Playmaker’s LatAm team expanded as Scussel and Paget take senior roles

Playmaker Capital has made three senior hires, two in its Latin America team and one in its US division, as it targets an enhanced presence across the Americas.

Joining the group’s Buenos Aires HQ of its Futbol Sites brand are Agustín Gutiérrez Scussel and Matias Paget, taking on responsibilities as Chief Technology Officer and Head of Digital Product respectively.

Scussel joins the company from mass transit tech firm Swvl, where he worked as Senior Engineering Manager, and brings CTO experience from Viapool, another mass transit platform with a technology backing.

Playmaker has highlighted its new hire’s 15 years of experience in software development as a key asset, including his ‘variety of roles including as an engineer, a product lead, and an architect in both Latin America and the US’.

Paget, meanwhile, has worked in marketing and business and product development for 20 years, having recently headed operations in these fields as well as in editorial strategy at Argentine sports TV channel TyC Sports’ digital properties.

The duo join Playmaker’s flagship Latin American sports affiliate site as the group seeks to enhance its regional offering, most recently incorporating NBA content into its cross-Latin American coverage.

Futbol Sites currently distributes content to sports followers in Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Paraguay, Peru, Uruguay and Venezuela via its Bolavip, Cracks, Varsky Sports and RedGol channels.

Additionally, on a wider scale, Playmaker has appointed Michael Bellom as its new Head of Revenue Operations, based in New York with responsibility for maximising monetization across its web assets.

Leading a team focused on this task, Bellom will also work to drive revenue and cost synergies across the Playmaker media and affiliate brands, including the aforementioned Latin American and US Hispanic-facing Futbol Sites.

Playmaker emphasised that Bellom has ‘expertise in affiliate marketing and paid media, which are growing segments of Playmaker’s diversified business model’.

He first joined Playmaker in April last year as Head of Paid Media when the TSXV-listed sports betting affiliate acquired The Sports Drop, of which he was Founder and CEO.