Jonathan Michaels has always kept abreast of the latest innovations in the gaming industry. With the American Gaming Association as vice president of strategic alliances and as Sightline Payments’ SVP Strategic Development and Government Affairs, Michaels became a thought leader on a range of subjects from regulatory affairs to cashless payment solutions.
But while those within the industry keep up with new developments, there’s widespread jurisdictional unfamiliarity with emerging technologies.
“There’s really been this opportunity surrounding how you bring innovations to market,” Michaels says. “I saw it when I was at the AGA and I’ve seen it during my tenure at Sightline. So much of it is focused on how to remove these multiple hurdles that everyone likes to point to for innovations.”
Michaels is addressing that need with the launch of a boutique consulting firm, Michaels Strategies. Based in Maryland, the new company will “help global companies achieve new growth and innovation opportunities in the U.S. market,” according to a press release.
One area of emphasis Michaels plans to address is the emergence of artificial intelligence. Specifically, he’s keen on helping gaming companies and jurisdictions understand the ramifications of the new technologies and how they can be leveraged.
“You work with them as partners because they’re looking for help just as much as you’re looking for a new market opportunity,” Michaels says. “They see these new technologies that come into gaming, or generally more broadly, and it’s just our world. … I think a big focus for me is just going to be sitting down and explaining things, just like I did with payments and sports betting and a number of other things that I’ve worked on.”
Michaels Strategies will focus on five areas: government and regulatory affairs, strategic communications, business development, payments, and responsible gambling. Part of Michaels’ mission will be to explain that many perceptions about the gaming industry are outdated. He emphasizes that gaming is “a modern entertainment business” with more $100 billion in revenue in 2022, and that the industry has changed – especially since the COVID-19 pandemic — over the decade he’s been part of it.
“When I entered gaming 10 years ago ‘millennials’ was pretty much a four-letter word and now it’s a core part of every operator’s business because casinos opened first and people went there and enjoyed themselves,” Michaels says. “They’re going to keep coming, but to me that also presents a great opportunity to reinvest in the product. What are people looking for that’s different than it once was?”
Michaels has already secured two clients for the new business: with his former employer Sightline Payments and with Axes, a cloud information management platform based in Las Vegas.
“Jonathan’s efforts have been essential to countless projects at Sightline surrounding regulatory modernization – he helped open the market nationwide for cashless gaming,” said Sightline Co-Founder and CEO Omer Sattar via email. “We’re proud to be the first client for Michaels Strategies as we know there are many other growth opportunities for the gaming industry surrounding new technologies, educating key stakeholders, and updating regulations.”
