Entain CMO James Burnett goes

James Burnett, the CMO of gaming group Entain, has departed after almost five years in the role, AdNews can reveal.  

Burnett had been with the sports betting company since May 2013, starting out as chief marketing and digital officer, before stepping into chief marketing and strategy officer at Entain online betting brand, Neds. 

Mel Kenneday has replaced Burnett as CMO. She was previously global head of brand at Lorna Jane and prior to that, spent five years working for Hasbro.  

Entain has confirmed Burnett left his position of his own accord, and will be taking some time out before deciding his next move.  

Burnett announced the move on LinkedIn, saying it was unbelievable to think that the startup he joined in 2013 at Chermside is now a "ANZUS behemoth". 

“It’s been a privilege to work at a business where literally anything and everything is possible,” he said. 

“Where an idea can be sketched out in an email or over just a couple of slides and get approved and have budget allocated in the quickest of meetings - I give you the Sydney video content department as exhibit A.” 

Burnett said Entain winning the 25-year licence to run the TAB in NZ was probably the proudest moment of his career to date. 

“Selected over Sportsbet and Tabcorp was a real achievement for us,” he said. 

In June of this year, broadcasters called "extreme" a recommendation by a parliamentary inquiry to ban gambling advertising which in Australia amounts to $300 million a year, more than half of it on television. 

The federal parliamentary committee released the findings of its inquiry into the harm posed by online gambling, including a recommended of a phased ban over three years on advertising urging gamblers to place bets.

Analysts estimate gambling ads make up around 6%, or $180 million, of TV ad revenues of $3.2 billion. 

Advertising on gambling in Australia has grown by around 13% compound a year over the last 15 years, going to $300 million in 2022 from $53 million in 2007, according to analysis by investment bank Morgan Stanley. 

An estimated 50%-60% of that went to free-to-air television, 20% to digital, 10% to radio, 5% to outdoor and the rest to print and cinema.