Paddy Power exits continue as Chris Coyne departs
Former head of PaddyPower.com follows head of egaming Isaac Ward to Australia to take on CMO role at Crown Resorts
The leakage of talent at Paddy Power has continued with the departure of the operator’s former online chief Christopher Coyne, who has left to become chief marketing officer of Australian casino group Crown Resorts.
Coyne, who served as head of PaddyPower.com for almost two years before moving into head of competitive intelligence role in May 2013, joins a growing number of names to have left the operator.
The Irish firm has lost the likes of head of egaming Isaac Ward, head of bingo Oonagh Flanagan and head of mobile Sylvie McDermott to competitors in recent months as part of a damaging trend of well-respected talent heading for the exit.
A Paddy Power spokesperson confirmed Coyne’s departure but added that levels of talent flow in its online business are “very much what you’d expect”. “We have significant strength and depth across senior online team and have good online bench strength,” the spokesperson said.
Prior to being head of PaddyPower.com Coyne served as the operator’s head of egaming for more than three years. He had previously held senior marketing roles at John Lewis and BT.
During his time as head of PaddyPower.com Coyne saw online profits grow from of £43m in 2008 to more than £100m in 2012.
Since mid-2013 however online growth has slowed. In November Paddy Power slashed its operating profit growth forecast by 11m after a poor online sportsbook performance saw the operator achieve 0% growth in non-Australian online revenue so far this year.
Coyne left the company this month and will begin his Melbourne-based role in the coming months. He will take responsibility for marketing for all of Crown Resort Group’s properties, including branding and sponsorship opportunities.
Crown, which is owned by the billionaire Packer family, employs around 25,000 staff at its resorts across Australia and in Macau.
His move to the Australian market follows both Ward “ who left to join online bookie Tom Waterhouse “ and former head of customer intelligence Matteo Trinca, who joined William Hill’s team Down Under last year.
Earlier this month, Paddys ended its search for a new head of PaddyPower.com come when it promoted its online finance chief Shane Doherty to take charge of the core sportsbook and gaming site, despite being in the industry for just nine months.