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Legend

Digital sports media and engagement platforms

Group Head of Finance

Full-TimeUpdated on 10/23/2026
No salary listed
Expert
London, UK
Hybrid
AccountingFinancial Accounting

About the job

Requirements
  • ACA, ICAS, or ACCA qualification with significant post-qualified experience in senior finance leadership roles.
  • Demonstrable experience leading a sizeable, multi-functional finance team across multiple disciplines, locations, and jurisdictions, including successfully leading through managers and functional leads.
  • Deep operational knowledge across core finance disciplines such as financial reporting, accounts payable, accounts receivable, treasury, and payroll, with the technical credibility to challenge processes and diagnose complex operational issues.
  • A strong track record of transforming and scaling finance functions, including end-to-end process redesign, automation, systems improvement, controls, governance, and clear process ownership, with evidence of delivering measurable improvements.
  • Strong finance systems capability and experience translating operational requirements into effective systems design.
  • Experience leading teams through significant organisational change while maintaining engagement and addressing performance where required.
  • A hands-on leadership style combined with strong prioritisation and delegation skills, with experience balancing business-as-usual delivery, transformation programmes, and competing demands without becoming an operational bottleneck.
  • Strong stakeholder management and commercial judgement, with the confidence to influence and challenge senior leaders and the resilience to operate effectively in a fast-moving, ambiguous environment.
Responsibilities
  • Lead a 25+ person, multi-location finance function across financial reporting, accounts payable, accounts receivable, treasury, and payroll, creating clear accountability and ownership through the finance leadership team.
  • Assess and evolve the finance operating model, ensuring organisational structure, process ownership, systems, controls, and ways of working can scale with the business and wider Group requirements.
  • Lead end-to-end redesign and optimisation of core finance processes and systems, identifying opportunities to standardise, simplify, and automate workflows while improving efficiency, controls, and data quality.
  • Establish clear process ownership, service-level agreements, controls, and key performance indicators, using data to identify performance gaps, bottlenecks, and opportunities for continuous improvement.
  • Lead through managers and team leads, building their capability and empowering them to take ownership while remaining hands-on in complex operational and technical issues when required.
  • Lead the finance function through post-acquisition integration, balancing the requirements of Legend and Group Finance and driving alignment across reporting, controls, systems, data, and ways of working.
  • Make prioritisation and resource allocation decisions across business-as-usual delivery and transformation initiatives, maintaining critical operations while progressing the highest-value improvements.
  • Build trusted relationships with senior stakeholders across Legend and the wider Group, confidently challenging where appropriate and translating complex financial or operational issues into clear business implications and decisions.
Desired Qualifications
  • Experience with ERP implementation or significant transformation, including Workday.
  • Experience with acquisition integration or working within a larger parent or group finance structure.

About the company

Legend builds and runs a network of large-scale digital platforms that focus on sports fan engagement, sports content, and interactive gaming. Its consumer-facing brands use real-time data, digital tools, and personalized experiences to drive audience interaction across sports and betting-adjacent ecosystems. The platforms combine media reach with engagement and marketing technology to scale sports properties for global audiences, offering content, analytics, community features, and interactive services for fans and players. In early 2026, Legend became part of Genius Sports through a deal valued at up to $1.2 billion, with Legend’s digital network and technology being integrated to boost content distribution, audience monetization, and interactive sports experiences within Genius Sports’ ecosystem.

Company Size

501-1,000

Company Stage

Acquired

Total Funding

$900M

Headquarters

London, United Kingdom

Founded

2004

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Simplify's Take

What believers are saying

  • Genius Sports raised 2026 EBITDA guidance to $285-$295 million after Legend synergies.
  • Management reported early Legend integration benefits in August 2026 and stronger combined margins.
  • Users will see Genius products inside Legend properties, expanding monetization immediately.

What critics are saying

  • Integration risk remains high after the April 30, 2026 closing and May 7 earnings updates.
  • Legend depends on iGaming traffic and affiliate economics, where SEO changes can erase volume fast.
  • Genius Sports carries $850 million term loan funding, making execution and deleveraging urgent through 2028.

What makes Legend unique

  • Genius Sports closed Legend on May 1, 2026, pairing data with media distribution.
  • Legend’s properties reached 320 million visits and 118 million users in 2025.
  • Covers.com, Casino.org, and Casino Guru give Legend durable iGaming audience reach.

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Benefits

  • Flexible Work Hours
  • Paid Vacation
  • Performance Bonus

Company News

Genius Sports
Feb 5th, 2026
Genius Sports Enters into Definitive Agreement to Acquire Legend, Creating a Digital Sports and Gaming Media Powerhouse | News | Genius Sports

Genius Sports to detail technology advantage, growth strategy, and 2028 financial targets at Investor Day

Global Gambling News
Feb 5th, 2026
Genius Sports to acquire Legend for $1.2bn

Genius Sports to acquire Legend for $1.2bn. Genius Sports has announced a definitive agreement to acquire Legend, a global digital sports and gaming media network... This acquisition is expected to enhance Genius Sports' financial performance and expand its media and betting partner ecosystem. The acquisition of Legend by Genius Sports is valued at $1.2bn, with $900m payable at closing and an additional earnout of up to $300m. This strategic move is anticipated to immediately improve Genius Sports' Group Adjusted EBITDA margins and free cash flow conversion. The acquisition aims to maintain a minimum of 20% group revenue CAGR through 2028, positioning Genius Sports to achieve around $1.1bn in group revenue and $320-330m in group adjusted EBITDA by 2026. Legend operates a scaled media network that monetizes sports audiences using marketing technology and syndicates sports and betting content across well-known publications such as Sports Illustrated and Yahoo Sports. The network's technology connects sports fans with relevant sportsbooks and gaming products, capturing their attention during crucial moments of engagement. In 2025, Legend reported 320m annual visits from 118m unique visitors, with a significant portion of them returning regularly. The acquisition will integrate this large and engaged audience into Genius Sports' media ecosystem, providing predictable revenue streams. Through its sports fan activation platform, FANHub, Genius Sports plans to link this global audience with its extensive network of over 2,000 sports, media and betting partners. This integrated platform aims to enhance fan monetization and create a comprehensive sports and gaming media network. Mark Locke, Genius Sports CEO, says: "This deal accelerates our strategic and financial objectives, supercharges fan monetization and builds a fully integrated sports and gaming media network." He emphasises that the acquisition will deliver more data, audience and inventory, driving higher margins and stronger free cash flow. Nick Kisberg, Founder of Legend, adds: "Joining forces with Genius Sports brings together two world-class teams, unlocks unparalleled growth opportunities for our partners and products." The acquisition is expected to close in the second quarter of 2026, subject to customary conditions, with financial advisory support from Deutsche Bank Securities Inc. and Goldman Sachs & Co, LLC, among others. Macfarlanes LLP and Kirkland & Ellis LLP are serving as legal counsel to Genius Sports. Oakvale Capital LLP and The Raine Group are serving as financial advisors to Legend. Latham & Watkins LLP and Herzog Fox & Neeman are serving as legal counsel to Legend. Genius Sports has also shared its preliminary financial estimates for 2025, projecting group revenue of $669m and group adjusted EBITDA of $136m. These figures reflect substantial year-on-year growth, underscoring the company's strong performance and growth trajectory.

Sport Industry Group
Feb 5th, 2026
Genius Sports to acquire Legend for $1.2bn

Genius Sports to acquire Legend for $1.2bn. Genius Sports has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire sports and gaming media business Legend in a deal valued at up to $1.2bn. The transaction comprises $900m payable at closing and an earnout of up to $300m. The acquisition is designed to create a digital sports and gaming media platform, positioning Genius Sports as a company operating across both official sports data and AI-driven sports media. By integrating Legend's platform, Genius Sports intends to capture real-time fan intent and convert it into revenue across sports and gaming. Legend monetises sports audiences through a scaled media network, using marketing technology to power owned and operated digital properties. The company also syndicates sports and betting content across major publications, including Sports Illustrated and Yahoo Sports. This move follows a period of expansion for Genius Sports, which recently detailed its 2028 financial targets and technology capabilities at an Investor Day. The company has also recently partnered with Publicis Sports to develop fan engagement and acquired Sports Innovation Lab to bolster its fan activation platform. On a 2026 annualised pro forma basis, the combined entity is expected to achieve approximately $1.1bn in group revenue. The deal is expected to close in the second quarter of 2026. Mark Locke, CEO, Genius Sports, said, "This deal accelerates our strategic and financial objectives, supercharges fan monetisation, and builds a fully integrated sports and gaming media network. For Genius Sports and our global partners, it delivers more data, more audience, more inventory and greater monetisation of sports fans. The acquisition of Legend will drive higher margins and stronger free cash flow, positioning Genius Sports to immediately transform the market and grow the size and scale of our business." Nick Kisberg, Founder, Legend, said, "Joining forces with Genius Sports brings together two world-class teams, unlocks unparalleled growth opportunities for our partners and products, and gives us an even stronger platform to scale. I am immensely proud of what we have built and the decades of hard work that have brought us here today."