Prophet lands FanDuel director as new VP of strategy
Matt Garrigan joins the peer-to-peer exchange start-up in time to oversee US market debut in New Jersey
Peer-to-peer sports betting exchange Prophet has pulled off a major coup by recruiting FanDuel’s Matt Garrigan as its new vice-president (VP) of strategy.
Garrigan has joined the start-up after nearly three years with FanDuel, most recently as its director of new market strategy.
The University of Nevada alumnus kickstarted his career in US sports betting at MGM Resorts back in 2010.
Since then, he has worked for leading operators including Caesars Entertainment and Penn National Gaming, as well as a period as a casino management system project consultant for Scientific Games.
Garrigan began his new job at Prophet on September 1 2021 and he will report into the firm’s COO and co-founder Jake Benzaquen. Dean Sisun currently serves as CEO and is also a co-founder.
His responsibilities will span the operations, compliance and marketing departments while using his go-to market experience at FanDuel to help Prophet scale across the US.
“From the first time I spoke with Dean and Jake, it was clear we share the same passion and focus to help Prophet fill the gaps that exist in sports wagering from a customer perspective,” said Garrigan.
“We are underway with our planning and it feels really good. We have a team that is extremely eager, believes in this unique product and we are laser focused on the customer.
“There is nothing more exciting than planning for a go-live,” he added.
Prophet is scheduled to go live in New Jersey in September via a market-access agreement with Caesars Entertainment and is also aiming to launch in Indiana in 2022.
In August, Prophet revealed the company’s new headquarters would be based in Hoboken, New Jersey.
The new building will play home to the company’s leadership and operational teams, which will then be supplemented by additional staff working remotely worldwide.
“New Jersey has solidified itself as the new home of sports betting in the US, thus making it the natural place for us to have our headquarters,” said CEO Sisun.
“The physical space we will occupy in Hoboken provides us with the opportunity to build the company culture we want to create at the heart of our business,” he added.
Prophet first launched in the UK in October 2019 but pulled out of the market after having its licence suspended by the Gambling Commission for failing to comply with the GAMSTOP self-exclusion scheme.