Former DraftKings sportsbook director joins Boom Sports
Chris Fargis recruited to build real-money sports team at New York-based gaming specialist
Boom Sports has recruited former DraftKings director of sportsbook operations Chris Fargis as its new general manager of real-money sports.
Fargis, who initially joined DraftKings as director of fantasy sports product in 2014, will be tasked with building a new real-money sports team at the gaming specialist, which is led by ex-High 5 Games executives Stephen Murphy and Med Nadooshan.
In June of last year, Boom Sports president and CTO Nadooshan gave an in-depth interview about the business and its B2C betting aspirations to EGR North America.
Boom is best known for its B2C Boom Fantasy app and history of free-to-play games but is also in the process of building its own full-stack sportsbook platform, which is where Fargis comes in.
Fargis – a former professional poker player – will be based in New York in his new role, which began officially on 21 June.
“There is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity right now to build innovative sports betting products for a US audience, while the industry is in hyper-growth mode,” Fargis wrote on LinkedIn.
“We have some fantastic, differentiated ideas, and I can’t wait to get back to my product roots and start building,” he added.
Fargis also founded Instant Fantasy Sports in 2007 before it was sold to NBC in 2009.
In April 2020, Boom Sports secured a market-access deal with Penn National Gaming, which covers sports betting and online casino skins across five states including Mississippi and Louisiana.