Netflix has made its first dedicated appointment focused on real-money gaming (RMG) advertising solutions as the streaming giant continues to expand its global advertising business.
The entertainment company has recruited Ian Hunter from big tech rival Snap Inc, where he held senior commercial and client partnership roles, to spearhead relationships with betting and gaming advertisers.
Based at Netflix’s London office, Hunter joins after more than eight years at Snap, where he progressed through account management, client partnerships and sales leadership positions across multiple consumer sectors.
His appointment also brings direct gambling industry experience. Between 2017-19, Hunter served as Global Digital Marketing Manager at The Stars Group, overseeing digital marketing initiatives prior to the firm’s merger with Flutter Entertainment in 2020.
Announcing his appointment on LinkedIn, Hunter said: “From my first conversation with the team here at Netflix, I was instantly engaged by the opportunity to join such an exciting business.
“With the growth of live events, award-winning content and a massively engaged audience, there is huge ambition across the team. If anyone wants to hear more about the Netflix Ads solutions, I’d love to connect.”
Netflix zooms in on advertising diversification
The recruitment is strategically significant as Netflix accelerates the commercial expansion of its advertising platform.
Since launching its ad-supported subscription tier in late 2022, the company has steadily increased investment in advertising technology, sales infrastructure and live programming, positioning advertising as a new growth engine to support subscriptions.
Subscription fees remain the overwhelming source of revenue, as FY2025 detail and income of $42bn from memberships out of $45.3 bn in total group revenues.
Advertising is viewed as an increasingly important discipline for Netflix’s long-term commercial diversification. As such the co-leadership team of Ted Sarandos and Greg Peters expects advertising revenues to approximately double by 2027, with Netflix actively expanding its advertising opportunities via premium content, live entertainment and sports programming.
Netflix remains one of the world’s largest entertainment companies with a market capitalisation of approximately $310bn, serving more than 300 million subscribers worldwide. Its largest institutional shareholders include Vanguard, BlackRock and Fidelity Inc.
Over the past two years the company has significantly expanded its live sports strategy. Alongside its partnership with Major League Baseball (MLB), Netflix has secured rights to Christmas Day NFL games in the United States and will broadcast the 2027 and 2031 FIFA Women’s World Cups for North American audiences, strengthening its credentials as a premium destination for live audiences attractive to advertisers.
The expansion comes as digital platforms face heightened regulatory scrutiny in Europe.
Enforcement of the EU Digital Services Act (DSA) has intensified throughout 2026, with regulators demanding stronger controls over the placement and targeting of gambling advertising, alongside obligations to tackle illegal gambling promotions, financial scams and other harmful content .
Case in point, X (formerly Tiwtter) was handed a fine in excess of €120m for the failure to police platform content and breaching EU data rights, a penalty that has been contested by X.
