SBC News
Neil Banbury, new Sky Betting and Gaming MD, plans to draw on Flutter's global scale
Neil Banbury, who joined Kindred Group in 2010 and rose to Chief Commercial and Marketing Officer, has become Managing Director of Sky Betting and Gaming. He told SBC News he wants to make the most of parent company Flutter's scale.
Sky Betting and Gaming (SBG) has a new Managing Director in Neil Banbury, who says he intends to make the most of parent company Flutter Entertainment's global reach. He spoke to SBC News after confirming his appointment on LinkedIn. The source gives his start date as Thursday 29 September.
Banbury joins from Kindred Group, where he began as a Financial Analyst in 2010 and became Chief Commercial and Marketing Officer in 2024. He left the company in 2026. His time there overlapped with Kindred's acquisition by FDJ United for €2.45bn in 2023.
In his new role he will oversee SBG's portfolio of Sky Bet, Sky Casino, Sky Poker and Sky Bingo. According to Blask, Sky Bet is one of the five biggest online betting brands in the UK by internet traffic. Banbury described SBG as one of the strongest brands in the UK market, with a genuine connection to entertainment and sports fans. He said he wants to lead the team through its next phase, delivering a good customer experience with safer gambling at the core while working with colleagues across Flutter.
The appointment comes as the UK online betting and gaming market undergoes major change. The industry widely expects restructuring and consolidation among large operators such as Flutter, following the new tax regime introduced in April this year. Flutter is also reshaping its senior leadership. Dan Taylor, previously CEO of Flutter International, replaced long-serving group CEO Peter Jackson on 1 October. Earlier this year it was confirmed that Amy Howe would leave her post as CEO of FanDuel, Flutter's most valuable asset by revenue.
The changes come while Flutter's share price on the NYSE is down more than 63% year-over-year, although none of the leadership moves have been directly linked to the decline.
The SBG leadership role has shifted several times in recent years, and the business has been run by Commercial Directors and Managing Directors rather than a CEO for some time. Banbury follows Steve Birch, who left in December 2025 after nearly 20 years at SBG. Birch became Managing Director of Sky Bet UK in 2018 and CEO in 2020, and has since left the iGaming sector to become Chief Digital Sales Officer at Great British Rail Journeys.
Based on reporting by SBC News.