Matt Kalish is one of the three co-founders of DraftKings, the Boston-based sports betting, daily fantasy sports, and iGaming operator that ranks among the largest legal sportsbooks in the United States. He served as the company’s President, DraftKings North America from December 2019 until stepping down from that operating role on March 31, 2026, and continues to sit on DraftKings’ board of directors. In December 2025, he became CEO of HardScope, a newly launched creator-media company built around the team that relaunched FaZe Clan.
For readers of this site, Kalish matters less as a personality and more as one of the people whose early decisions shaped how legal, regulated online sports betting actually works for US players today — he’s widely credited with positioning DraftKings to launch in New Jersey immediately after the 2018 repeal of PASPA, the federal law that had blocked state-regulated sports betting outside Nevada.
Quick Facts
| Field | Detail |
| Full name | Matthew Kalish |
| Best known for | Co-founder, DraftKings |
| Former title | President, DraftKings North America (Dec. 2019 – Mar. 31, 2026) |
| Current DraftKings role | Director, Board of Directors (since April 2020) |
| Current primary role | CEO, HardScope (creator-media company; since Dec. 2025) |
| Prior DraftKings role | Chief Revenue Officer (2014–2019) |
| Co-founded DraftKings | Incorporated December 2011; product publicly launched in 2012, alongside Jason Robins (CEO) and Paul Liberman — see note below |
| Education | MBA, Boston College Carroll School of Management (2006–2009); B.S., Economics and Computer Science, Columbia University (2000–2004) |
| Notable recognition | SBJ “Forty Under 40,” Class of 2019 |
| Pre-DraftKings career | Operations Analyst, Fidelity Investments (2004–2005); briefly a reporting analyst at Microsoft; Business Manager, Capital One (2006–2009); CRM Marketing Manager, Vistaprint (2009–2012) |
Current Role: From DraftKings President to HardScope CEO
This is the section of Kalish’s career most likely to trip up an out-of-date profile, so it’s worth being precise about the timeline:
- December 2019: Appointed President, DraftKings North America, after five years as Chief Revenue Officer. In that role he was accountable for the company’s North America revenue, unifying marketing, operations, and analytics across DraftKings’ sportsbook, iGaming, daily fantasy sports, and marketplace products.
- November 2025: DraftKings disclosed, via SEC filing, that Kalish and the company had “mutually agreed” he would transition out of the President role.
- December 16, 2025: Kalish launched HardScope and stepped in as its CEO, a company built on the infrastructure behind the relaunch of FaZe Clan, the livestreaming/esports organization.
- March 31, 2026: Kalish’s departure from the President role took effect. He remains a DraftKings director, and receives director compensation for that continuing board role.
In his own public comments announcing the move, Kalish framed the transition as making room to focus on creator-economy work, not as a response to any specific DraftKings issue. DraftKings CEO Jason Robins publicly credited Kalish, alongside fellow co-founder Paul Liberman, with helping build the company “from day one.”
Career History
| Period | Role | Notes |
| 2004–2005 | Operations Analyst, Fidelity Investments | Early career, prior to DraftKings |
| c. 2005–2006 | Reporting Analyst, Microsoft | Reported as a brief stint (roughly four months) between Fidelity and Capital One; corroborated across multiple secondary sources, but not independently confirmed against a primary record |
| 2006–2009 | Business Manager, Capital One | Multiple sources place this as where Kalish first met future DraftKings CEO Jason Robins |
| 2009–2011/2012 | CRM Marketing Manager, Vistaprint | Where Kalish, Robins, and Paul Liberman worked together prior to founding DraftKings |
| Dec. 2011 | Co-founded DraftKings | Company incorporated with Jason Robins and Paul Liberman; see founding-date note above |
| 2014–2019 | Chief Revenue Officer, DraftKings | Oversaw revenue-generating functions as the company scaled its daily fantasy sports business |
| 2018 | Led DraftKings’ post-PASPA sports betting launch strategy | DraftKings Sportsbook launched in New Jersey, the first state outside Nevada to legalize sports betting |
| Dec. 2019 – Mar. 2026 | President, DraftKings North America | Accountable for North America revenue, marketing, operations, and analytics |
| April 2020 | Joined DraftKings’ board of directors | Continues in this role today |
| 2019 | Named to SBJ’s “Forty Under 40” | Recognized for leadership in sports betting/DFS |
| 2024 | Invested in FaZe Media | Reported $11 million investment, described as giving Kalish a 49% ownership stake |
| Dec. 2025 | Launched HardScope; named CEO | Creator-media company built from the FaZe Clan relaunch team |
| Mar. 31, 2026 | Stepped down as DraftKings President | Remains on DraftKings’ board |
In His Own Words
Kalish has said DraftKings began building a sports betting product well before the Supreme Court struck down PASPA in 2018, specifically because internal research showed sports betting was the strongest adjacent interest among daily fantasy sports players. Describing the company’s timing once the ruling came down, he’s put it simply: the team was already “pretty well-positioned” to move.
Key Achievements and Industry Milestones
While at DraftKings, Kalish was associated with several milestones that shaped the modern US online betting market:
- First-mover sports betting launch: DraftKings Sportsbook went live in New Jersey shortly after the Supreme Court’s 2018 PASPA repeal, making it one of the first legal online and mobile sportsbooks operating outside Nevada.
- Public listing: DraftKings became a publicly traded company on Nasdaq in April 2020, via a merger with a special-purpose acquisition company (SPAC) — a period that fell within Kalish’s tenure as a senior executive.
- Golden Nugget Online Gaming acquisition: DraftKings agreed in August 2021 to acquire Golden Nugget Online Gaming in an all-stock deal with an implied equity value of approximately $1.56 billion, per the companies’ own SEC filing; the deal closed in 2022, expanding DraftKings’ iGaming footprint and adding a database of more than 5 million Golden Nugget customers.
- Continued expansion through acquisition: More recent moves include the acquisition of lottery courier Jackpocket and, in 2025, derivatives exchange Railbird Technologies, as DraftKings entered the prediction-markets space.
- Major media partnerships: A multi-year NBA partnership (announced 2021) and, more recently, a multi-year deal naming DraftKings the official sportsbook and odds provider of ESPN starting December 1, 2025 — both fell within Kalish’s final stretch as President.
- Industry recognition: Named to Sports Business Journal’s “Forty Under 40” (2019) and included on a 2026 “Top 100 Most Influential People in iGaming” industry list.
Company Background: What DraftKings Is
DraftKings Inc. is a Boston-based, Nasdaq-listed company (DKNG) operating a daily fantasy sports platform, a sports betting (“Sportsbook”) product, and an online casino (“iGaming”) product across multiple licensed US states. It’s one of a small number of nationally recognized brands — alongside operators like BetMGM, FanDuel, Caesars, and BetRivers — that hold direct state gaming licenses rather than operating offshore.
Involvement in the US Gambling Market
This is where Kalish’s background is most directly relevant to players researching US real-money betting and casino options:
- He is widely cited as one of the internal decision-makers who prepared DraftKings to launch sports betting immediately once New Jersey — and subsequently other states — legalized it following the 2018 PASPA repeal. That early-mover positioning is a major reason DraftKings became one of the handful of nationally recognized, state-licensed sportsbook and casino brands operating in the US today.
- As President, North America, he had direct oversight of DraftKings’ sportsbook, iGaming, and DFS products across every state where DraftKings holds a license — the same regulated-market landscape covered in our state-by-state legality guide.
- His departure from an operating role coincides with DraftKings’ expansion into a new, adjacent regulated space: prediction markets, following the Railbird Technologies acquisition. Prediction markets sit in a legally distinct category from traditional sports betting and are currently the subject of active regulatory debate at both the state and federal level — worth watching for readers who follow the regulated betting market closely.
Beyond DraftKings: HardScope and the Creator Economy Pivot
Since stepping back from DraftKings’ day-to-day operations, Kalish has focused on HardScope, a creator-media company he launched as CEO in December 2025. HardScope grew out of Kalish’s earlier investment in FaZe Media — the commercial/media arm spun off from esports organization FaZe Clan — and positions itself as an infrastructure provider connecting livestreaming creators with brand partnerships. It is not a gambling industry company, but it reflects a broader pattern of sports-betting-adjacent executives moving into creator/media ventures as audience attention shifts toward streaming platforms — a trend also visible elsewhere in sports media and sports betting marketing partnerships (including DraftKings’ own December 2025 ESPN deal).
What’s Verified vs. What Can’t Be Independently Confirmed
Verified from multiple independent sources (company filings, business/trade press):
- DraftKings incorporated December 2011 with Jason Robins and Paul Liberman; public product launch in 2012 (see founding-date note above)
- Chief Revenue Officer role, 2014–2019
- President, DraftKings North America, December 2019 to March 31, 2026
- Continued DraftKings board membership since April 2020
- SBJ “Forty Under 40” (2019) recognition
- Education at Boston College Carroll School of Management (MBA) and Columbia University (B.S.)
- December 2025 launch of HardScope as CEO
- Golden Nugget Online Gaming acquisition: announced August 2021, ~$1.56 billion implied equity value, confirmed via the companies’ own SEC filing
- Railbird Technologies acquisition (2025) occurring within DraftKings’ business under his tenure
- Operations Analyst, Fidelity Investments (2004–2005)
Reported by multiple secondary sources but without a primary-record confirmation:
- The Microsoft reporting-analyst stint, Capital One tenure (2006–2009), and Vistaprint role (2009–2012) — consistent across several independent bios, but none of them cite a primary document (e.g., an SEC filing or the companies’ own records), so this sequence is treated as well-corroborated rather than fully verified
- Whether Kalish met Jason Robins at Capital One or at Vistaprint — sources differ, and it’s plausible both are true (the two may have known each other at Capital One before Robins later recruited Kalish to Vistaprint, where Paul Liberman also worked)
Reported but not independently verified by this site:
- The exact ownership percentage (49%) and dollar figure ($11 million) tied to Kalish’s investment in FaZe Media
- A specific “$625 million net cash flow” figure for 2022 that appears in some third-party executive bios — this doesn’t reconcile with DraftKings’ own reported 2022 financials (see note above) and has been excluded rather than repeated
- The complete, non-public rationale behind the timing of his transition out of the President role beyond his own public statements
These distinctions are flagged explicitly rather than presenting secondhand figures as confirmed fact, consistent with this site’s editorial policy.
FAQ
Is Matt Kalish still President of DraftKings?
No. He stepped down from that role effective March 31, 2026, though he remains on DraftKings’ board of directors.
Who did Matt Kalish co-found DraftKings with?
Jason Robins (DraftKings’ current CEO) and Paul Liberman. The company was incorporated in December 2011, though its first public product didn’t launch until 2012 — which is why you’ll see both years cited.
What does Matt Kalish do now?
He is CEO of HardScope, a creator-media company he launched in December 2025, while continuing to serve on DraftKings’ board.
What was Matt Kalish’s role in US sports betting becoming legal?
He wasn’t a policymaker, but as an early DraftKings executive he’s credited with positioning the company to launch legal sports betting in New Jersey almost immediately after the 2018 Supreme Court decision repealing PASPA — the federal law that had restricted sports betting to Nevada.
Did Matt Kalish work anywhere before DraftKings?
Yes. Reported roles include Operations Analyst at Fidelity Investments (2004–2005), a brief stint at Microsoft, Business Manager at Capital One (2006–2009), and CRM Marketing Manager at Vistaprint (2009–2012) — the last of which is where he, Jason Robins, and Paul Liberman worked together before founding DraftKings.