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OpenBet has appointed Nikos Konstakis as chief executive officer, effective by the end of 2026, with Jordan Levin moving from CEO to chairman, the sports betting technology supplier announced on 22 September 2026. Levin's transition to the board-level role takes effect immediately, according to OpenBet's announcement carried by iGaming Business.
Konstakis is an internal promotion, not an outside hire. He has spent five years at OpenBet since joining in September 2021, most recently serving as president after earlier stints as chief operating officer, group chief product officer and managing director. As CEO he takes over the company's vision, strategy and day to day operations, with a stated focus on growth, product and technology.
The handover follows OpenBet's own reinvention as an independent company. Levin led the roughly $450 million management buyout that took OpenBet out of Endeavor's ownership in March 2025, four years after Endeavor had paid $1.2 billion for it, as this publication reported when covering the platform market's build versus buy split. Levin has run OpenBet as chief executive since 2021 and will stay involved as chairman, which the company says means continuing to shape long-term strategy from the board rather than exiting the business.
Levin praised Konstakis's track record inside the company rather than any external credential. "Nikos has already been instrumental in driving the evolution of OpenBet and I have tremendous confidence in his leadership as CEO," he said, adding that Konstakis "knows our business, our customers and our technology inside out." Konstakis framed the change as continuity rather than a reset: "My focus will be on building on those strengths, bringing even greater pace and focus to the business and making sure we continue to set the standard in the markets we serve."
An internal successor for a newly private company
Choosing a five-year insider over an external search signals what OpenBet's new owners want from the top job right now: operational continuity, not a strategic reset. A company barely eighteen months removed from a buyout is still proving to lenders, licensing regulators and sportsbook clients that its leadership bench is deep enough to survive an ownership change without disrupting delivery. Promoting the president who already ran product, technology and operations under Levin is the lowest-risk way to make that case.
It also keeps institutional knowledge of OpenBet's biggest recent commitments in the same hands. The company owns Neccton, the Vienna-based responsible-gambling technology bought while OpenBet was still part of Endeavor, whose Mentor system now competes directly with harm-detection specialists such as Mindway AI for operator contracts, a rivalry this publication has tracked in detail. Konstakis inherits that portfolio, and the roadmap decisions behind it, without a transition gap.
Suppliers keep betting on insiders
The move fits a pattern this year of platform and data suppliers filling their top seats from within or from close industry ranks rather than running open external searches, a contrast to the operator side of the business, where boards have leaned on outside hires such as Sportradar's recruitment of Entain's Sameer Deen as chief operating officer. Scientific Games took the opposite route earlier this year with its own CEO transition, as reported by this publication, showing there is no single template even among suppliers.
For operators that depend on OpenBet's trading and platform technology, the practical question is whether Konstakis changes the product roadmap or simply executes the one Levin already set. Nothing in the announcement points to a strategic pivot. The company has not disclosed a start date beyond "by the end of 2026," and has not said whether Levin will hold any operational responsibilities during the handover period.
A newly independent supplier just chose the safest possible signal to send its own clients.
Related coverage: The platform build versus buy decision | Mindway AI and the fight over harm detection | Sportradar hires Entain's Sameer Deen as COO | Scientific Games' CEO retirement