Steven Monaghan steps down as Sky Bet sports betting MD 

Monaghan is leaving Sky Bet after more than 11 years with the company.

UK.- Steven Monaghan has resigned as managing director of sports betting at Sky Betting & Gaming (Sky Bet). He left the company on Friday after 11 and a half years with the Flutter-owned company. His time at Sky Bet included work in marketing and commercial affairs in all divisions of the sportsbook unit.

Having initially joined as a sales executive, he was promoted to marketing director in 2019. That role saw him lead Sky Bet’s safer gambling campaign through its sponsorship of the English Football League (EFL) and the ​​Cheltenham Festival. He was then promoted to managing director of sportsbook after Sky Betting and Gaming merged with Flutter in 2020.

Monaghan wrote on LinkedIn: “If someone had told me 11 1/2 years ago when I first joined the company as a marketing exec, I would leave as MD of Sports, along the way having met some of the most incredible, smart, talented people that I’m delighted to call my friends I would never have believed them, but here we are!”

He added: “It’s never an easy decision to step away from something you feel so close to but there comes a time when you have to push yourself for a change and a new challenge. That time for me is now and I’m excited to see what the next challenge will be!”

Earlier this week, Sky Bet extended its collaboration with the EFL. Sky Bet CEO Steve Birch says the partnership will focus more than ever on responsibility. 

He says the partnership, which covers the second to fourth levels of English football and is now approaching its tenth year, will promote safer gambling. The slogan “Take Time to Think” will appear on clubs’ sleeve badges and on LED advertising, matchday programmes and big screen ads.

Birch said: “This has always and rightly placed safer gambling at its heart, while also establishing a framework that allows us to engage the millions of EFL fans and connect them with the teams, players, and communities that they passionately support. And if last year’s footballing drama is anything to go by, they are in for another treat this season.”

Meanwhile, the Premier League is to hold a vote in September on its plan to phase out front-of-shirt gambling sponsorship in an attempt to avoid a complete ban on all forms of advertising. The league plans to keep sponsorship in other places, including on shirt sleeves. The proposal will need the support of 14 out of the league’s 20 teams to go ahead, but most are expected to approve the proposal.