Better Collective recruits former DraftKings extern as new US strategy lead
Ex-EY Parthenon associate Matt Schwimmer links up with Copenhagen-based affiliate
Better Collective has appointed Matt Schwimmer to be its new head of US strategy and M&A, the Copenhagen-headquartered affiliate has confirmed.
Schwimmer, a veteran of the analysis and consultancy services sector, previously spent more than four-and-a-half years at Ernst & Youngs’s global strategy consulting arm, EY Parthenon, where he served first as an associate before becoming senior associate and then a full consultant role.
Prior to this role, he spent six months as an Extern for DraftKings’ multi-stage venture capital business, Drive by DraftKings, which received an influx of $60m from US investors in October 2021.
He has also served in consultancy-based roles with McKinsey & Company and JED Consulting.
In his new role as Better Collective’s head of US strategy, Schwimmer will be located at the firm’s New York office, reporting to newly appointed SVP of strategy Britt Boeskov and Better Collective VP business development and M&A Karl Pugh.
Boeskov welcomed her new colleague, highlighting Better Collective’s focus on the US market.
“Matt’s role will be to support Better Collective’s strategy development and deployment, as well as business development in the US. This appointment reflects the increasing importance of the US for Better Collective as a group,” Boeskov said.
Better Collective has heavily leveraged its business in expanding into the US market, with more than 220 of its employees working in the US in offices in Nashville, Fort Lauderdale and its head office in Manhattan.
Following the appointment of Boeskov in January, the affiliate snapped up marketing and communications expert Adam Rosenberg as head of marketing and communications in the US in February.
This US strategy has seen the $240m acquisition of Action Network as well as the €33m deal to take the remaining 40% stake and full ownership of DFS resource RotoGrinders.
It has also agreed affiliate deals with five of the largest sportsbook operators in the New York market, as well as signing a marketing-led agreement with the New York Post.
Better Collective recently agreed a €21.4m acquisition of Canada Sports Betting as part of efforts to expand into the Ontario market.
Speaking about the Ontario market at a recent ‘deep dive’ webcast focusing on US operations, Better Collective CEO Jesper Søgaard waxed lyrical about the potential of Canada.
“The Canadian market is a very attractive market,” he said.
“That goes both from a GDP perspective in that it’s a wealthy country, and there is a big sports interest.
“In that sense, you can compare it to some of the wealthier states in the US where you have that mix of a wealthy population and a huge interest in sports, and Canada is very similar to that.
“So for us, Canada will likely be one of the most attractive markets to operate in especially on a per capita view,” Søgaard added.