The second week of May proved to be another busy week for key stakeholders in gaming.
Each week, SBC Americas highlights the latest workforce and organizational changes in North America’s commercial gaming market.
New board leadership for Accel Entertainment
Accel Entertainment announced the appointment of hospitality and entertainment veteran Bruce D. Wardinski to lead the company’s board of directors. Wardinski joins Accel as an independent director, who will also hold several board committee roles.
The former CEO of Playa Hotels & Resorts will also sit on the board’s compensation committee and nominating and corporate governance committee.
“Bruce has spent his career in the hospitality and real estate business, most recently building and ultimately monetizing a complex, multi-site business with a strong local operating footprint as a public company CEO accountable to shareholders,” said Accel CEO Andy Rubenstein.
“That experience maps directly to where Accel is today – a proven platform with meaningful growth ahead of it. His perspective on capital allocation and long-term value creation will be an asset to our Board as we continue to scale.”
In addition to Wardinski, Accel elected five other members to its board of directors.
Kalshi makes key hire for compliance team
Earlier this week, Kalshi invested in its compliance efforts by hiring Sudhir Jain as the prediction market’s chief compliance officer. Jain brings extensive compliance experience to Kalshi, having previously spent five years at the National Futures Association.
In his role, Jain will help navigate regulatory and legal compliance standards for Kalshi as the company faces pushback in the U.S. over its delivery of sports event contracts.
Jain is familiar with Kalshi’s operations, having previously consulted for the company while working for risk management and compliance consultancy Patomak Global Partners.
Scientific Games loses its CFO
Scientific Games CFO Nick Negro announced on Tuesday plans to relinquish his position at the company after spending three years in the role. Negro joined Scientific Games after a five-year stint at Honeywell in various roles, including vice president and CFO.
Negro is leaving Scientific Games for a new role closer to family.
“Nick has been a strong member of our leadership team and an advocate for the potential of Scientific Games,” said Scientific Games CEO Pat McHugh.
“During his time with the company, he significantly strengthened our financial and procurement organizations and helped position Scientific Games for continued growth. We thank Nick for his contributions and wish him all the best.”
Scientific Games tapped Ray Anderson as interim CFO while it seeks a permanent CFO.
Pavilion Payments bolsters executive team
On Wednesday, Pavilion Payments appointed Kaiu Pettigrew as executive vice president and chief information officer. Pettigrew will lead the company’s tech organization.
Pettigrew brings a wealth of experience in tech, payments and gaming to Pavilion Payments, with previous stops at Wynn Macau, Maverick Gaming, Everi and First Hawaiian Bank.
“Kaiu is a proven gaming and payments technologist with deep industry experience as an operator and manufacturer,” said Pavilion Payments CEO Diallo Gordon.
“She has spent her career at the intersection of gaming and financial services, leading teams across infrastructure, cybersecurity, compliance, and risk. Those are exactly the disciplines needed to scale a payments platform within one of the most highly regulated industries. She is going to make us better, and we could not be more excited to have her.”
