Smarkets announces new US General Manager hire from Nike

LONDON, June 8, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Leading sports betting operator Smarkets has today announced the hire of a US General Manager to run its growing business in the United States.

Sheldon Hanai joins Smarkets from Nike where he spent nearly six years, rising to Senior Director level as the Head of Global Innovation Finance. He started his career with the US Department of Defense, before working at Google and BP and then moving to Nike.

Smarkets operates its sportsbook app SBK in the US, where it is live in Colorado, with an official launch in Indiana imminent and move into Iowa to come later in 2022. SBK takes its odds from the Smarkets exchange, combining market-leading odds with a sleek sportsbook interface.

Hanai said: "I'm delighted to be joining Smarkets, a business that I have followed since the very beginning of its journey and seen blossom into one of the world's leading sports betting companies. I can't wait to get stuck into realizing SBK's potential in the US where our industry-leading odds can make a huge impact."

Hanai will begin in the newly created role on 13 June, and whilst Smarkets currently has offices in London, Malta, and Los Angeles, Hanai will work out of a new office in a soon-to-be-revealed East Coast location. He will join the Smarkets Executive Leadership Team and report to CEO/Founder Jason Trost, who added: "I'm super excited about Sheldon joining us to head up our push into the US. We have looked far and wide for the right candidate for what is an absolutely crucial role as we expand our footprint in the States. Sheldon was an outstanding choice and I couldn't be more pleased that he's joining us."

About Smarkets:

• Founded in 2008, Smarkets is an award-winning, product-focused, sports betting company headquartered in London, with offices in Los Angeles and Malta.
• It was founded by a team of finance and software engineering professionals and is backed by Passion Capital, Deutsche Telekom, and Susquehanna Growth Equity.
• Smarkets operates two main products - the Smarkets exchange, a sophisticated betting exchange platform, and SBK, an app that delivers industry-disrupting odds by drawing prices from the exchange and presenting them in a sleek, sportsbook interface. For more information visit smarkets.com or getsbk.com.
• The Smarkets platform processes billions of pounds of traded volume each year across the company's licensed and regulated markets.

Contact: press@smarkets.com

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