American Gambling Awards Finalists Named In 12 U.S. Online Categories

Last Updated: 
Aug 27^th, 2024

The Gambling.com Group has named the finalists for the 2024 American Gambling Awards in a dozen categories, including Online Sportsbook of the Year, Online Casino of the Year and C-Suite Executive of the Year.

A panel of 20 judges with experience in the U.S. online gambling industry will evaluate the more than 50 finalists. From there, the judges will select the winners in each of the 12 categories to determine this year’s recipients of the exclusive Golden Eagle trophy.

The awards ceremony is Nov. 21 in New York City.

The Golden Eagle, designed and manufactured in the U.S. by Society Awards, is an 11-inch, gold-plated, cast-pewter statuette of an American Bald Eagle displayed with a pile of casino chips. Society Awards is the firm that produces trophies and awards for the Emmys, American Music Awards, MTV Movie Awards and more.

Charles Gillespie, chief executive officer and co-founder of the Gambling.com Group, expressed admiration for the innovation, effort and dedication in the U.S. regulated online gambling industry. He noted that the 2024 list of finalists is the largest ever.

“With American online gambling bigger than ever and with more nominations than ever before, our annual celebration in New York is moving to a new location,” he said. “My senior team and I look forward to highlighting the great companies and leaders driving this industry forward at Torrisi in New York in November.”

2024 American Gambling Awards Finalists  

Below are the finalists in this year’s 12 American Gambling Awards categories. Information for each was compiled from company websites and social media sites such as LinkedIn, Facebook and X.

Online Sportsbook of the Year

• BetMGM Sportsbook: A result of a partnership between MGM Resorts International and Entain, BetMGM has exclusive access to all of MGM’s U.S. land-based and online sports betting, major tournament poker and online gaming businesses.
• DraftKings Sportsbook: Boston-based DraftKings, first launched in 2012, offers sportsbook, daily fantasy sports services and more, with global offices in five countries.
• FanDuel Sportsbook: With 17 million customers, the FanDuel Group, a subsidiary of Flutter Entertainment, offers its trend-setting sports-betting platform, including daily fantasy sports, advance-deposit wagering and more.

Online Casino of the Year

• BetMGM Casino: BetMGM’s iGaming offerings include an array of casino games bolstered by an exclusive partnership with Brian Christopher Slots. 
• Caesars Palace Online Casino: Caesars’ iGaming platform offers hundreds of slots, including Cash Machine and Fortune Coin, with Caesars Rewards available on every play.
• FanDuel Casino: FanDuel’s online casino games include themed slot games, card games such as poker, and table games like blackjack and roulette.

Gaming Product of the Year

• 9 Coins Grand Gold Edition from Wazdan: Yet another edition of the 9 Coins series from this global developer of online gaming brings features such as Cash Infinity and fresh changes to Hold the Jackpot bonus, boosting its fan base.
• Crazy Time from Evolution: Crazy Time is a live online game show built on the Sweden-based company’s successful Dream Catcher money wheel concept, with a chance to add multipliers from the Top Slot in each game round and in four bonus games.
• Fire Blaze from Playtech: The Fire Blaze suite has grown since launching in 2019 into one of 25-year old company’s most popular brands, with games such as Blue Wizard and Sky Queen topping charts across Europe.
• Jackpot Royale from White Hat Studios: One of the top U.S. iGaming suppliers, White Hat Studios is offering Jackpot Royale as the North America version of its multi-game Jackpot King system, featuring three progressive jackpots.
• Rakin’ Bacon Odyssey from AGS: Headquartered in Las Vegas, AGS has introduced a brand extension of its popular game Rakin’ Bacon!, with four user-selectable denominations, four jackpots and the Rakin’ Bacon popping pig with classic historical settings.

Betting Product of the Year

• OddsJam: A provider of premium sports betting news and data, OddsJam offers odds comparison for over 100 sportsbooks and publishes more than 200 pieces of news weekly.
• Outlier: The Austin, Texas-based company is a unique sports betting platform allowing fans and bettors to browse, analyze and execute wagers by examining performance stats, tracking line movements and more.
• Sportradar: Founded in 2001, Sportradar is a global company providing sports-related live data, virtual sports betting, sports information and media services, and digital sports solutions.
• WagerWire: From its headquarters in Los Angeles, this five-year-old company is marketplace allowing bettors to buy and sell previously placed sports bets.

Platform Provider of the Year

• Kambi: With offices globally, Kambi provides solutions for operators wanting to upgrade their existing sportsbook operations or launch innovative sports-betting products for the first time.
• OpenBet: Owned since 2021 by Endeavor Group Holdings, OpenBet partners with sports-betting brands for content, tech and tailored services.
• White Hat Gaming: With its a state-of-the-art iGaming platform, White Hat Gaming specializes is payment processing and fraud, mobile payments, customer support, retention, web development and more. 

Data Service Provider of the Year

• MetaBet: Founded in 2019, Manhattan-based MetaBet is a software company with products such as odds-comparison tables and interactive bet calculators that incorporate partner affiliate tracking URLs and deep link directly to sportsbook event pages.
• OpenBet: London-based OpenBet is a world leader in sports betting entertainment with over 25 years of experience in technology, data, content and services provided to 200 major sports betting brands, lotteries, casinos, and tribal operators across the globe, including in the U.S.
• Sportradar:  The company provides sports federations, news media, consumer platforms and sports betting operators with a range of solutions to help grow their business and covers nearly a million events annually across all major sports.
• XPoint: Based in Miami, Xpoint provides a geo compliance solutions to the sports-betting and iGaming industries globally. using the latest geofencing technology.

Payment Service Provider of the Year

• Nuvei: This Montréal-based company offers a modular, flexible and scalable technology allowing businesses to accept payments and offer all payout options in the U.S. and elsewhere.
• PayNearMe: Founded in 2009, California-based PayNearMe consolidates all major deposit and withdrawal methods in a single integrated platform.
• Paysafe:  Headquartered in London, Paysafe offers an array of secure and convenient payment methods to help iGaming operators in the U.S. and globally enhance the wagering experience, boost trust and improve retention through safe payments.
• Trustly: Founded in 2008, Sweden-based Trustly’s award-winning technology for high-volume gaming payment is designed to let players in the U.S. and other countries easily bet and access their winnings.

 Responsible Gaming Award

• Connecticut Council of Problem Gambling: Founded in 1980, the council is dedicated to preventing problem gambling and, while not advocating for or against gambling, is committed to working with all stakeholders to help individuals and families dealing with the issue. 
• DraftKings: With the motto “It’s More Fun When It’s Fun,” DraftKings provides players with tools to set budgets, limits and cool-off periods and also gives players the option to self-exclude. 
• Entain Foundation U.S.: Seeking a safer betting and gaming environment, the foundation allocates funds to responsible gaming initiatives and has conducted training session to inform student-athletes and staff on the risks of betting.
• FanDuel: The company’s responsible gaming outreach includes tools allowing bettors to limit the amount they can deposit or wager, time limits to help them control how much time they spend on gaming and the option to exclude themselves from gaming for a period of time.
• ProhiBet by IC360: The company’s technology provides a secure, transparent method for professional and collegiate sports properties, as well as sportsbook operators, to ensure that athletes, coaches, and league/school administrative staff remain compliant with state regulations governing sports betting.
• OpenBet: OpenBet’s advanced tech sets data-based and intelligent limits on player engagement, managing risk with leading data solutions, and allowing operators to monitor a player’s behavior in real-time.

Dealmaker of the Year

• Apollo Funds Acquisition of IGT Gaming and Everi Holdings (Deutsche Bank): This all-cash transaction, placing a value on the acquired businesses at $6.3 billion on a combined basis, allows IGT Gaming to continue to invest in and enhance its growing core segments while providing customers with a more comprehensive portfolio of offerings.
• DraftKings Acquisition of Jackpocket (Goldman Sachs): In February,  Boston-based DraftKings announced it reached an agreement to acquire Jackpocket, the leading lottery app in the United States, for a total consideration of $750 million. 
• LeoVegas Acquisition of Tipico (Moelis & Company): In June, MGM Resorts International announced that its subsidiary, the LeoVegas Group, entered into an agreement to acquire the product and technology platform constituting the U.S sportsbook and online casino from Tipico Group, allowing LeoVegas to operate a proprietary sportsbook across all international markets and brands, with the exception of those exclusive to the BetMGM.

Policymaker of the Year

• Maryland Delegate Vanessa Atterbeary, D-Howard County: The lawmaker’s bill to legalize online casino games such as slots was successful in the House, but online casino gaming measures were bottled up in the Senate as the legislative concluded, prompting proponents to vow that they’ll try again in 2026.
• Wyoming Rep. Bob Davis, R-District 47: Davis was one of four House sponsors of legislation to legalize online casino gaming in the state this year, granting the Wyoming Gaming Commission permission to issue five licenses, but the bill was not approved before 2024 legislative session ended.
• North Carolina Reps. Jason Saine, R-Lincoln County, and Zack Hawkins, D-Durham: These Tar Heel State legislators successfully pushed for legal commercial mobile sports betting in 2023, leading to the statewide launch in March 2024.
• Minnesota Rep. Zack Stephenson, DFL-District 35A: This member of the Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party sought to legalize sports betting in the state but came up short this year, thought he stated on X that the effort showed “meaningful progress that can be a foundation for the future.”
• Nebraska Sen. Eliot Bostar, D-Lincoln: The senator’s effort to legalize online sports betting was unsuccessful during this year’s special session, setting up another effort next year at the capital in Lincoln.

Regulator of the Year

• Henry Williams, Michigan Gaming Control Board: A licensed social worker with a a bachelor’s degree in political science from Marygrove College, Williams was appointed by Gov. Gretchen Whitmer in 2021 as the board’s executive director and now oversees a staff of 146 employees, vowing “to ensure the conduct of fair and honest gaming to protect the interests of the citizens of the State of Michigan.”
• Jamie Eads, Kentucky Horse Racing and Gaming Corporation: A University of Kentucky graduate with dual degrees in marketing and management, Eads is president and CEO of the corporation, an independent state agency that regulates horse racing, pari-mutuel wagering and sports wagering in the commonwealth, where in-person and online sports betting was legalized in September 2023.
• Stephen Durrell, Kansas Lottery: As executive director of the Kansas Lottery, Durrell, an attorney with a law degree from Washburn University, helped direct the 2022 launch of legal sports betting in the state, authorized by a bill that Gov. Laura Kelly signed into law expanding the Kansas Lottery Act of 2007 to include mobile and onsite sports wagering.
• Sterl Carpenter, North Carolina Lottery Commission: As the commission’s deputy executive director of gaming compliance and sports betting, Carpenter, a veteran casino employee and industry regulator in New England, has played a key role in the March 2024 launch of commercial online sports betting in North Carolina and the industry’s statewide since then.

C-Suite Executive of the Year

• Adam Greenblatt, BetMGM CEO: A University of Cape Town graduate, Greenblatt has been BetMGM’s CEO since October 2018, having previously served as group corporate development director at Ladbrokes, in addition to roles at other organizations.
• Amy Howe, FanDuel CEO: Before becoming CEO at FanDuel in February 2021, Howe, a graduate of Cornell and The Wharton School, served as president and COO of Ticketmaster and a partner and McKinsey & Co.
• Andy Whitworth, White Hat Studios CEO: With a degree in business studies from Derby University, Whitworth served in various capacities at gaming and entertainment firms, including Entain and NetEnt, before taking on his current role at White Hat Studios in October 2021.
• Jacob Claesson, Evolution CEO: A member of the Evolution team for more than 8 1/2 years, he helped expand the firm’s gaming portfolio in the U.S. and Canada before becoming CEO of North America operations in October 2022, having previously worked at the Swedish companies Klarna and Movestic.
•  Jordan Levin, OpenBet CEO: Prior to taking over as CEO at OpenBet in October 2021, this graduate of the University of Texas and  the University of Chicago Booth School of Business held several positions during seven years at Scientific Games, in addition to key roles at other gaming firms.
• Manu Gambhir, XPoint CEO: With an extensive global background in gaming, digital marketing and entertainment, Gambhir, a graduate of The Wharton School, became XPoint CEO in May 2023.
•  Matt Holt, IC360 CEO: Since 2018, Holt, who majored in sports management and sports business management Morehead State, has been CEO at Southern Nevada-based IC360 (formerly U.S. Integrity), a provider of game integrity, fraud prevention and awareness programs in sports betting in the United States.
• Matt Restivo, OddsJam CEO: With a LinkedIn slogan stating, “I build profitable things,” Restivo, holder of bachelor’s degree in computer science from Siena College, has been CEO at OddsJam since January 2023, with previous experience at companies such at Lucky Trader, where he was a cofounder.
• Michał Imiołek, Wazdan CEO: Imiołek has been at Wazdan, a company with a portfolio of over 140 online casino games, for more than 15 years, including the last 13 years and three months as Group CEO.
• Shimon Akad, Playtech COO: Since 2011, Akad has been at  Playtech, including as vice president of operations and now COO, having previously served for four years as general manager at Plaza Gaming.

Winners will be announced over a two-week period beginning Sept. 30.

For information about the American Gambling Awards, please visit the awards website: www.gambling.com/us/awards

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Last Updated: 
Aug 27^th, 2024