EDITOR’S LETTER COO, EDITOR IN CHIEF Julian Perry EDITOR David Cook Editor@GamingAmerica.us SENIOR STAFF WRITER Tim Poole STAFF WRITERS Matthew Enderby, Nathan Joyes LEAD DESIGNER Sigita Budraityte DESIGN ASSISTANTS Rebecca Lydamore, Laura Fogar, Lena Yerin Park OPERATIONS ASSISTANTS Mariya Savova, Shannon Moran WEBSITE MANAGER Tom Powling BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT DIRECTOR Deepak Malkani Deepak@playerspublishing.com US ACCOUNT DIRECTOR Oz Mustafa Oz.Mustafa@playerspublishing.com Tel: +1 702 430 1912 US BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT MANAGER Aaron Harvey Aaron.Harvey@playerspublishing.com Tel: +1 702 425 7818 COMMERCIAL MANAGER Lee Hunter SENIOR ACCOUNT MANAGERS Lynn James, Julie Southern ACCOUNT MANAGERS Michael Juqula, William Aderele, Richy Sams CREDIT MANAGER Rachel Voit WITH THANKS TO: AGS, Max Bichsel, Peter Causley, Sean Chaffin, John Connelly, Janie Dillard, Christian Fenner, Bill Gelman, Jamison Hill, Alex Matjanec, Sheila Morago, Kelly Myers, Richard Pistilli, Pam Shaw, Professor Shine and Kevin Vonasek
JULIAN PERRY, COO, Editor in Chief
DAVID COOK, Editor
As NIGA 2019 is just around the corner, this is a perfect time for us to present to you the very first printed edition of Gaming America. With more than 6,000 people expected to be in attendance and over 300 companies exhibiting, the show looks set to be stronger than ever. This is the perfect place for you to read all the details you need to prepare for the event, as we present a full event preview and interview some of the event’s exhibitors on a range of gaming topics (p10). At ICE London this year, one of my key aims was to speak to as many people in tribal gaming as possible, to learn and understand what the key trends are that we should be covering in a tribal-themed gaming publication. It was fascinating to hear about the role of women in tribal gaming and the matriarchal systems within tribes, and we wanted to focus on areas that the rest of the industry could learn from. So, we decided to let the Oklahoma Indian Gaming Association’s Sheila Morago explain all to us about some of the key female figures in tribal gaming through a panel discussion, including representatives from the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma, the Cherokee Nation Gaming Commission and Kaw Gaming, Inc (p12). Elsewhere in this issue, Tim Poole perfectly summarizes all the noises that have been coming out of Caesars Entertainment in recent months, as a potential merger or acquisition looks increasingly likely (p8). Meanwhile, Sean Chaffin provides a comprehensive outlook on the key numbers behind New Jersey sportsbooks (p16), and we also hear from Kambi’s Max Bichsel on the supplier’s next steps for growth in the US (p24). The Gaming America team will be at NIGA next month, so please feel free to reach out to us and let’s get acquainted! DC Editor
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SHEILA MORAGO
Executive Director, Oklahoma Indian Gaming Association 4 GAMINGAMERICA
PETER CAUSLEY
Founder and CEO, Lightning Box Games