PlayUp brings Monmouth Park’s CEO to board

The Australian online betting technology firm has added Dennis Drazin to its board of directors to consolidate its US footprint.

Australia.- Australian online betting technology firm PlayUp has brought racing “hall of famer” Dennis Drazin onto its board of directors to work directly with the company’s US CEO, Laila Mintas.

PlayUp currently holds betting licences in multiple jurisdictions in Australia, India, and the US. In October PlayUp it confirmed its intention to enter the US market.

With this move, the company aims to strengthen its footprint in America, where it has secured licences for imminent launches in several states.

Principal at the law firm Drazin and Warshaw, Drazin is chairman and CEO of Darby Development, operator of Monmouth Park, the largest racetrack in New Jersey where the first legal sports wager was made by Governor Phil Murphy on June 14, 2018.

For decades Drazin has been an advisor to the New Jersey Thoroughbred Horsemen’s Association. He became chairman of the New Jersey Racing Commission in 2009. He was also involved in the push to legalise sports betting in the US, according to a profile published by PlayUp.

He was inducted into the Sports Betting Hall of Fame in 2019.

Drazin said: “I am very excited to join PlayUp and look forward to utilizing my many years of experience and industry leadership to develop and expand PlayUp’s extensive strategy as they look to grow their US and global presence in online betting.”

Daniel Simic, global CEO at PlayUp, said: “Dennis is a well-recognized figure in the USA Betting industry and will add enormous experience to our board. I look forward to working with him and Laila as we expand our global footprint.

“Significant progress has been made to introduce fixed-odds horse racing in the USA and what better person to have on our board than the man helping to currently oversee the pilot program.”