The Stars Group hires ex-Hills Online exec as BetStars MD

The Stars Group has hired former William Hill Online managing director, Andrew Lee, to replace Zeno Ossko as MD of the operator’s online sports betting brand.

Lee, who will officially join BetStars on 29 January, previously spent more than four years at William Hill and led the rapid growth of the company’s digital business during Ralph Topping’s tenure as CEO.

He left Hills in 2016 during a spate of senior departures at the firm to become president of money service business WorldRemit.

“Andy is an experienced operator with proven credentials of developing an industry leading online and mobile sportsbook,” Rafi Ashkenazi, CEO of The Stars Group, said.

He added: “We expect his appointment will help us achieve our aim of developing our sports betting business into a strong secondary customer acquisition channel to our leading poker business, improve its market share in our top European markets, and prepare it for future geographic expansion.”

Andrew Lee

The appointment has already sparked rumours of a potential Stars and William Hill merger after previous talks ended last year amid public criticism of the deal from Hills’ major shareholder Parvus Asset Management.

Lee is also the second former Hills exec to join The Stars Group in recent months following the appointment last year of William Hill group director of strategy and corporate development, Robin Chhabra, to lead the operator’s ongoing M&A efforts.

Lee will replace BetStars MD Zeno Ossko who has led the sportsbook brand since September 2016.

“I want to thank Zeno for his nurturing of BetStars into an emerging pan-European sportsbook, a period in which we recorded strong growth in players, engagement and wagering.”