Fanatics Hires New Chief Marketing Officer For Its Betting Business

On Tuesday, Fanatics hired Jason White as its chief marketing officer for betting and gaming. Plans to launch have been quiet, but the division has hired top executives and others that now make the group more than 150 employees strong.

White comes from Wieden+Kennedy, where he did advertising campaigns for Nike, Beats By Dre, MTV and Curaleaf, the nation's largest cannabis provider.

In his first couple hours on the job, the Action Network spoke to White and asked him why he made his move and what he thinks about the space.

Darren: Why get into sports betting?

White: I've always enjoyed disrupting nascent businesses. Whether it was when I moved to Shanghai specifically to help Nike with the Olympics in Beijing or started working with Beats By Dre and eventually for them, and then, more recently navigating the cannabis space, I love this type of challenge.

Darren: What excites you about betting specifically?

White: Well, I'm from the East Coast and even before it was legal, it was part of life. It makes sports more exciting.

Darren: There are already so many players in this business. Everyone is waiting for Fanatics. How are you guys going to be different?

White: Well, it is true that there have been many that have come before us, but they've also served to normalize the category. So someone needed to spend money to do that and they did. But we think we just have more to offer in an ecosystem where there is frankly a lack of loyalty. So there's of course first mover equity, but that doesn't mean we can't redefine the space by offering pieces no one ever has.