Richard Flint to leave Sky Betting & Gaming next month

Sky Betting & Gaming (SBG) executive chairman and former CEO Richard Flint is set to leave the business at the end of June, parent company The Stars Group announced today.

Flint departs after 18 years with the Leeds-headquartered business, including almost ten as CEO, having helped build the UK’s most popular online betting site by many metrics.

Flint told EGR he was looking to do something “a bit more entrepreneurial” rather than working for another major company following SBG’s $4.7bn takeover by The Stars Group last year.

SBG confirmed there would be no direct replacement for Flint as executive chairman.

Flint said he will split his time between his role as chair of the Yorkshire and Humber CBI, an advisory role for the Road World Cycling Championships – held in Harrogate this year – and an online dog food selling company he has invested in called Butternut Box.

The exec said he had no immediate plans to be involved in the gambling industry, although stressed the decision to leave was a personal one rather than anything to do with the current regulatory environment.

When asked whether he was tempted to lead Stars’ efforts to bring the Sky Bet model to the US with Fox Bet, he said: “It was discussed of course, but I didn’t want to move to the US, and wanted to focus on more entrepreneurial ventures.

“Besides, Ted Moss is helping out there, and he’s very familiar with the model having worked with me on it for ten years, so they’ve got that covered.”

When asked what he would miss the most about the business, Flint pointed to the “incredible team and culture at SBG”, adding: “I’ll also miss the political, ethical and international dimensions of the industry.

“While it is challenging, it’s quite intellectually interesting as well and I’ll miss being at the centre of it.”