Better Collective eyes US dominance with New York headquarters

Better Collective has debuted its new 8,367 square foot US headquarters, located in downtown Manhattan, New York. The affiliate has leased the second floor of 61 West 23^rd Street, a property built in 1887 and restored in 2021, located near to Madison Park. The office is just one block from one of Better Collective’s main US partners, US sportsbook market leader FanDuel.

Speaking exclusively to EGR, Better Collective’s US CEO Marc Pedersen and Action Network CEO Patrick Keane explained the virtues of choosing the Empire State for the affiliate’s main hub. “We have a large investor base on the East Coast, specifically around New York, so in that aspect as well, it makes a lot of sense to be here,” Pedersen said. “It’s the media capital of the world. It’s the location of the headquarters, if not a major office for every league and rights holder. It’s also a flagship location for just about every sportsbook operator and, if they’re not here, they’re in someplace in New Jersey or Jersey City,” Keane added. “We want that proximity to our sportsbook partners, to our media partners, to the leagues, and rights holders. Even more importantly, the overwhelming concentration of our employee base across the Better Collective assets and Action Network is in the New York area, so it’s a natural fit.” The office features three main meeting rooms and four phone booth-style rooms in which employees can conduct meetings, as well as a conference space for working with remote employees. It will regularly play host to 60 staff including content creators and members of Better Collective’s commercial and media partnership teams as well as serving as the primary hub for the affiliate’s US management team. In selecting the West 23^rd Street property, Better Collective conducted research on which of its employees would be based at the office most often, choosing a central location which was deemed to be an easy commute due to its proximity to New York’s Penn Station. The office will also be utilized by employees from separate US offices working on other Better Collective properties including the Action Network, VegasInsider, RotoGrinders, Scores & Odds as well as Sports Handle. VegasInsider’s main office is located in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, while RotoGrinders and Scores & Odds are served by offices in Nashville. These employees, as well as others from the affiliate’s European operations, will be able to utilize so-called “jump stations” when working out of the New York office. Another big feature of the office is its state-of-the-art content production studio producing both video and audio content, with plans to produce a TV show every weekend on college football and the NFL. “We’re going to have a full high-production quality studio and it’s great because we also sell this against partners.  So, the partnerships team is able to monetize that studio as its great content for our users,” Keane said. Better Collective’s main US teams have been working via a hybrid model due to the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on the US office culture, and while the affiliate has been able to maintain full production capacity, Keane highlighted the benefits of returning to the office. “We have a young team, and that young team has overwhelmingly let us know that returning to the office is a priority for them and we want to make that a priority for the rest of the company,” he explained. “We know how important that is because our number one asset is our people, and retaining and motivating and driving our people is what we need to do to be successful,” Keane added. These sentiments were echoed by Better Collective’s US CEO Pedersen, citing potential distractions and other issues hampering employees working remotely in the Empire State. “Being able to go into an office and focus on your work will be a big help, and we actually saw quite a push from our employees to return to the office and they were really quite keen on getting back,” Pedersen said. “There’s quite some excitement around the organization for this. “I think one thing that’s very intangible is the level of innovation and best-practice sharing that you have around a coffee machine that you don’t get at the same level when working remotely. So, there are some intangible benefits from my perspective,” he added.