GGRAsia – AGA names Bill Miller president, chief executive

AGA names Bill Miller president, chief executive

Dec 19, 2018 Newsdesk Industry Talk, Latest News, Top of the deck

The American Gaming Association (AGA) has named Bill Miller as the trade lobby group’s next president and chief executive. His appointment is effective January 14, 2019, the association said in a press release issued on Tuesday.

The release said Mr Miller had “senior level experience at leading business groups and trade associations” including the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.

Most recently, Mr Miller was senior vice president at the Business Roundtable. The latter is an association of chief executives of major U.S. corporations formed to promote pro-business public policy.

The American Gaming Association is a co-organiser of the Global Gaming Expo (G2E) Asia, a trade show and conference for the casino sector, held annually in Macau.

“Mr Miller joins the American Gaming Association at a time when the gaming industry is growing both in size and popularity,” the trade lobby group stated in the release. It also made reference to the recent legalisation of sports betting in several U.S. states.

Mr Miller replaces Stacy Papadopoulos, general counsel and senior vice president of industry services at the American Gaming Association, who had been appointed as interim chief executive following Geoff Freeman’s decision to step down in July as president and chief executive of the trade lobby group.

“Much to the American Gaming Association’s credit, this is a remarkable time for gaming in America,” Mr Miller said in prepared comments included in Tuesday’s release.

He added: “The industry is growing, acceptance of gaming as mainstream entertainment has never been higher and the opportunities to continue to advance gaming’s agenda are abundant. I am eager to help lead the industry in this next era.”

The release additionally quoted the chairman of the American Gaming Association, Tim Wilmott – who is also chief executive of U.S. casino operator Penn National Gaming Inc – as saying: “Bill’s extensive work with federal policymakers and as a seasoned leader of membership and industry advocacy organisations was critical to our decision.”