PrizePicks CEO Adam Wexler Steps Down Amid M&A Talks
Transcript
00:00So, let's start off with PrizePix.
00:07Very up and down year for them and a lot of these other non, you know, very specific sports
00:12betting operators, some of the peer-to-peer gaming companies, wild year for them.
00:16Maybe when you recap the year, you'll talk about that.
00:20But Adam Wexler, no question, initially when PrizePix launched and really got to that next
00:26level, he's responsible, I'm guessing, for a lot of that.
00:28But he has decided to step down as CEO.
00:32And so, maybe more so, I would ask, Pat, how do we interpret this?
00:36Is this something that would speak to more of the future as the crackdown has come in
00:41on some of these peer-to-peer gaming sites?
00:44It does come at a curious time, but not necessarily because of that.
00:48Because yes, you're right, they've had a crazy year and a half or so of regulatory scrutiny
00:53coming down at these DFS 2.0 or DFS Plus operators, however you want to describe them,
01:00you know, that they offer essentially a parlay bet-like product that kind of has been able
01:06to get around a lot of rules and regulations.
01:09And some regulators have said, whoa, hold on, that's too close.
01:12And of course, now we've talked about that in the past.
01:14But what's really interesting about this decision at this point is Wexler, as you noted, isn't
01:19an entrepreneur at heart.
01:20He's started a few DFS companies and certainly has an eye for this kind of industry and getting
01:27things going and off the ground.
01:30And I think he's seen the point where, okay, PricePix is this pretty big monster now out
01:35there, even with some of the scrutiny that's been put on it.
01:38And there's lots of opportunity in front of it, which is why they've just hired a firm
01:43to kind of look at mergers and acquisitions.
01:45And Bloomberg reported that they're not looking for an outright sale.
01:50As Wexler kind of says, okay, I'm going to step aside, become the executive chairman.
01:54They're going to bring in Mike Ibarra, who is a seasoned exec.
01:58He comes from the video game developer Blizzard, which has done Warcraft and StarCraft if you're
02:04a gamer of any sort.
02:07He also has 20 years at Microsoft where he was a vice president in the Windows and Xbox
02:13divisions.
02:14So, he's got lots of experience, lots of managerial and probably foresight.
02:19However you want to talk about it.
02:21And he's coming in just as they're starting to talk about mergers and acquisitions.
02:24Now, what does that mean?
02:26That's to be determined.
02:27We'll see what kind of thing happens.
02:30There's been floated ideas that somebody might come in and take a big chunk of it and help
02:35them grow even more.
02:36There's been ideas floated that maybe they'll purchase a small sports book and use their
02:40large database that they've built up in some of these states that haven't legalized sports
02:45betting yet, including California, Texas, and Georgia.
02:49They've got their headquartered in Georgia, so that's a big home state for them.
02:53And so, there's lots of opportunity there.
02:55And I think Wexler probably said, you know what?
02:57I got it off the ground.
02:58I've got it to a really good place.
03:00I can still help guide it from a chairman position and kind of work with our new CEO
03:05to find where these new expansion opportunities are.
03:10And we'll see where it goes.
03:12And again, there's big opportunity in Texas and California for anybody who has a decent
03:17sized database.
03:18So, if they can figure out how to transform that once those go live, though, this is just
03:23kind of an aside.
03:24I was talking to a former industry executive who's now in consulting, and he said, I've
03:29told clients, you know, wait till 2030 for Texas and California, or don't budget anything
03:34for them.
03:35So, those two states, as we've talked about many times on the show, whether it was me
03:39or any of my colleagues, those two states are just a very complicated mess.
03:45But PricePix is still trying to figure out its way forward.
03:47And they are, you know, by far the biggest EFS company at this point and making their
03:52way forward.
03:53So, you know, just an interesting executive switch at an interesting time as they're looking
03:56at mergers and acquisitions and have developed into a industry stalwart and trying to figure
04:01out their next steps.