People news 19 June 2014
The latest people news from the egaming industry in the last seven days (13 June to 19 June 2014)
Former Boylesports chief exec O’Loughlin joins Coral
Keith O’Loughlin moves to Gala Coral subsidiary as director of sportsbook for Interactive division
Coral Interactive has appointed former Boylesports Online chief executive Keith O’Loughlin (pictured) as its director of sportsbook, eGaming Review has learned.
The hire has seen O’Loughlin relocate from Ireland to Coral’s Gibraltar offices and succeed Carlo Di Maio, who recently returned to Gala Coral’s Italy-facing subsidiary Eurobet.
John O’Reilly, managing director of Coral Interactive, described O’Loughlin’s appointment as “another key step” in the growth of Coral online.
“The business has a good growth momentum and Keith will play an important role in the further developing the sports offering across web and mobile,” O’Reilly said.
O’Loughlin joined Boyles in 2011 as head of online and mobile before becoming CEO of the Irish bookie’s online division in March 2012.
PAF director Wiklund steps down
PAF’s long-serving director Anders Wiklund is leaving the gaming operator after eight years.
Wiklund joined the à land-based gaming firm in 2007 as international sales manager, before progressing into head of B2B and head of consumer experience roles.
He has been a key director of the business for almost two and half years, and will now join Finnish medical tubing supplier Optinova as its CEO in September.
Paf chief executive Anders Ingves said the company was losing a “resourceful leader” in Wiklund.
Betable business development VP Flesher exits
Betable executive vice-president of business development Jonathan Flesher has left the real-money platform provider after 18 months at the firm.
Flesher officially vacated the role last week to spend more time with his family but will continue to be a major shareholder in the London-headquartered company.
He originally joined Betable in January 2013 from social gaming giant Zynga where he also held the role of vice president and general manager of business development.
Flesher became the second former Zynga VP to take up a new role with Betable after former vice president of mobile Ya-Bing Chu was appointed chief product officer in November 2012.
Sportech has announced the appointment of social casino operator Slingo CEO Rich Roberts as its new president of digital for its US operations.
Roberts will take up his new role next month after serving as a non-executive director for the firm since early 2014 and will report directly to CEO Ian Penrose.
“I am delighted to welcome Rich as an executive to the Sportech Board,” Roger Withers, Sportech chairman, said.
“Rich’s experience and business knowledge within the mobile, social and real money gaming markets, will be of considerable benefit to the Group,” he added.
Roberts has been CEO of Slingo, which was acquired by RealNetworks last year, since 2010 and has previously worked in VP roles for Hasbro and Atari.