Daily fantasy sports startup PrizePicks has a new CEO, as the company announced the appointment of former Blizzard Entertainment president Mike Ybarra on Monday. Ybarra succeeds PrizePicks founder Adam Wexler, who is transitioning to an executive chairman position.
Ybarra comes from the world of video games, having worked within the Xbox division during a nearly 20-year stint at Microsoft. At Blizzard Entertainment, a subsidiary of Activision Blizzard, Ybarra oversaw intellectual property including Warcraft and Overwatch.
“I am impressed with the passion, positive energy and incredible team at PrizePicks and want to thank Adam and the Board for this opportunity,” Ybarra said in a statement.
Based in Atlanta, PrizePicks opened a new 33,000-square-foot HQ earlier this year with plans to add 1,000 new jobs over the next seven years. Last month, the company was reportedly working with investment bank Moelis & Co. to consider merger and acquisition opportunities. A 2021 funding round added former Atlanta Falcons quarterback Matt Ryan—as well as several sports executives—to the company cap table.
Founded in 2017, PrizePicks now boasts more than “10 million community members” and billions in annual payouts. The company’s signature pick ’em-style daily fantasy contests are currently available in 31 states (including Texas and California, where full mobile sports betting has not yet been legalized) as well as much of Canada, amid ongoing conversations about how the real money contests should be governed and whether they ought to be classified as games of skill.
“On behalf of the entire board, I would like to thank [Wexler] for his tireless contributions as PrizePicks’ founder, building this organization into one of the leading fan engagement platforms from the ground up,” PrizePicks board of managers member Jon Hallett said in a statement. “Under his tenure, PrizePicks has experienced a period of remarkable growth and enters this transition with an incredible amount of momentum and strength. Mike Ybarra is the right leader for the next phase of the company’s journey.”
