Gaming Realms adds Sportingbet founder Blandford to board

Mobile games developer Gaming Realms has appointed Mark Blandford, the founder of Sportingbet, to its board as a non-executive director.

Blandford, who will take on his new role with immediate effect, founded and launched Sportingbet.com in 1998, and in 2001 floated the online operator on AIM.

In 2007, Blandford stepped down from the Sportingbet board, prior to its sale in 2013 in a deal worth £485m (€555.5m/$612.2m). Sportingbet’s assets were split between William Hill and GVC Holdings.

Since leaving Sportingbet, Blandford has served as a director with a number of businesses, including internet company Intela, mobile gaming developer Mfuse and private finance firm Borro.com.

Blandford is also currently chairman of sports betting solutions provider FSB Technology.

“We are delighted that Mark has agreed to join the company; he has significant board experience in public companies and the online gaming industry,” Gaming Realms’ non-executive chairman Michael Buckley said. “We welcome him and greatly look forward to working with him.”

The appointment comes after Gaming Realms last week announced that its co-founder, Simon Collins, had opted to step down from his role as a non-executive director on its board. Gaming Realms did not disclose the reasons behind his exit.