Sara Slane, the American Gaming Association’s leading public policy advocate, will leave the Washington D.C. based trade organization in July to form her own strategy firm.
Slane, 39, who joined the AGA in 2014, is best recognized for her advocacy efforts toward the legalization of sports betting, which culminated with the U.S. Supreme Court overturning the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act 13 months ago. The decision allowed states to legalize regulated sports betting.
Sara Slane
The effort offered the Slane the opportunity to build alliances with sports leagues and policymakers in overseeing the AGA’s strategy and planning of a grassroots communications effort that focused on economic opportunities for American businesses while building support for legal and regulated sports betting.
Slane was front and center on the sports betting effort, conducting numerous interviews with national media outlets.
“My goal is to become involved in business development for the leagues and the media side to help them understand gaming,” Slane said. “There are a tremendous amount of complexities and spearheading the initiative obviously gave me a tremendous amount of experience.”
AGA CEO Bill Miller announced three promotions Friday in the organization; Dan Bretl will assume the position of senior vice president, strategy and operations; Casey Clark will assume the position of senior vice president, strategic communications; and Chris Cylke will assume the position of senior vice president, government relations.
The three were previously vice presidents at the AGA and will be assuming greater responsibilities in their areas of expertise,” Miller said.
Miller, who became AGA CEO in January, said the AGA “needs to become a stronger organization in terms of government relations and communications” and the three appointments elevate the trade group.
“Dan, Casey and Chris have decades of hospitality, advocacy and association leadership experience that will continue to be valued assets for me, for the AGA staff, and for our members as we continue to advance the gaming industry’s interests across the country,” Miller said in a statement.
In addition to Slane, AGA General Counsel Stacy Papadopoulos will leave the organization and has accepted the position of general counsel and senior vice president of operations and special initiatives at the Grocery Manufacturers Association.
Papadopoulos served as the interim CEO of the AGA following the departure of former CEO Geoff Freeman last summer. Freeman became CEO of the Grocery Manufacturers.
“The AGA accomplished a great deal during Sara and Stacy’s tenure, and much of our organizational success is to their credit,” Miller said. “Their contributions helped reshape and advance the organization and enable some of the most significant policy victories in our organization’s history. Our team, our members and the entire gaming industry benefited greatly from their many contributions.”
Slane, the AGA’s senior vice president of public affairs, has been the industry’s spokesperson and advocate on several public policy issues in the last five years, including issues surrounding Internet gaming and a grass roots effort to defeat an Internal Revenue Service push to lower jackpot reporting thresholds. She has testified before Congress and state legislatures.
Slane joined the AGA after serving as a vice president with MGM Resorts International. She oversaw a successful ballot referendum on gaming expansion in Maryland that led to the licensing of the $1.4 billion MGM National Harbor. Slane is a graduate of Ohio University.
Howard Stutz is the executive editor of CDC Gaming. He can be reached at hstutz@cdcgamingreports.com. Follow @howardstutz on Twitter.
