In January, FanDuel CEO Amy Howe, WG’99, joined the Wharton Sports Business Club for a discussion about the intersection of sports, business, and analytics. Wharton Sports Business and Analytics Initiative (WSABI) caught up with her afterward to continue the conversation.

FanDuel is perfectly positioned right at the confluence of sports, business, and analytics. You’re studying sports analytics to determine money lines to ultimately turn a profit. What has it been like for you, personally or professionally, to work at this confluence?

It’s been the most rewarding, exciting, and challenging chapter of my professional career. In some ways, I feel like I’ve trained for this my entire life, growing up as a competitive athlete, learning the art of analytics and problem-solving at both Wharton and McKinsey, navigating the sports world at Ticketmaster, and raising three boys who are massive sports enthusiasts…it’s been a dream come true.

As a Penn alumna, do you think you would have gotten involved in something like WSABI as a student? What value is there for young people to be able to study the intersection of sports, analytics, and business, specifically?

Absolutely. I see so many students and young executives who are drawn to the sports industry, but many lack the necessary skills to be relevant at an early tenure. The ability to develop subject matter expertise in sports, while developing hard skills in analytics, all while becoming a well-rounded business executive is a very unique opportunity.

Women’s History Month is just around the corner and we’re noticing an explosion in interest in women’s sports – particularly at the college level. Do you see the sports industry becoming more balanced in terms of gender representation, and what opportunities do you see for FanDuel now that people are paying more attention to women’s sports?

As a female CEO in the sports world, it’s a privilege to use my platform to improve gender representation in the industry. At FanDuel, we believe the ‘sweet spot’ lies at the intersection between supporting women’s sports (e.g., WNBA, WTA), authentically engaging the female consumer, and supporting talented female employees at all levels of the organization. The magic and the potential are real when companies get this right.