Ladbrokes and Coral owner Entain has appointed Sheila Bangalore as a Non-Executive Director, just over three weeks after Ricky Sandler left the business.
The appointment of Bangalore brings Entain’s board back up to a team of 11, and follows Sandler departing as a Non-Executive Director after the closure of his New York-based hedge fund Eminence Capital.
Bangalore brings over two decades worth of experience in sectors including gaming, hospitality and technology.
She also brings legal experience from her early career at the United States Courts and United States Senate.
More recently, she served in roles at prominent global iGaming firms Bally Technologies and Aristocrat, before becoming Chief Strategy Officer at Las Vegas-headquartered manufacturing firm MP Materials.
According to her LinkedIn page, Bangalore is currently the Chief Executive Officer of advisory firm Artemis Endeavors, and has served on the boards of Games Global, Alliance Entertainment, Principal Mineral, Nasdaq, StoneAge Waterblast Tools, Athena Alliance and McLaren Technologies Acquisition Corporation.
“On behalf of the board, I am delighted to welcome Sheila to Entain,” said Pierre Bouchut, Chair of Entain.
“Sheila has a strong track record of executive and non-executive experience across multiple sectors, particularly in the gaming industry.
“I am confident that the board will benefit from Sheila’s judgement, rigour and breath of expertise as Entain continues to execute its strategy.”
Entain’s recent rocky path
Entain’s investor makeup has gone through somewhat of a shakeup recently, particularly following the demise of Eminence.
The London-based and listed firms shares were hit following this news, though SBC News Editor Ted Orme-Claye said on the iGaming Daily Podcast that it was “far from doomsday for Entain”, and Entain’s share price has since steadied.
In the aftermath of Eminence’s closure, JPMorgan Chase snapped up 7% of Entain – Eminence held around 6.5% – but has since swiftly sold off its holding to below the 3% mark.
Rumours of a sale have continued to circulate given the circumstances of the business – its stock has tanked by nearly a third in 2026, the impact of the rise in remote gaming duty tax to 40% in its home of the UK will now be in full swing, Ladbrokes shops in Ireland are set to close, and the rise of prediction markets have likely shaved off a portion of its market share in the US.
Despite the multitude of headwinds, the company has shown some resilience – group-wide revenue was up 3% to £5.25bn in 2025 and UK and Irish rose 6% to £2.19bn.
But Entain suffered another year of multi-million-pound losses, reporting a statutory post-tax loss of £681m.
It remains to be seen what the future will hold for one of the UK’s biggest players, but a return to an 11-person board represents somewhat of a return to normality in terms of its leadership structure.
