Fantasy sports giant PrizePicks said Thursday it will add 1,000 new jobs over the next seven years centered on an expanded headquarters in Atlanta.
The company plans to lease the top floor of the 15-story Star Metals building in West Midtown, where many of the new hires are expected to work. Chief executive Adam Wexler said in an interview that putting the company’s hub in Atlanta puts it at a “strategic competitive advantage” at the nexus of sports, music and culture.
“We’ve had dramatic growth over the last year,” he said. “We’re a homegrown organization and the top fantasy sports operator in the U.S. And we hope to help grow the network of tech entrepreneurs throughout the city.”
The expansion is a bright spot in an otherwise tough commercial real estate market hobbled by historically high vacancies and increased interest rates. It’s not immediately clear what local and state incentives were involved, though PrizePicks could be eligible for at least $3 million in state income tax credits for adding the new jobs.
Wexler said many of the openings will be in software design and engineering, business analytics and marketing.
Gov. Brian Kemp said the announcement is a symbol of Georgia’s economic strength “in both welcoming new projects as well as creating an atmosphere where existing businesses can expand and thrive.”
PrizePicks has experienced explosive growth since the coronavirus pandemic, expanding from roughly 125 people at the start of last year to more than 500 full-time U.S. employees and another 150 staffers based in the Philippines.
Though sports betting is illegal in Georgia, PrizePicks and other daily fantasy sites can still operate here. They are considered games of skill, not chance, because they allow players to compete for cash prizes online by assembling virtual lineups of athletes who accumulate “fantasy” points based on how they perform in real-world games.
Atlanta has become something of a hub for the industry. FanDuel announced in 2021 it was opening an office in Midtown that promised to create 900 new jobs over five years.
It could also be a harbinger of renewed leasing activity. The COVID-19 pandemic ushered in more hybrid work schedules and led many employers to scale back their office footprints, triggering years of depressed leasing activity and sky-high vacancy rates.
Unwanted office space continues to clog the market, but leasing activity is beginning to see a rebound. According to real estate services firm Savills, roughly 2.4 million square feet of leases were signed in metro Atlanta during the first three months of the year, the most since 2021.
Savills credited that uptick in activity to some large lease renewals, which its analysts said in the report “indicate that tenants remain committed to Atlanta’s resilient market.”
Wexler, an Atlanta native and University of Georgia graduate, has grand ambitions for the future of PrizePicks.
“Our broader vision is we want to build a sports, culture and entertainment brand that will outlast our lifetimes,” he said, adding that PrizePicks could soon create its own media venture with operations in the city.
“Atlanta has always been our home,” Wexler said, “where we are redefining mobile sports entertainment.”
