Operator 888 Holdings has appointed Ben Hurst as its new VP of North American Market Expansion.888 owns brands including William Hill, Mr Green and 888 itself, as well as the SI sportsbook and SI casino brands, as part of a US partnership with Authentic Brands Group. Hurst has recently been working as an independent consultant – including for 888 during the last year – and previously served as SVP and Head of Digital at Madison Square Garden Sports & Entertainment, where he oversaw all digital initiatives for MSG's portfolio of brands/properties, including the New York Knicks, New York Rangers, MSG, Radio City, The Beacon Theatre and other venues. Prior to this, he served as SVP, Mobile/Emerging Platforms and Digital Partnerships at Paramount, managing the digital/mobile division for Comedy Central, MTV, CMT, TV Land, VH1, Paramount Network and Logo. In his new role, Hurst will be a member of the North American management team, creating and implementing strategies to increase 888’s presence in the region, with the US and Canada being two of the group’s target growth markets.Howard Mittman, President 888 US, commented: “I am delighted that Ben will be joining our US team as VP. Having worked with him over the last year or so as a consultant, I have full confidence that his knowledge of the industry, and of our company, makes him the perfect leader to help continue to grow our US business for the future. “Ben has an exceptional track record at some world-class media brands and will bring a huge amount of knowledge of the US digital, sports and entertainment landscape. We very much look forward to working with him.”

Led all digital initiatives across MSG portfolio of brands/properties, including New York Knicks, New York Rangers, Rockettes, MSG, Radio City, The Beacon Theatre, Chicago Theatre, Hulu Theater, and MSG Sphere. Developed overall strategy and managed roadmaps across all digital products. Partnered with senior management to develop and execute on key strategic pillars to drive growth within businesses.

Mobile and Emerging Platforms: Built and scaled the mobile and connected TV business for Viacom's Music and Entertainment Group (Comedy Central, MTV, VH1, Paramount Network, among others)Digital Partnerships: Led the contract negotiations, structured partnerships, and managed the relationships with leading digital platforms/companiesGaming: Managed the division's P&L

Built and scaled the mobile business for Viacom's Entertainment Group (Comedy Central, Spike TV, and TV Land)This included: setting strategy, managing product pipeline and roadmap, developing and managing apps, driving audience growth with distribution partners, creating and defining sales opportunities, defining the content offering, determining business models, and devising marketing strategies

Led strategic planning and business development efforts in areas such as acquisitions, key partnerships, and new business launches for Comedy Central

Joost was a start-up and an early entrant in the ad-supported video streaming market started by the founders of Kazaa and Skype (Sequoia and Index Ventures were among the investors)Managed business development efforts, including sourcing partners, assessing deal attractiveness, negotiating contracts, and maintaining client and vendor relations. Built consumer-facing advertising products and articulated requirements to engineering team. Developed go-to-market sales strategy for selling to marketers.

Identified new opportunities and developed strategic initiatives to grow $3 billion in revenue from advertising sales

Advised on financial and strategic alternatives, including capital raising, mergers and acquisitions, and divestitures, across TMT clients