After Tim Wilmott graduated from the University of Pennsylvania in 1987 with an MBA, he looked at his options. The central New Jersey native had been to Atlantic City a number of times and liked the energy of the gambling town.
He also sought an industry where he could grow and thrive.
“I wanted to work for a growth industry,” Wilmott tells CDC Gaming. “And when I retired at the end of the beginning of 2020, I think 42 states had legalized gaming in some form. It certainly had had grown over the 35 years I was in the industry.”
Wilmott recently was named to the American Gaming Association’s Gaming Hall of Fame. He will be inducted with the Class of 2026, including Holly Gagnon, Bill G. Lance Jr., and Scott Olive, at an invitation-only ceremony during the Global Gaming Expo in Las Vegas this fall.
“Of all the gaming industry executives I have worked with over my career, I can think of no one more deserving of the induction into the AGA Hall of Fame than Tim Wilmott,” says Penn Entertainment CEO Jay Snowden. “Tim was a pioneer in the areas of responsible gaming, casino marketing and customer loyalty. Tim defined integrity and consistency in delivering results for all key constituencies (team members, customers, shareholders, regulators, local communities) and always represented the gaming industry with class.”
After starting his career with Harrah’s, Wilmott joined Penn Entertainment in 2008. At various stops during his career, he became intrigued by the gaming industry ecosystem.
“I love the fact that it was it was human intensive,” Wilmott says. “When I was here in Atlantic City in the mid ’90s, I had over 3,000 employees. You’re dealing with people, and you have thousands and thousands of customers coming through your doors every day. It’s just an energized environment.
“It was fun to see people enjoying themselves, for the most part. People had a good time coming, eating, drinking, and gambling with their friends and family, and it was it was always an enjoyable experience.”
Wilmott was first hired by Harrah’s CEO and President Phil Satre, who pioneered the President’s Associate Program. The program exposed promising new hires to different areas of casino operations, including food and beverage, hotel operations, marketing, human resources, in order to learn the business from the ground up.
“He had the foresight to put that program in place when no one else was doing it back in the in the mid-to-late 80s,” Wilmott says. “That gave you an overview of the gaming industry.”
Wilmott gravitated to and found a home in casino operations.
“I liked the table games, the slot operations,” Wilmott says, “what interested customers, how to how to create customer loyalty through your team members on the casino floor. That was probably the most interesting.”
Wilmott was also intrigued by marketing and how casinos operate and “all the rich information you have about your customers through the rewards programs and how you incentive them to come visit you and create loyalty with your marketing interventions was always something I found fascinating.”
Only five years after joining Harrah’s, he was tapped to be the general manager of the company’s riverboat casino in Joliet, Illinois.
“It was probably the best job I ever had because I was employee number one, and I got to create 2,000 jobs and develop a very big business,” Wilmott says. “I really didn’t have any points in my career where I felt that this wasn’t the right industry for me, and I wanted to look elsewhere. “I’ve been fortunate in that.”
Wilmott’s effect on others is ongoing, notably on Snowden, who succeeded him at Penn.
“Tim is an extremely accomplished gaming executive but always stayed humble, authentic and true to who he is throughout the years,” Snowden said. “A dedicated family man and role model in every sense, Tim makes everyone around him better. I had the pleasure of working with Tim for over 20 years at both Caesars and Penn and am extremely fortunate to still call him a close friend to this day.”
