End of an era: Richard Flint reflects on his Sky Bet legacy

Unanimity in the UK gambling industry is in very short supply these days. Received wisdom is that the sector’s lack of unity is why it now finds itself in something of a regulatory predicament and why the likes of William Hill are laying off thousands of shop workers. So, on the rare occasion when the industry is indeed in near complete agreement, there clearly must be a very good reason.

Such common ground came early last month regarding the legacy of Sky Betting & Gaming’s (SBG) Richard Flint, who had taken to social media to bid farewell to a business he was so integral in building during his 18-year tenure. Flint’s announcement led to a seemingly endless swathe of superlatives from people keen to lavish praise on both his individual achievements and the impact he’s had on the wider online gambling industry.

At last count, his social media posts had racked up 324 likes on Twitter and 858 likes on LinkedIn, as well as dozens of comments from industry and non-industry well-wishers alike. It’s hard to think of many other former gambling CEOs who would accrue such a positive reaction, which is not only a testament to Flint’s lustrous career but also to his personal attributes too. As one industry executive told EGR for this article: “He’s one of the good guys is Flinty.”

After 18 years, yesterday was my last day @SkyBetCareers. Hard to leave such a fantastic company with so many great people, but hope to stay in touch. Best wishes to all the friends, colleagues, customers, partners, and even critics that have helped us grow, develop and improve.

— Richard Flint (@YorkshireFlint) July 2, 2019

The results of “Flinty’s” stewardship of Sky Bet over nearly two decades speak for themselves. His tenure as CEO witnessed the growth of a business that became one of the UK’s biggest online sportsbooks, was the forerunner of the shift towards mobile betting and gaming, and was one of the first operators to adopt a strategy focused on the more recreational end of the player spectrum. In more recent months, SBG has arguably also led the way in attempting to create a more socially responsible gambling industry.

These achievements culminated in Sky Betting & Gaming being valued at £800m back in 2015 by CVC Capital Partners, which owned a majority stake in the business until it sold SBG to The Stars Group for a staggering $4.7bn last year. Not bad for a company which started life in the early noughties as a small Yorkshire-based betting offshoot of broadcasting giant BSkyB.

Culture vulture

Flint, of course, is too modest to take all the credit and applaud himself for Sky Betting & Gaming’s success. But just how did the Leeds-headquartered operator actually become what many claim was the leading online sportsbook in the world’s biggest regulated gambling market? And will the industry ever see another business like it again given the market’s current dynamics?

In his first interview since leaving, Flint says he believes three things were “essential” to Sky Bet’s success. “Firstly, we were clearly in a market that was growing and in an industry well placed for online because it doesn’t involve physical goods. Secondly, we had the Sky brand behind us, including all the benefits that relationship brought with it by being able to do things like the Super 6 and integrating the product into Sky’s websites and apps. Finally, and the thing I’m most proud of, is that we developed a great team and culture and we executed it all extremely well.

“We all did it, and still do it, for the enjoyment, and we were certainly proud of what we built together. If I were to pick out any of my skills and the things I personally did well, it would be in creating an environment and team structure where people actually enjoyed working. As a result, people helped each other and were much more collaborative than competitive.”

Richard Flint recently left Sky Betting and Gaming after more than 18 years with the business

EGR’s interview with Flint takes place on a sunny Friday afternoon sat outside in the shade of Google’s swanky office complex, tucked behind London King’s Cross railway station. And it doesn’t take long to realise you’re in the immediate vicinity of one of the world’s biggest online technology companies with its employees seen taking their dogs for a walk or flying around the square on scooters. It seems a fitting setting for talking to the person most responsible for creating Sky Betting & Gaming’s vibrant culture which was clearly based far more on Silicon Valley than Gibraltar.

The fundamentals of this were centred around creating a relatively flat, non-hierarchical corporate structure. Flint himself never had his own office and hot desked on a day-to-day basis in the company’s Leeds HQ. According to the CEO, this structure ensured the business valued the opinions and talents of all employees, many of whom were local graduates, and fostered a culture of innovation which led to Sky Bet being first to market on numerous occasions.

For Flint, his leadership style was ultimately about recognising that people within Sky Bet often knew more than him. “Because of my personality, I’m not someone who feels like they have to make all the decisions,” he admits. “I had various pieces of coaching, feedback and team development along the way, and I think that made me realise that having a team and a structure where it wasn’t top-down but based on peer collaboration and teamwork was vital.”

Dream team

A big fuss is often made in this industry, rightly or wrongly, as to whether you come from a gambling background (see EGR Intel’s ‘Skin in the game’ article from issue 182). Flint’s lineage certainly wasn’t that of a traditional bookmaker or family of horseracing fanatics. In fact, his career could just have easily had followed a similar path to his younger brother Pete Flint, a founding member of lastminute.com and who made his fortune selling his online real estate business Trulia for $3.5bn.

However, it was Richard’s decision to leave management consultancy McKinsey for Flutter pre-Betfair merger which would ultimately shape his career path for the next 20 years. He ended up working as product director at the exchange firm for two years before joining Sky as leisure director – a role which incorporated both travel and betting and described by Flint as the “best job title I’ve ever had”.

And while Flint admits he learned much from outside the gaming industry about the importance of having a vibrant company culture, including from his brother, he claims his stint at Flutter was just as important because the business had a “real tech start-up feel to it”. He adds: “Working at Flutter was a big learning curve for me. I was better at my job at Sky because of my betting experience at Flutter, which was only a partial success. Some might actually call it a failure in that we were by far the best funded at that point but at the time of the merger with Betfair they were in fact the bigger party.

“We had a sort of arrogance in that we felt we knew more than the existing industry, and even felt that we knew more than the potential customers we asked. We thought it was all about people betting with their mates on a one-to-one basis like they would in the pub – the reality was that people weren’t interested in doing that online, at least back then. Realising the error of being almost too revolutionary helped me be more careful coming into Sky.”

Flutter also taught him the value of having a mix of industry and non-industry experience. As managing director and CEO of Sky Bet, Flint built around him a trusted team consisting of both gaming and non-gaming personnel who remained loyal to the business for years and were integral to its success. This included those from the wider Sky business such as Sky Bet managing director Ted Moss and CFO (now CEO) Ian Proctor, as well as those with prior gaming knowledge like COO Conor Grant who brought industry insight from Blue Square and BoyleSports to the table.

“Sure, I’m not a gaming person through and through, but I realised you did need to bring knowledge from inside the industry as well as a fresh perspective. And I think that combination of the two, both in terms of my experience and how we built the team, was a big ingredient for our success. Having people solely from the industry can mean you’re a bit limited in your thinking, while having people solely outside of the industry means that you misunderstand a lot of the unique things about the sector.”

The sky’s the limit

This team was ultimately responsible for creating what is now commonly referred to as the ‘Sky Bet model’ – an approach many other operators are now also seeking to replicate. However, Flint is keen to emphasise that this model – largely defined by having a mobile-first mentality, free-to-play (F2P) acquisition tools and a focus on recreational punters – did not happen overnight and the operator had a long time out of the spotlight to get it right. In fact, it’s easy to forget that Sky originally thought the future of betting was interactive TV, which meant in the early days its gaming division spent the bulk of its time focused on betting via the red button.

It wasn’t until years later that Sky Bet adopted its current model; most operators today wouldn’t be afforded such time to find a winning formula. And like every business success story, there was also a lot of luck along the way. “With Sky, we had to think how we could compete in the market and realised that with the brand it was going to be more leisure, mass-market and about making the sport more exciting,” Flint says. “Our shareholders at that point would not have been a supporter of a harder gambling route and I think the free-to-play games came out of us looking at how, given we had the Sky brand, we could make it come alive.”

The creative process of these F2P products also had its own luck. Former Sky Sports managing director Vic Wakeling told Flint’s team in no uncertain terms where to go with its initial real-money proposition, refusing to promote betting in editorial on his beloved TV channels. Instead, he suggested developing a free-play product more akin to ITV7 – in order to engage both viewers who might bet and those that never would. The Sky Bet team later presented his idea back to him in a slightly different format consisting of six football matches and, hence, Soccer Saturday Super 6 was born.

It’s one of the industry’s great ironies that arguably Sky Bet’s greatest creation largely came about by accident. And it’s an irony that’s not lost on Flint either. “At the time, it was something of a negative because we were only able to promote free-to-play, but it turned out to be far more engaging and inclusive than pushing betting, and almost as a by-product the best form of customer acquisition we ever had,” he reminisces.

And while they may not be acquiring at the same rate as before, such products remain effective player acquisition tools for Sky Bet to this day with its new iteration of ITV7 believed to be performing solidly. F2P tools are also likely to be vital in new markets (see Stars Group’s deal with Fox in the US) and in a world where gambling advertising is becoming increasingly more restrictive.

Taking responsibility

Such advertising restrictions are just one part of the broader debate surrounding safer gambling – and it’s evidently a real passion of Flint’s. Indeed, he was one of the first CEOs brave enough to put his head above the parapet and voice his opinions on the topic in parliament and the national media.

It’s not always been smooth sailing though. His willingness to engage with punters, gambling addicts and politicians on social media opened himself, Sky Bet and the wider industry up to great criticism. This could also occasionally get personal. Only a few weeks ago, independent British bookmaker Geoff Banks used his blog to bid a fond farewell to Flint by designating him “a first-class hypocrite”, adding that he advocated “responsible gambling measures while assaulting my children with his invasive advertising”.

“That’s social media for you,” Flint says with a wry smile. “Even with the calmest and nicest people, as soon as they get a bit of profile they give you abuse. There are problems with Twitter but I’ve actually met quite a few critics of the industry on there, mainly ex-addicts, who are very sensible, well-informed and balanced. It’s been a privilege to meet them and I’ve got a lot of admiration for some of those people who have come through some dark places and are a positive force at the other side of it.”

Flint does, however, agree with Banks that the level of advertising needs to be reduced significantly. It’s why he was part of the group of CEOs that agreed to the voluntary whistle-to-whistle ad ban earlier this year. He also believes much more can be done to diminish the general public unease with regards to gambling, including, but not limited to, the introduction of further online restrictions. Where he quickly draws the line though is when the conversation turns to talk of outright bans, and he believes the industry also needs to be far savvier in dealing with factual inaccuracies before they enter the public realm.

“Some of the things done were not right and at the same time I think we should dial back the amount of advertising,” Flint says. “But I’ve never had a moral problem with gambling, so I do struggle with the ethical position for it not to be advertised at all.”

Improving the lack of industry unity alluded to at the start of the article will be integral. Flint cites the recent launch of the Betting and Gaming Council trade body as a good start. And, as he begins to take a step back from having an active role in gambling, he advises the sector takes this opportunity to really grab the bull by the horns to both address the real issues and being perceived to be doing so. “It certainly has to be in that order,” he adds.

Flint is clearly leaving behind an industry facing an uncertain future. He predicts it will take months, and probably years, before it’s come out the other side for the better. In the UK at least, he foresees a landscape of far fewer brands which are more product-focused, socially responsible and which provide a safe environment for the whole spectrum of customers.

However, he is still optimistic for the industry’s long-term future. “When we come through all of this, the operators left will be in a good place once again because I believe this is an industry founded on the concept of people enjoying themselves and is not in itself fundamentally harmful to the vast majority,” he concludes.

At least Flint can be safe in the knowledge that the company he helped build from the ground up is one of those odds-on to prosper.