888 Holdings has named former Bleacher Report CEO Howard Mittman as U.S. president prior to the launch its SI Sportsbook in U.S. markets.
Mittman will be responsible for all U.S. operations, including the partnership with Authentic Brands Group (ABG), the owner of the Sports Illustrated brand.
“Howard has an exceptional track record at some of the world’s best known media brands,” said 888 CEO Itai Pazner. “He brings a huge amount of knowledge of the US digital landscape, has exceptionally strong relationships across the world of sports and media and was the outstanding candidate after a thorough search.”
At Bleacher Report, Mittman oversaw the launch of B/R Betting, Bleacher Report’s sports betting practice. He also helped forge multiple partnerships with U.S. sports betting operators.
Mittman said he had been “hugely impressed” by the people he met at 888.
“The partnership with ABG and Sports Illustrated gives us a unique opportunity to deliver world-class betting and gaming products as part of a fully integrated experience with a leading sports media brand,” Mittman said.
Currently, SI Sportsbook is live only in Colorado, but will launch in Virginia this month, with more states to follow later this year.
The SI Sportsbook is built on the BetBright platform 888 acquired in 2019. The company only fully migrated its sportsbook over to the platform in the last year.
According to Legal Sports Reports, analysts at Eilers & Krejcik were “somewhat critical” of the product in a first-quarter app review. The report praised the breadth of live markets, but added, “Sports Illustrated’s entry into the online sports betting market largely landed with a thud among our tester group. It fails in key areas and has enough technical problems (some crashing reports and many bet placement issues) to question its launch state.”
