CEO
Betsafe managing director Liam Casey has left the Betsson-subsidiary to join white-label sports betting network Tailorbet as its new chief executive.
Casey replaces founder David McKenzie as CEO of the peer-to-peer network solution and follows the departure of chief operating officer Rachel Epps who recently joined the BBC as executive technical product manager.
The new chief executive left the Nordics-focused sports betting operator, which was acquired by Betsson three years ago, in April after only 12 months in charge and a successor has yet to be announced by Betsafe.
Tipp24 CFO resigns after 16 months
Tipp24’s chief financial officer Andreas Keil has resigned from his position just one month after the firm reported a near wipe out of Q1 profits.
The lottery firm confirmed Keil had tendered his resignation citing personal reasons, but will stay with the firm until 30 September to oversee a transitional period.
Keil joined the firm in February 2013 having previously held positions at German chemical firm H&R AG and the Louis Dreyfus Group.
Gamesys‘ head of product development Jason McMahon has left the London-based operator after three years at the company, eGR has learned.
McMahon originally joined Gamesys in June 2011 as head of development, reporting directly to the CTO, before taking up his most recent role in August 2012.
During his time at the company McMahon led many of the operator’s mobile projects and played a key role in Gamesys’ push into the New Jersey market.