PointsBet co-founder Sam Swanell has taken a seat on the company’s board on a fee of A$315,000 a year for a commitment of two days a week, six months after handing the chief executive role to Andrew Catterall.
Shareholders re-elected Swanell as a director by poll at the annual general meeting on 25 August 2026, where the company set out his fee and time commitment and said he intends to serve a full three-year term.
From founder-chief executive to the board
Swanell co-founded PointsBet in 2017 and ran it as chief executive through its ASX listing, its US expansion and sale, and the contested takeover battle that ended with Japanese owner MIXI in control. The company announced his exit from the executive role in December 2025 and he stepped down in February 2026.
Catterall, who ran the Australian business before the promotion, took over as group chief executive at that point. Australia is the larger of the two remaining markets, so the appointment moved the company’s biggest operating unit and the group into the same pair of hands.
Founder transitions to the board are common in listed gambling companies, and they carry a specific governance question: how much of the executive’s old authority travels with them. The A$315,000 fee and the two-day week are the answer PointsBet has put on the record. It places Swanell as an engaged non-executive rather than a chairman-in-waiting or a ceremonial founder.
Brett Paton chairs the board. The AGM ran for around 30 minutes as a virtual meeting on the Computershare platform.
Catterall’s first result
Catterall’s first reporting period as group chief executive covers a shortened financial year. PointsBet changed its balance date from 30 June to 31 March to align with MIXI’s fiscal year, so FY26 ran for nine months to 31 March 2026.
Revenue for the period was A$186.6 million, against A$188.4 million in the comparative prior-year period. Normalised EBITDA moved to a A$0.8 million loss from a A$1.2 million profit. The statutory net loss widened to A$26.6 million from A$18.2 million.
Australia produced A$152 million of revenue, down 4%, with statutory EBITDA down 30% to A$14.2 million. Canada rose 13% to A$34.6 million, with iGaming net win up 28% to A$23.6 million. The company ended the period with A$23 million in total cash, of which A$18.3 million was client cash, leaving A$4.7 million in corporate cash.
Asked at the AGM about competition from unlicensed operators, Catterall put their share of the Australian market at 30%. That figure sits at the centre of the licensed sector’s case against further advertising and product restrictions in Australia.
A board answering to a majority owner
MIXI Australia Pty Ltd, a subsidiary of MIXI Inc, holds 66.4% of PointsBet after its takeover completed in September 2025. PointsBet’s results have consolidated into MIXI’s accounts since 1 October 2025.
That ownership shapes what the board is for. Directors at a company with a 66.4% holder spend less time on takeover defence and more on the interests of the remaining register, which at PointsBet includes rival Australian operator betr Entertainment as second-largest shareholder.
The tension showed up in the same meeting that re-elected Swanell. More than 25% of votes cast went against the remuneration report, giving PointsBet a first strike under Australia’s two-strikes rule. Proxies filed before the meeting had shown roughly 99% support, with the against votes arriving on the poll.
Scrutiny of senior appointments has sharpened across the sector this year. In the UK, MPs questioned Allwyn’s choice of UK chief executive over his record at William Hill. More of the sector’s leadership moves are now argued in public rather than settled in the boardroom.
What happens next
Swanell’s three-year term runs to the 2029 AGM if he serves it in full. The nearer test is the 2027 meeting, where the board has to show how it responded to the pay vote, and where Catterall will present a first full 12-month year under the new balance date.
Source: PointsBet Holdings
