Sportsbet promotes from within for new CIO
Michael Foster has made the step up from general manager of customer experience delivery to his first C-level role with Australian firm
Sportsbet has named Michael Foster as the operator’s new chief information officer (CIO).
Foster has worked for the Flutter Entertainment-owned firm for eight years, having joined as general manager of enterprise technology in November 2016.
He was then named general manager of customer experience delivery in August 2019.
Prior to his arrival at Sportsbet, Foster spent a decade at Australian marketing agency and print publisher Sensis.
Within the period from December 2006 to November 2016, Foster’s first two years were spent at Sensis Classifieds, the company’s in-house IT team.
He rose up the ranks, joining as an IT development and support manager and by the time Foster parted ways with Sensis he did so as group manager for business enablement technology and services.
Before his nine-year spell with Sensis, Foster spent two years at IT consulting company Infosys from December 2004 to December 2006.
In a statement on LinkedIn, Sportsbet said: “We are pleased to announce that Michael Foster has taken on the role of chief information officer for Sportsbet.
“With over 20 years in technology roles across a number of industries, Michael brings extensive technical leadership experience to the CIO role, and we’re excited to welcome him to Sportsbet’s leadership team.”
Foster added: “Sportsbet is an incredible organisation to be a part of and the last 7 years have been incredibly rewarding both personally and professionally.
“To now have the opportunity to lead our technology capability is honestly a dream come true.
“Our technology team has fantastic track record of combining tech innovation with customer needs, creating incredible products and experiences. I look forward with energy and excitement to supporting and helping the team continue to achieve these outcomes and strive to even further heights.”
Foster’s new role will see him based on-site in the company’s Melbourne offices.
It is currently unclear how Sportsbet has performed in Q1 of this year, with Flutter set to release its financial results for the first three months of the year later this month.
However, 2023 ended with average monthly players rising 1.9% to 1.1 million as a result of high retention levels.
Despite this, revenue in for Australia’s market leader slipped 7.1% compared to 2022, falling to $1.4bn while adjusted EBITDA slipped 27% to $348m.
Sportsbet also became Melbourne Racing Club’s new sponsor, replacing Entain for the next five years in a deal that commenced in January and will see the operator sponsor some of the most iconic races in the Australian calendar.
Arnold Ash is EGR’s Executive Recruitment Partner. They support ambitious organisations to identify and attract industry leading executive talent. Find out more here.