Key Sentence:
- Sports giant Fanatics is growing fast, and its latest venture is expanding into games, tickets, and media.
- This includes sports betting, and fanatics have added music media and entertainment giants to its list.
Sportsbook is the latest venture for rapper and artist Jay-Z. In addition, music and entertainment company Roc Nation has joined forces with Fanatics to bid for a mobile sports betting company in New York.
Fanatics chairman Michael Rubin expands and builds a team to join New York’s lucrative mobile sports betting market. Jay-Z is one of the newest investors and a new addition to the Fanatics team. In addition, Premier League baseball invested in fanatics earlier this year.
According to documents submitted to the New York State Gambling Commission, Jay-Z will serve as vice-chairman and sit on the new company Fanatics Betting & Gaming board. Michael Rubin, the founder of Fanatics, becomes the new CEO.
Matt King, the former CEO of FanDuel, is expected to help lead the proposed sports gambling division.
“We realized we had a tremendous opportunity to truly move (from) a leading e-commerce company to a leading digital sports platform,” said Rubin of Fanatics’ recent transition. “That means that as a sports fan, you go to Fanatics and get every sports product that matters to you.” That includes getting into sports betting when Fanatics became a licensed operator in New York.
Legal sports betting in New York
Fanatics has also partnered with Kambi, a company that develops online sports gaming software. Jay-Z is the only African-American investor to appear in the state gaming license. According to Forbes estimates, the 51-year-old from Brooklyn. And Roc Nation joins the growth and expansion of Fanatic, which has grown to $18 billion.
Jay-Z is no stranger to gaming either. TMZ also reports that Jay-Z was previously licensed to play in Nevad. And New Jersey when his 40/40 club opened in Las Vegas and Atlantic City. However, he closed it years ago. The Fanatics’ competition to become a sports betting company in New York includes the leaders of FanDuel, DraftKings, BetMGM, and Caesars. The newly emerged PointsBet and WynnBET.
Sports betting fanatics bring variety to the room, both in terms of hiring and platform.