Single Player Fantasy (SPF) operator PrizePicks has made three strategic hires to its leadership team in the areas of product development, fraud prevention, and government affairs to build on its 2021 growth.
Chris Stango is the firm’s new VP of Product, Josh Kirschner is new VP of Legal & Government Affairs, and Josh Slaff becomes VP of Compliance & Fraud.
CEO Adam Wexler stated: “Infusing our organization with top talent, both from within our industry and also in adjacent business lines, is a top priority for an emerging operator.
“Our needs are changing every day as our business, and our industry becomes larger and more complex. We’ll lean on all three of these individuals to tackle new challenges and opportunities.”
Stango joins PrizePicks after working in the same role at Barstool Sports. He is primarily responsible for establishing the product roadmap, executing the product vision, and ensuring that product enhancements and technology updates are completed in a timely fashion. He has also worked at WWE and DailyBurn.
Slaff will help safeguard PrizePicks and its users as it continues to grow and ensure that its DFS offering is conducted in compliance with legal and regulatory requirements. He joins the operator from Morgan Stanley, where he was a VP in the firm’s Global Financial Crimes Group, responsible for advising his business colleagues on BSA/AML, sanctions, and other financial crime-related issues.
Kirschner will operate as PrizePicks’ lead in-house counsel and he will also lead all regulatory, licensure, and government affairs efforts, with particular emphasis on new state expansion.
He previously worked at Morris, Manning, & Martin, LLP, an AmLaw 200 Atlanta-based law firm, where he focused his white-collar practise on providing comprehensive legal guidance to companies in the vice and hospitality spaces and specialized in advising gaming and cannabis enterprises. He also previously worked in the Sands Rewards Club Strategy & Promotion Division for Sands China in Macao.
Commenting on his appointment, Stango said: “I’ve been lucky to work with smart, hungry, entrepreneurial people who genuinely want to build great products, and that’s what I’ve found with the team at PrizePicks.
“I was impressed by the tech and the buy-in from the entire organization to let data drive our decisions, which will allow for the scalability necessary for the incredible growth opportunities in front of us.”
PrizePicks underwent significant growth in 2021, onboarding more than 300,000 new members to its platform while maintaining lifetime value/customer acquisition cost ratios. It also grew its gaming handle nearly tenfold compared to 2020 while efficiently managing costs and operating its business at near break-even levels throughout the year.
The operator also curated 40-plus different markets for customer play, ranging from core markets such as NFL, NBA, & MLB to more niche offerings such as esports, college sports, and the 2021 Summer Olympics.
PrizePicks is now available to play in 29 US states – including top 10 markets Georgia, Florida, Texas, and California – and its employee base has more than doubled in the last year to more than 100 people.
Dylan Cooper, VP of Revenue, said: “Our sustained growth is being driven by innovation both in terms of technology and the product that we’re offering our members.
“Our retention and organic buzz have grown significantly stronger with the creation of our Discord community and our referral engine has become our number one customer acquisition source, helping drive down acquisition costs to fractions of the industry averages.”
