Genius Sports appoints former MediaMath CTO Manny Puentes as GM, Advertising

Key new hires will build and enhance Media & Engagement solutions

Genius Sports Limited (“Genius Sports”) (NYSE: GENI), the official data, technology and broadcast partner powering the global ecosystem connecting sports, betting and media, today announced the appointment of former MediaMath CTO Manny Puentes as GM, Advertising.

In this newly created role, Puentes will lead product, engineering and data science teams to develop new advertising products and capabilities leveraging Genius Sports’ proprietary sports data and analytics.

“We’re thrilled to welcome Manny to Genius Sports as we continue enhancing our advertising offerings for brands and agencies,” said Josh Linforth, Chief Revenue Officer at Genius Sports. “As a veteran technology and digital advertising leader, Manny brings a vision for industry-leading product and innovation that will drive new ways for brands to reach the most engaged fans.”

Puentes previously served as the CTO for MediaMath, one of the first industry Demand-Side Platforms that managed more than 3,500 advertisers. In addition to his 25 years of experience leading business, product and technology teams across several acquired advertising companies, Puentes also holds 14 patents in conferencing communications and advertising technologies.

“I’m excited to join Genius Sports with their unmatched access to real-time sports data and exclusive premier partnerships,” said  Manny Puentes. “The combination of these assets with programmatic capabilities will enable us to build first-to-market sports media buying solutions. By combining AI and augmented content technologies, this platform will help our clients connect with exclusive, untapped audiences — the most passionate sports fans from across the world.”

Genius Sports’ existing Media & Engagement solutions include a uniquely sports-focused media buying service, a dynamic creative solution, bespoke gamification solutions including fantasy games and rich data visualizations. Most recently, Genius Sports announced a partnership with Snap Inc. (“SNAP”) to power immersive augmented reality (“AR”) fan experiences via Snapchat Lenses.

Genius Sports has also hired a number of other product and engineering executives, previously at MediaMath, with experience in building highly scaled advertising platforms across CTV, DOOH, Video, Display, and Audio channels.