Sky Bet hires Deutsche Telekom director as Germany MD
Former head of telecommunication giant's sportsbook arm Jochen Weiner will lead operator's expansion into Germany
Sky Betting & Gaming (SB&G) has appointed Deutsche Telekom’s VP of gambling & lotteries, Jochen Weiner, as managing director of its new Sky Bet Deutschland business, EGR has learned.
Weiner, who has more than 10 years’ egaming experience, will be responsible for assessing how SB&G can enter the largely unregulated German market and will report directly into the operator’s CEO Richard Flint.
He joins SB&G from German telecommunications giant Deutsche Telekom, where he served as managing director of its now defunct online sportsbook tipp3.de and oversaw the company’s gambling activities in Europe.
“I’m excited to have joined Sky Betting & Gaming and am really looking forward to the challenge my new role will bring,” Weiner said.
Prior to joining Deutsche Telekom, Weiner gained egaming experience in a number of business development roles at Scientific Games and bwin.
“International expansion is a key part of our future strategy so I’m delighted that Jochen has joined to lead the early work on our entry to the German market,” Flint said.
“His experience and knowledge of the sector means we are well placed to take advantage of the opportunities Germany may present,” he added.
Germany and Italy have long been cited as SB&G’s first two international markets as it looks to utilise the strength of the Sky Deutschland and Sky Italia brands.
Sky Deutschland, which was founded in 1991, is a wholly owned subsidiary of London-headquartered media company Sky plc and has nearly 4.5 million subscribers.
The German online gambling market has proven a regulatory minefield for operators in recent years, with legislation to issue 20 national sports betting licences currently tied up in the courts
The appointment of Weiner comes after the operator recently made its real-money debut in Italy with SkyBet.it.
The Italy-facing online sportsbook is now live to a select number of pre-registered Italian customers who were last week invited to preview the site ahead of a full rollout before the end of the year.
Last year, SB&G hired former managing director of Paddy Power Italia, Giovanna D’Esposito, to spearhead its new Sky Bet Italia business after opening new offices in Sheffield and Rome to aid the launch.