Made for Vegas
game Rakin ’ Bacon Sahara in person at the Hard Rock casino in Atlantic City and online at the Hard Rock Bet iGaming site .
“ We are the first to have ever organized a joint launch of a slot online and on land ,” Ebling says . “ We didn ’ t just do it once this year ; we ’ ve done it three times already , and we have more launches planned for the rest of this year .”
She notes that while many of the top-tier slot suppliers have been talking about omnichannel launches for years , “ we came in with this new team and did it in under six months . We set it up and we were able to get the data back , and we immediately saw how influential that was for both sides of the business .”
Ebling says the core of her first year with AGS has been to set up the Interactive Division to materially benefit the overall business of the company .
Part of that effort has been a careful move into new markets — beyond the relatively limited legal iGaming business in the U . S . “ We want to be in markets that make sense for us ,” she says . “ There ’ s a ton of opportunities for us to expand in Europe , and then LatAm is also a really big focus for a lot of suppliers .
“ We want to make sure that we ’ re able to get the return on investment .”
The cost-versus-ROI equation has been at the center of every expansion for AGS in the interactive space , including the most recent moves — an expansion into the Delaware online market and a partnership with FanDuel that will bring AGS content to sites that comprise some 43 percent of the legal online gaming market .
“ We really designed our systems to be able to give us information to ensure that we ’ re not just entering as many markets as possible and then not generating revenue ,” Ebling says . “ That ’ s a big part of how we also contribute to the wider AGS business . We want not to just be performing well in the interactive space , but we want to be able to provide a lot of value to the wider business as well .”
The strategy is paying off nicely . The Eilers-Fantini slot performance report for July showed AGS as the No . 1 overall supplier in the interactive space , and the company has been high on that list for most of the year .
“ If we look at last year compared to this year , we ’ ve more than doubled the game output , and what we were putting forward has shown to be really successful ,” Ebling says .
All in all , not a bad year ’ s work . And Ebling ’ s just getting started .
Made for Vegas
Rikki Tanenbaum
Senior Vice President , Strategic Partnerships , FanDuel
R
ikki Tanenbaum may not have known what she wanted to be when she grew up . But as a teenager , she already knew where she wanted to be it .
“ We went through Las Vegas when I was 15 or so and I told my parents , ‘ This is what I want to do ,’” she says . “ It was the smell of the fake palm trees at the Mirage , the buffet at Circa … Every year , my family asked , like , ‘ Do you want to go to Egypt ?’ I was like , ‘ No , I want to go to Las Vegas .’” Tanenbaum , the senior vice president of strategic partnerships for FanDuel , is now on her third turn in America ’ s gambling capital .
Last year , FanDuel hired her to create a bridge into Indian Country after the industry ’ s spectacular failure at legalizing sports betting in California in 2022 . For the last year , she ’ s spent her time visiting tribes across California and the nation .
She drew on her experience as the CMO and later CEO for the San Manuel Band of Mission Indians . Her goal is to “ do the right thing ” by the tribes as sports betting is legalized .
The road to Las Vegas took her through Ohio , Mississippi and California . She worked in marketing , and did some event planning and project managing before she realized that “ harnessing data ” was her calling .
“ I realized I was good at managing projects , but I had no idea how make money ,” Tanenbaum says . “ So I realized that I need to figure out how to ring a register … I knew I needed to have my own P & L .”
Tanenbaum ’ s timing couldn ’ t have been better . After working in traditional marketing roles with MGM and Viejas Enterprises , Tanenbaum said yes to a “ big job ” with Penn National Gaming . She thought the job was in St . Louis . “ I misheard ,” she laughs . “ The job was in Bay St . Louis .” The beachfront town on the Mississippi Gulf Coast in 2010 was dotted with casino boats and live oaks . An hour ’ s drive from New Orleans , it was a weekend destination that opened a whole new world for the native New Yorker .
“ Someone who has an eye for the data and can make it actionable is few and far between ,” says Harrison , now the general manager for the Golden Nugget-Biloxi . “ She brought a lot to the table in how to monetize that data . In 2010 , we were just on the cusp of turning a website into dollars .”
Harrison was Tanenbaum ’ s manager at two Hollywood Casino locations in southern Mississippi .
It ’ s hard to keep up when talking to Tanenbaum . As a mom and a corporate executive , she ’ s always on the move . She talks fast , has a quick wit , and learns even faster . Harrison says that if he introduced a new subject Tanenbaum was an expert within 24 hours .
She got to Las Vegas early on in her career after turning down a job with a consulting firm because , well , “ I didn ’ t want to do that job .” She worked for Bellagio and then MGM Resorts in the early 2000s and returned for a stint with the Golden Nugget 2015-18 . And now she ’ s back .
“ The summers are hot , but I love it ,” she says . “ I can get anything done with two phone calls ... it ’ s an easy place .” — Jill R . Dorson
SETEMBER 2024 www . ggbmagazine . com 23