PrizePicks reveals C-suite reshuffle with new CFO
Blizzard Entertainment’s Marcus Sanford named as new finance chief while Ari Koteles to take on newly created chief business officer role
PrizePicks has named former Blizzard Entertainment head Marcus Sanford as its new CFO and shifted Ari Koteles to a newly created role of chief business officer, in its latest C-suite shift.
Sandford joins the DFS firm after serving as Blizzard’s CFO since June 2021 and rejoins his former colleague Mike Ybarra, who was named as PrizePicks CEO in August.
Ybarra spent three years as Blizzard’s president before he was drafted in to replace PrizePicks founder Adam Wexler when he stepped up to become executive chair of the business.
Sandford previously spent time as deputy CFO at Activision Blizzard as well as holding SVP and VP roles across the finance team.
During his time with the company, he played a key role in the sale of Activision Blizzard to Microsoft for $69bn in October 2023.
As part of Sandford’s arrival, current PrizePicks CFO Koteles will transfer into the newly created chief business officer role.
Koteles has served as the Atlanta-based firm’s finance chief since April 2021 after he joined from customer engagement platform MessageGears.
In his new role as chief business officer, Koteles will be responsible for “aligning business strategies with market opportunities [and] overseeing business development.”
He will also oversee partnership management and the deeper integration of business functions to “drive growth and profitability” at the company.
Koteles will report into CEO Ybarra in his new role.
Speaking on the C-suite reshuffle, Ybarra heaped praise on Sandford and Koteles as he laid out his vision of the new team.
The CEO said: “Since joining PrizePicks, I have been impressed by the exceptional talent and capabilities of our team.
“As we continue to scale our business, we see an opportunity to better harness our strengths and exceed player expectations with continued innovation and a renewed focus.
“Prior to joining PrizePicks, I worked closely with Marcus over the last six years scaling a multi-billion-dollar gaming business, and I know he will accelerate our growth ambitions.
“There are exponentially more growth opportunities ahead of us and I’m thrilled to have Ari Koteles transition from CFO into the newly formed role of chief business officer. The creation of this role will ensure we are exceeding player expectations with differentiated and unique product offerings.”
On joining PrizePicks, Sandford added: “I am thrilled to join Mike and the talented team at PrizePicks. The company’s relentless commitment to innovation and focus on delivering the best, most differentiated products to players uniquely positions PrizePicks for accelerated growth.”
Koteles said: “Over the last four years, I’ve been fortunate to work with some of the most dedicated and passionate people in the industry.
“PrizePicks has a long history of leading product innovation in the DFS space, and I look forward to further accelerating our growth as we explore new ways to expand our reach and engage with sports fans across the country.”
Arnold Ash is EGR’s Executive Recruitment Partner. They support ambitious organisations to identify and attract industry leading executive talent. Find out more here.