PrizePicks Thursday announced the appointment of Marcus Sanford, former chief financial officer of Blizzard Entertainment, as the company’s new CFO. Ari Koteles, who had served as PrizePicks’ CFO since 2021, has been named to the newly created role of chief business officer.
“Since joining PrizePicks, I have been impressed by the exceptional talent and capabilities of our team,” said PrizePicks CEO Mike Ybarra in a statement. “As we continue to scale our business, we see an opportunity to better harness our strengths and exceed player expectations with continued innovation and a renewed focus. Prior to joining PrizePicks, I worked closely with Marcus over the last six years scaling a multibillion-dollar gaming business, and I know that he will accelerate our growth ambitions.”
Sanford has more than 20 years of strategic planning, accounting, treasury, financial management and operational experience. With Blizzard Entertainment, he oversaw finance and operations teams while continuing to serve as deputy CFO to parent company Activision Blizzard.
Prior to Blizzard, Sanford spent more than a decade as a senior finance leader at Activision Blizzard, leading corporate finance teams and playing a key role in projects including the sale of Activision Blizzard to Microsoft.
“I am thrilled to join Mike and the talented team at PrizePicks,” Sanford said. “The company’s relentless commitment to innovation and focus on delivering the best, most differentiated products to players uniquely positions PrizePicks for accelerated growth.”
As chief business officer, Koteles will be responsible for aligning business strategies with market opportunities, overseeing business development, managing partnerships, and ensuring the integration of business functions to drive growth and profitability. He will report to Ybarra.
“There are exponentially more growth opportunities ahead of us and I’m thrilled to have Ari Koteles transition from CFO into the newly formed role of chief business officer,” Ybarra said. “The creation of this role will ensure that we are exceeding player expectations with differentiated and unique product offerings.”
“Over the last 4 years, I’ve been fortunate to work with some of the most dedicated and passionate people in the industry,” Koteles said. “PrizePicks has a long history of leading product innovation in the DFS space and I look forward to further accelerating our growth as we explore new ways to expand our reach and engage with sports fans across the country.”
