Stars Group appoints video games pioneer John Schappert as corporate advisor

Toronto TSX-listed The Stars Group Inc has strengthened its corporate governance’s strategic capacity and technology-led competencies by confirming the appointment of John Schappert as a new independent director.

Regarded as a pioneer of the video games industry, Schappert is the co-founder of Tiburon Entertainment, the original games development studio of ground-breaking sports titles Madden NFL, NFL Street and NASCAR Racing.

Tiburon Entertainment was acquired by video games giant Electronic Arts (EA) in 1998, forming the foundations for the EA sports video games publishing division.

Schappert, who currently serves as Chairman of US games developers Motorsport Games and Pipeworks Studio, has held further executive positions at Zynga Inc and Microsoft.

Publishing its H1 2019 interim results, Stars Group governance confirmed to investors that Schappert would sit on the firm’s newly established Technology Committee of independent directors, advising governance and leadership on tech enterprise strategies. risks and dynamics for the enlarged TSX operator.

During its interim presentation, the Stars Group confirmed that it had attributed $40 million in working capital to accelerate the development of its FOX Bet US market joint-venture launched in partnership with FOX Sports.

Securing a 25-year arrangement with the FOX Corporation, the Stars Group will serve as lead wagering technology supplier of all FOX Sports properties, forming a JV to dominate US market online gambling services.