American Gaming Association CEO Geoff Freeman will leave his role overseeing the industry’s largest trade organization in August, CDC Gaming first reported Monday afternoon.
An official announcement was released Monday evening by the AGA. Freeman, 43, accepted a similar position with the Grocery Manufacturers Association, a Washington D.C.-based organization that speaks for the $2.1 trillion food, beverage and consumer product industry.
Freeman is expected to stay on with the AGA until Aug. 1 to help with the transition. The Washington D.C.-based organization’s board of directors, currently headed by Penn National Gaming CEO Tim Wilmott, is expected to conduct a national search for Freeman’s replacement.
“It is a testament to our industry, as well as to Geoff himself, that GMA would look to gaming as a model for managing through dynamic change and complexity to achieve success in both policy and perceptions,” Wilmott said in a statement. “Geoff has built a strong board and a strong team. He leaves us well positioned for future success.”
Freeman became just the second person to head the AGA when he took over in 2013 from Frank Fahrenkopf Jr., who helped found the organization in 1995. Freeman served as the chief advocate for the industry.
The AGA was created to battle anti-gaming forces that could have halted casino expansion and prompted federal taxation on casino earnings. Under Freeman’s leadership, the organization’s role transitioned to serve more as an advocate for gaming expansion and advance a proactive public policy agenda.
Freeman encouraged the recognition of gaming’s role as a mainstream U.S. entertainment business that produces a yearly economic impact of $240 billion, supports more than 1.7 million jobs, and provides $38 billion annually in tax revenue to 40 states with commercial and American Indian operated casinos.
Freeman’s departure comes less than a month after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled the 1992 Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act unconstitutional, paving the way for states to legalize sports betting. Freeman had long advocated for PASPA to be overturned, saying the Act did little to halt the growth of illegal sports betting. The AGA publicly supported New Jersey’s five-year legal effort that culminated with the favorable Supreme Court decision on March 14.
“Today’s ruling makes it possible for states and sovereign tribal nations to give Americans what they want: an open, transparent, and responsible market for sports betting,” Freeman said following the justices’ decision. “Through smart, efficient regulation this new market will protect consumers, preserve the integrity of the games we love, empower law enforcement to fight illegal gambling, and generate new revenue for states, sporting bodies, broadcasters and many others.”
Wilmott said, “The AGA accomplished many important successes during Geoff’s tenure, most notably the recent Supreme Court ruling … a decision that paves the way for legalized sports betting in the U.S.”
Freeman also placed the AGA front-and-center on several other issues during his tenure. The organization lobbied in support of legalized Internet gaming and marshalled the casino industry to cooperate and comply with federal anti-money laundering efforts.
In 2015, the AGA created a grass-roots campaign to thwart an Internal Revenue Service proposal to lower the slot machine jackpot reporting threshold from $1,200 to $600. A year later, the IRS abandoned the idea after receiving more than 14,000 written comments against the changes.
“Our grassroots campaign mobilized thousands of casino customers, members of Congress from 11 states urged restraint, and compelling research demonstrated that the tax threshold should be at least $4,700 when adjusted for inflation,” Freeman said in 2016. “Today’s final IRS regulation is a big win not only for gaming companies and millions of casino visitors, but also for state and local governments who would have received fewer gaming tax dollars as a result of what would have been burdensome federal requirements.”
Freeman left a seven-year position as the No. 2 official with the U.S. Travel Association when he joined the AGA. In less than five years, he successfully reshaped the gaming organization.
AGA membership grew to include small, midsize and large casino operators, the manufacturing sector, casino industry vendors and ancillary services, and representatives of the American Indian gaming community.
MGM Resorts Chairman and CEO Jim Murren was vice chairman of the AGA board and oversaw Freeman’s hiring.
“We felt strongly about having someone with deep experience in trade organizations who also understood a regulated industry,” Murren told the Las Vegas Review-Journal in 2013. “We rejected having a retired elected official in favor of someone with more tactical experience.”
As chief operating officer of U.S. Travel, Freeman interacted with Las Vegas casino leadership. During that time, Freeman advocated for a legislative campaign that resulted in the passage of the Travel Promotion Act. The law led to the creation of Brand USA – a public-private partnership that helped the U.S. travel industry capture a larger share of the international travel market.
Freeman is a graduate of the University of California, Berkeley and resides in Virginia with his wife and three children.
Howard Stutz is the executive editor of CDC Gaming. He can be reached at hstutz@cdcgamingreports.com. Follow @howardstutz on Twitter.
