Black Executives On The Rise

July 2024

Kieron A. Frazier

Current company and role:  Associate Attorney at Greenberg Traurig, LLP

Hometown: I was born and raised in Cherry Hill, New Jersey. I currently live in Chicago, Illinois.

First job in the gaming industry: I started working on gaming compliance matters at my current law firm, Greenberg Traurig. I started as a finance attorney, but as states legalized sports betting, I relied on my background to navigate the gaming matters the firm was working on. That was the first time I had worked on issues concerning the gaming industry.

What do you like about working in gaming?

I have a sports background – I played college football at the University of Illinois – and gaming parlays into some of my interests, on a personal level. I like how gaming work challenges me. We’re creating a new space within the sports industry, essentially building it from the ground up, in each jurisdiction that legalizes sports betting. The work is eclectic and because it’s constantly evolving, it adds variety to the daily grind of my legal practice.

Did anything surprise you about the industry when you first started? (pleasant surprises, hopefully).

I knew the major players in gaming, and its reputation for being a robust, forward-thinking industry. But I was pleasantly surprised to find that it’s quite intimate as well. There are fewer people involved in the gaming industry, so people tend to be more accessible, and I’ve found myself building relationships with like-minded folks within our common but very niche areas.

Were you familiar with gambling before landing a job in the industry? What were your thoughts about gaming before starting to work in the industry? 

I was not very familiar with gambling before my current job. Because I played a sport in college, I was steered away from gambling, as we were taught to avoid wagering. At the time, I thought gambling involved mostly card games and slot machines. This mindset has greatly changed over the years as gambling has become legalized in more states, and I now know there’s so much more depth and complexity in the industry.

Has your impression of the industry changed at all?

The sheer size of the industry has boomed in the past five years. I go to trade shows and there’s so much happening as the gaming world has moved beyond card games into fantasy sports and iGaming. I have been able to work on deals that were the first of their kind in the industry, such as the first sports book to open inside a stadium and the first casino to get a license in Chicago. I have also been a lead member of corporate deals on acquisitions by non-gaming companies that turned out to have a gaming regulatory component. For example, I worked on a truck stop acquisition that required my regulatory expertise because the stations had in-store gaming terminals. Because of the rapid evolution in the gaming industry, the types of matters I get to work on are consistently changing and, at the same time, changing my impression of where the industry is heading. My practice has also expanded lately to include international clients, and I advise them about the ins-and-outs of the industry, how it affects them, and what the industry may look like years from now based on what is happening today.

What major trends do you see emerging in the gaming industry over the next 5 to 10 years?

I think we can all agree that we work in a hot industry, one with tremendous potential. Over the next few years, I see the continued expansion of internet lotteries, multi-state poker pools, eSports betting, and general commercial gambling as states pass legislation or referendums appear on voting ballots. With all that growth comes increased enforcement to address unregulated gambling. The industry itself will likely put more emphasis on cybersecurity protection after some recent high-profile attacks.

What advice would you give to aspiring leaders in the gaming industry?

I would tell anyone starting their careers to build relationships and rely on your training and experience. If you have a finance or governmental relations or intellectual property background, for example, you can fold in that valuable experience into gaming work. I was a lawyer for the Minnesota Vikings a few years back, we did a fair amount of licensing work in my role there. I relied on those skills to inform my decision making and efforts to grow my gaming practice.


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