Netflix hires its first-ever iGaming advertising executive

Hunter will build out the relationship between Netflix Ads and brands in the regulated iGaming vertical. He is not new to the space: he spent eight-plus years at SnapChat building the company’s commercial partnerships, and before that ran digital marketing at poker operator The Stars Group — the same brand that became part of Flutter Entertainment through an acquisition in 2020.

Advertising has existed on Netflix’s tiers since late 2022, and the company has been steadily scaling that business ever since — investing in ad tech, expanding sales, and adding more live sports broadcasts.

Until now, Netflix had no dedicated track for gambling advertisers at all. This hire effectively formalizes something that clearly was not part of the strategy before.

Netflix is arriving at regulated gambling ad inventory later than several of its streaming and broadcast peers. ESPN and Amazon have both built out sportsbook advertising relationships tied to their live sports coverage for years, and DAZN has leaned into betting partnerships as a core revenue line in some markets. A dedicated Netflix hire suggests the company sees enough scale in its own live sports slate, and enough advertiser demand from regulated operators, to finally justify a specialist rather than folding gambling accounts into a general ad sales role.

For media buyers and affiliates in the iGaming space, a new premium inventory source is worth tracking, but the word regulated is doing real work in every statement Netflix has made so far. Gambling advertising rules vary sharply by market and by product, sports betting is legal and advertised openly in some US states while remote casino products face tighter restrictions almost everywhere, so any Netflix gambling ad program will likely launch narrow and expand only where local rules clearly allow it.