The Future of Sports Gambling
The Future of Sports Gambling
For decades, sports betting was an add-on at most casinos and ran a far second to slot machines, keno, and table games. When the US Supreme Court ended federal bans on sports betting in 2018, the sports gambling industry – once confined to Nevada – exploded and now has a toehold in 36 states with a projected revenue of more than $6 billion in 2023. In a world in which the smartphone puts a virtual casino in everyone’s hand, including athletes, what does America’s latest obsession portend for the future of amateur and professional sports?
Andre Carrier ’88, president & CEO of Eureka Casino Resort; Colleen Coyne ’89, president of the Boston Pride; Leon Hayward ’98, assistant hockey coach for the University of St. Thomas; and Kelley Newman ’12, sponsorship marketing manager for Enterprise Holdings, will help us better understand whether we’re betting on sports or gambling on its future.
Meet the Panelists:
Andre Carrier ’88
Andre Carrier is president and chief executive officer of Eureka Casino Resorts, a company that operates resorts and casinos in Nevada and New Hampshire. Eureka is the only 100 percent employee-owned casino company in the United States.
Andre began his career at Sahara Resorts/Santa Fe Gaming, where he held positions including vice president of marketing and vice president of administration and development. In 1999, Steve Wynn recognized his talents and enlisted him to lead Golden Nugget Laughlin, as chief operating officer. He became COO of both the Golden Nugget Las Vegas and Laughlin.
During his years with Mirage Resorts and then MGM Mirage, Andre led multiple purchase and sale transactions of the Golden Nugget and participated in substantial remodels of the property – the last one with legendary entrepreneur Tilman Fertitta. In 2007, he chose to join longtime friend, Greg Lee, to assist in the operation and future development of Eureka Casinos and pursue their joint vision of operating a core-values-centric organization that serves the guest, the employee, and the communities the business operates in. The company’s work in this way led Fortune magazine to name Eureka one of the top 100 companies to work for in multiple years.
In February of 2019, Eureka purchased New Hampshire’s only off-track betting facility, the former Seabrook Park, as well as two charity casinos. It immediately began a multimillion-dollar remodel of the landmark facility and rebranded it as The Brook. The Brook is now America’s largest charity casino and donates 35 percent of daily games of chance revenue to New Hampshire charities; raising over $11 million since 2019.
Andre is a graduate of Cornell University’s School of Hotel Administration and the Harvard Business School. He serves on many boards, including the Boys & Girls Club of America, the Cornell Hotel Society, and the Lee Business School at UNLV.
Colleen Coyne ’89
Colleen Coyne was a standout athlete from the moment she stepped foot on Tabor’s campus. She was a three-sport varsity athlete and helped the Seawolves post an undefeated regular season during her senior hockey campaign. After graduation, Colleen played college hockey at the University of New Hampshire, one of three national power-house programs. While at UNH she and her classmates collected two national championships and were twice runner-up for the title. The top defenseman on the United States National Women's Team, Colleen Coyne helped the US record the lowest team goals-against average en route to winning the gold medal over Canada at the Nagano Olympics in 1998.
Colleen retired from competition following Team USA’s victory. In 2021, Collen was named president of the Boston Pride, one of the four charter franchises of the Premier Hockey Federation, formerly the National Women's Hockey League. She brings a wealth of business and marketing experience to the Pride's front office from innovative companies including Microsoft, Groove, HubSpot, Sparx Hockey, and the DRIVN Coaching Platform.
Leon Hayward ’98
Leon Hayward, a three-sport varsity athlete, was a trailblazer for black hockey players at Tabor, leading the way as the first African American to play varsity boys’ hockey. He went on to play Division I hockey as a forward for the Northeastern Huskies, scoring 30 points (15 goals and 15 assists) in 132 career games. He then spent six years playing professionally, including five in the American Hockey League, collecting 85 goals and 88 assists, amassing a total 173 points.
Following his professional career, Leon worked for nine years in the independent school sector in the areas of admissions and coaching, serving as an assistant hockey coach for the Taft School and Avon Old Farms, and as head hockey coach for Governor’s Academy. In 2017, Leon joined Colorado College’s men’s hockey program as the Tiger’s assistant coach where he guided recruiting from 39th to 13th to fourth nationally. In 2021, he was appointed as the first assistant coach for the University of St. Thomas in Minnesota in its inaugural year of play in Division I hockey. Leon is one of two black assistant coaches in college hockey and a member of the NHL Coaches Association BIPOC Coaching program.
Kelley Newman ’12
Kelley Newman is a sports marketing and sponsorship professional with experience working for NFL, NHL, NBA, WBNA, and NCAA teams in corporate partnerships. She made the switch from the team side to the brand side in the sports industry when she joined DraftKings in 2021. In that role, she was responsible for consumer insights and brand strategy, conducting research to inform go-to-market strategies around new state and product launches, as well as tentpole sporting moments. In her current role as sponsorship marketing manager for Enterprise Holdings – Enterprise Rent-A-Car, National Car Rental – she oversees sponsorship marketing across NHL, MLB, PGA, LPGA, and Disney partnerships. Her expertise is in sponsorship strategy, business development, and marketing activation.
Kelley grew up on St. Croix in the US Virgin Islands. Following Tabor, she graduated from the University of Southern California and earned her master’s degree in Sports Industry Management from Georgetown University.