Altenar appoints former Flutter exec Steven Craven as new CFO
Sportsbook technology provider Altenar has announced the appointment of former PokerStars/Flutter executive Steven Craven as its Chief Financial Officer.
In a Thursday announcement, the group noted the appointment comes as it “continues to develop its international operations across regulated markets.”
Altenar’s sportsbook is deployed in “more than 30 regulated markets,” across the Americas (including a heavy LatAm presence), Africa and Asia-Pacific. In May, the group announced that it had been selected to power the ArenaPlus sports betting platform in the Philippines.
The group notes that, in his new role, Steven Craven “will oversee Altenar’s financial operations and strategy, supporting the company’s development across international markets and helping align its financial planning with its long-term business objectives. “
Speaking of his appointment, Craven noted “’m excited to build upon the solid foundations already in place at Altenar as we enter the next phase of business growth. I look forward to working with our customers, suppliers, and staff to shape the financial strategy of the business, to continue to successfully navigate the complex regulatory environment in which we work, and to support the ambitions of our founders.”
Stanislav Silin, CEO and Co-founder of Altenar noted “Steven’s appointment is an important step in strengthening our leadership team as Altenar continues to develop its business internationally. His financial expertise will support our long-term objectives and help ensure that our financial strategy remains aligned with the company’s wider ambitions.”
Craven initially started his career at PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), later shifting into igaming with PokerStars/Flutter, “working primarily on the FTSE merger.”
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The Backstory
Leadership move follows a wider regulated-market push
Altenar’s appointment of Steven Craven as chief financial officer lands at a point when the sportsbook technology supplier is trying to convert international reach into more durable, regulated-market growth. The company already says its sportsbook is active in more than 30 regulated markets across the Americas, Africa and Asia-Pacific, a footprint that requires tighter financial controls, market-by-market compliance planning and disciplined capital allocation.
That context helps explain why Altenar highlighted Craven’s background at PokerStars and Flutter Entertainment, as well as his earlier experience at PwC. For a supplier operating across jurisdictions with different licensing rules, tax structures, product requirements and local partners, the CFO role is less about back-office accounting than managing expansion risk. Altenar’s recent commercial activity has centered on exactly those issues: entering or deepening positions in newly regulated or fast-changing markets where operators want technology partners that can support compliance as well as product performance.
The company’s next phase will likely depend on how well it can balance growth in markets such as Brazil and the Philippines with the legal and competitive pressures that come with supplying sports betting infrastructure. Craven’s appointment gives Altenar a finance executive with experience inside one of the sector’s largest global operators, just as suppliers face more scrutiny from regulators, customers and data-rights holders.
Brazil has become a proving ground
Altenar’s clearest recent momentum has come in Brazil, where the company has signed multiple sportsbook partnerships as the country’s regulated betting market takes shape. In one deal, Altenar expanded through a partnership with RR Participações e Intermediações de Negócios to power the Multibet sportsbook. The agreement gave Multibet access to Altenar’s betting tools and sportsbook technology tailored to local demand, underscoring Brazil’s role as both a growth opportunity and a test of supplier flexibility.
The Multibet sportsbook agreement in Brazil followed the launch of a new regulatory framework that has intensified competition among operators seeking compliant technology stacks. Brazil’s size makes it one of the most attractive sports betting markets globally, but that scale also raises the cost of mistakes. Operators need platforms that can handle localized products, responsible gambling expectations, payment flows and reporting obligations without slowing customer acquisition.
Altenar has also moved to build relationships beyond a single Brazilian operator. Its partnership with Brazil-licensed sports wagering brand Brasil da Sorte put the company’s fully managed sportsbook behind a licensed local brand in its first year of sports betting operations. That integration, delivered through Cometa’s player account management platform, combined sportsbook services with accounts, wallets and management functions. The arrangement illustrates the complexity of the market: success depends not only on odds and trading but also on how cleanly sportsbook technology connects with local account infrastructure and compliance systems.
Operational scale brings financial and legal stakes
As Altenar takes on more regulated-market clients, the demands on its finance function become more strategic. Supplier contracts can involve long implementation cycles, integration costs and jurisdiction-specific compliance spending before revenue matures. Markets such as Brazil may offer significant upside, but they also require local hiring, legal review and product adaptation. A CFO with experience in large-scale gaming transactions could help prioritize where Altenar invests and how it measures returns across markets with different maturity curves.
The company’s legal fight with Sportradar shows another side of that risk. Altenar filed a federal antitrust lawsuit in New Jersey alleging that Sportradar used exclusive data deals with major U.S. sports leagues to block its entry into the U.S. market. The case, however, was described as likely to face procedural obstacles because Altenar had already pursued arbitration in Switzerland and filed a separate complaint before the Maltese Competition Authority.
The Sportradar lawsuit challenging Altenar’s U.S. market access is important because official league data has become a critical input for sportsbook suppliers. If access to that data is constrained, technology providers can struggle to offer competitive products in the most lucrative regulated markets. Whether Altenar succeeds or not, the dispute highlights the barriers suppliers face when they attempt to move from international operations into the U.S., where data rights, licensing and incumbent relationships can determine market access.
Flutter connection adds industry relevance
Craven’s time at PokerStars and Flutter is notable because Flutter has been reshaping its own product architecture and brand strategy in regulated markets. The company acquired PokerStars through its all-share merger with The Stars Group in 2020, later repositioning the poker brand in North America through FanDuel. That experience places Craven near one of the industry’s most consequential integrations, where brand consolidation, regulatory licensing and platform strategy intersected.
Flutter recently merged its FanDuel and PokerStars brands in the U.S. by launching PokerStars exclusively on FanDuel in Michigan, New Jersey and Pennsylvania. The move followed the discontinuation of standalone PokerStars real-money platforms in several North American jurisdictions and created a combined poker offering designed to leverage FanDuel’s scale. For Altenar, hiring an executive familiar with such large platform and brand transitions may be valuable as it works with operators that are similarly trying to simplify technology while expanding under regulatory oversight.
PokerStars’ current direction also shows how mature operators are pairing scale with specialized content partnerships. Evolution renewed and expanded its relationship with PokerStars to become the operator’s exclusive live casino provider across North America, covering Ontario, New Jersey, Michigan and Pennsylvania. The extended Evolution partnership with PokerStars in North America reflects a broader industry pattern: major operators increasingly want fewer, stronger suppliers that can deliver compliant, high-volume products across multiple jurisdictions.
Supplier role is becoming more complex
Altenar’s recent partnerships show that sportsbook suppliers are no longer judged only on front-end betting features. Operators entering regulated markets want trading, risk management, compliance functions, localization and integration support. In Brazil, Altenar’s work with Brasil da Sorte included core trading, risk and compliance. With Multibet, the emphasis was on customized betting tools and local fit. Those arrangements show why financial leadership matters: each market requires investment before returns are proven, and each operator relationship carries delivery obligations that can affect reputation.
The same dynamic applies beyond Brazil. Altenar’s selection to power ArenaPlus in the Philippines, referenced by the company in connection with its broader Asia-Pacific presence, signals that it is pursuing growth in markets with different regulatory structures and consumer habits. Managing such dispersion requires a finance operation that can evaluate currency exposure, tax treatment, vendor contracts, receivables risk and compliance costs alongside sales projections.
Craven’s appointment therefore fits a broader industry shift. As more countries formalize online betting rules, suppliers with international ambitions must demonstrate the governance standards expected of public companies and major regulated operators, even when they remain privately held. Financial planning, legal strategy and market selection are becoming competitive advantages. For Altenar, the challenge is to show that its recent commercial wins can translate into sustainable earnings while it navigates data disputes, regulatory change and rising client expectations.
Why the appointment matters now
The timing suggests Altenar is preparing for a more demanding phase of expansion. Brazil is opening but crowded. The U.S. remains attractive but legally and commercially difficult. Asia-Pacific opportunities can be meaningful but fragmented. Each region requires different pricing, compliance and partnership models, making the CFO role central to whether expansion strengthens or strains the business.
Craven arrives with experience from a Flutter ecosystem that has dealt with mergers, brand consolidation and regulated-market execution at global scale. Altenar’s task is different but related: it must support operator clients while protecting its own margins and legal position. The company’s Brazil deals show it can win business in competitive markets. Its Sportradar dispute shows that access to critical inputs and market pathways cannot be assumed. Together, those developments explain why Altenar is strengthening senior leadership as it pushes further into regulated betting.
