Fanatics, the sports merchandise giant and soon-to-be sports betting operator, has announced the appointment of Andrea Ellis as chief financial officer of Fanatics Betting & Gaming (FBG), the company’s online sports betting and iGaming division.
In her new role, Andrea will oversee business and financial planning and analysis across FBG’s finance functions, including accounting, budget, tax, and cost management. Reporting to FBG CEO Matt King, Andrea will be an integral part of developing strategies across the business and will also have oversight of payments and fraud.
Andrea joins Fanatics following two years as chief financial officer of Lime, the largest electric scooter and bike share company globally. Under her leadership, Lime expanded into nearly 30 countries, posted multiple quarters of profitability following the COVID-19 pandemic and raised more than $500 million.
“We are thrilled to welcome Andrea to our team as we inch closer to formally launching a new, dynamic online sports betting and gaming product for fans,” said King. “Andrea has an incredible background leading a wide variety of finance and innovative growth functions across transformative and large-scale consumer brands, experience that will be invaluable to the ultimate long-term success and global scaling of our business.”
Prior to Lime, Andrea held various positions with increasing responsibilities for Restaurant Brands International (RBI), one of the world’s largest quick service restaurant companies. Throughout her time there, she served as head of investor relations and global financial planning & analysis for RBI, chief financial officer and interim head of retail for Tim Hortons, and general manager of Popeyes, where she oversaw field operations for approximately one third of the chain’s locations in the United States.
“I could not be more excited to join Matt and this incredibly talented betting & gaming team, as well as be a part of the overall growth happening across Fanatics’ global digital sports platform,” said Ellis. “Throughout my career I’ve always searched for opportunities to grow businesses while combining my passions across finance, technology and consumer products, and as a diehard sports fan I can’t imagine a more perfect role than this.”
