BetMGM CRO: Prediction markets are here to stay for foreseeable future

Having first begun with BetMGM in 2019, what type of evolution has the operator undergone to compete across sports betting and iGaming?  

When I started in 2019, we had 30 people and about $25m or so in revenue from our iCasino business. We were in New Jersey, we were in one state. Now, we're targeting $3bn in revenue, have several thousand employees and are in 30 states, soon to be two provinces in Canada and Puerto Rico. For me, it's a once in a lifetime opportunity to build a company from scratch. It's every step of the way. Every state launch, every new product launch, every new marketing campaign presents a new opportunity. 

Our organization obviously has shifted in many different ways. Our brand is obviously tied to MGM Resorts, but so are many of our player experiences. We firmly believe that for omni-channel players, the players who have interest in both retail and digital, we are far and away the best choice. We leverage that strength and we think MGM is, frankly, a great brand to be part of. It's one that I'm really proud to have been able to shepherd in what we've been able to do over the last seven years or so.  

In your current role as CRO, where do your responsibilities lie in helping the operator succeed from a brand development and financial standpoint?  

I lead a lot of commercial functions. That includes marketing, our sports, gaming and retail businesses, international operations and it also includes our business intelligence and analytics team. We had an incredible 2025. It was a breakthrough year on many levels for us. 

We had a whole host of product improvements that went live, we landed effective marketing over the course of the year and we also got much better at our trading proposition and how we were managing player experiences.

We launched Same Game Parlay in 2025, that was a big enhancement to our product. We finally were able to leverage the investment that Entain made in Angstrom. That was part of the fuel for sports. So lots and lots of contributors, but feel great about what the team accomplished in 2025.  

Are there still opportunities to be explored for BetMGM in sports betting and iGaming, whether that's new innovation or even further expansion?  

Yes, I am cautiously optimistic that additional states will enter into the world of regulated iGaming. I think there are some bigger and better content opportunities in terms of gaming experiences. In the case of sports, we don't have a whole host of new states on the immediate horizon, and in our case, we've been playing a bit of a catch-up game in terms of features and functions.

One of the silver linings of not having a lot of new states opening up for sports betting, though, is that we are able to really focus on improvements to the player experience. You'll see more and more of those improvements come online here in advance of the football season.

With BetMGM taking a wait-and-see approach with prediction markets, how have you noticed the industry develop from a regulatory and consumer interest perspective?

As an organization, we feel firmly that sports betting should be regulated by the states. We've made that very clear in terms of prediction markets. It's been impressive growth on the part of the prediction market operators. I think Meta announced they're potentially interested in entering the fray. From our perspective, it is a different player experience. We believe that a full sportsbook is a better player experience. We are taking a wait-and-see approach in terms of immediate impact. 

The biggest impact has been that our cost of acquisition and our marketing costs have gone up as a result of having this influx of new marketing spend in sports. We're working through how to best mitigate the impact of prediction markets, but they're going to be here for the foreseeable future. We need to carve out our addressable market, so to speak, and not chase after all the folks who might be interested in what the prediction markets are offering.  

Does a future exist where BetMGM offers its own form of event contract trading or perhaps works with Nevada regulators to enter prediction markets in a compliant way? 

That's what I don't know. We're really in the wait-and-see approach. Our assumption is that, eventually, how the industry is shaped up will be determined by the Supreme Court, and we're going to wait for that clarity. 

With the 2026 FIFA World Cup currently ongoing, how has BetMGM used the tournament to introduce new activations and expand its global reach?  

First of all, we will see more betting than any other World Cup in history. More games, more teams, more interest as a fan of soccer or football globally. It's been such a thrill to see American stadiums filled with soccer fans. That enthusiasm has translated into a lot of enthusiasm in our category also. We're seeing meaningful year-on-year increases in our betting volume as you perhaps expect with all this content. 

The enthusiasm is only going to get bigger and bigger as the tournament progresses. Great to see the US do well and that's also been additive to the interest levels here. We've got a whole host of promotions. I managed a sports betting business in the UK, so I’ve marketed two different World Cups personally and some members of my team who I brought over were also involved. We know the level of passion fans have for the World Cup. 

We also know there's an intense focus on goals, so we're giving away $500,000 for every US goal in bonus bets to players. We've got a whole bunch of activations, Tim Howard being one of the most prolific and most prominent US ambassadors available. We're showing up really well for the tournament, and again, the interest is only going to get bigger and bigger.  

How can BetMGM continue the momentum generated during the World Cup into the start of the NFL season in September?  

Just simply from a time perspective, the World Cup finishes on (July 19). We have a lot of players from the NBA Finals who aren't doing much in the summer and they don't come back until football season. The World Cup has provided fantastic content for those players to continue to be involved with our brand, so we're hoping to continue a lot of momentum and good player  experiences into the start of next year.  

Are you able to provide any insights into what activations or new promotions BetMGM might be offering for the NFL season?  

(Smiles) Not yet.  

How do you plan to further enhance omni-channel experiences between BetMGM and MGM Resorts properties, especially with more commercial competition entering Las Vegas in the near future?  

The central central part of our relationship with MGM centers around the player. To the player, BetMGM and MGM Resorts are one in the same, and what we are trying to deliver is an experience that says ‘it doesn't matter if you are transacting via digital through BetMGM or you're having a conversation with the blackjack dealer on property,’ that premium experience should be consistent. We still haven't gotten it fully right, but we’re seven years into building this connection. Each year we get better at delivering that consistent experience and that's really what we're striving for.