Fanatics hires former DraftKings director of operations for senior director role
Chris Fargis joins the sports merchandising giant as its new senior director of trading risk
Fanatics has appointed Chris Fargis as its senior director of trading risk joining from tech firm Boom Entertainment.
Fargis spent a year with Boom Entertainment as its VP of product management.
Before this role, he spent over six years at DraftKings, originally hired as product management director in 2014. Fargis moved into the role of director of operations at the sportsbook operator in 2018 before leaving the firm in 2020.
Fargis has also founded two different companies in his career. The first was daily fantasy platform Instant Fantasy Sports in 2007. This company was bought out by NBC in 2009, which saw Fargis move to Toro Trading, where he held the role of options trader for two years.
After his time at Toro Trading, Fargis co-founded Caption Partners, an options-focused hedge fund, he was responsible for all trading, risk management and business operations as the firm’s chief risk officer.
Posting on LinkedIn, Fargis said: “I’m really excited to share that I’m starting a new position as senior director of trading risk at Fanatics! Grateful to Andy Wright, Scot McClintic and co. for the opportunity. Let’s go!”
To comply with conflict of interest regulations for the opening of the betting and gaming segment, Fanatics executive chairman Michael Rubin sold his 10% ownership in Harris Blitzer Sports Entertainment (HBSE) in June.
In May, Fanatics, worth an estimated $27bn, made moves to trademark the BetFanatics brand with the US Patent and Trademark Office.
According to US news reports in June, Fanatics was linked with a potential acquisition of German bookmaker Tipico to advance its online sportsbook goals. Tipico currently operates in New Jersey and Colorado, and has a number of media and sports betting partnerships with US operators and teams.