We often consider the gambling and casino industry to be male-dominated. After all, everything that is advertised features men winning, and the list of professional competition casino game winners is mostly men.
But there are more women behind the growth of the casino industry than you might realize. In fact, one of the biggest money makers is the lady who took BET365 from a couple of small stores to the online titan that it is now.
There are also plenty of women in game writing, design, and development of online casino games. Not to mention that the bingo industry’s growth from land-based to online has been female-driven.
When it comes to the growth and development of new online casinos and the success of established casinos, incredible game development studios, and even the players – women are running the show, just in a quieter way than men.
Let’s take a look at some of the high-rolling power women behind the fastest-growing entertainment sector across the globe.
The 4 Women who are dominating the Gambling Industry
Judy Bayley
Judt Bayley is one of the most celebrated women in the casino industry – but you might not have heard of her. Judy opened the very popular Hacienda Hotel in Las Vegas with her husband. The Hacienda was a family-owned and run casino, but once her husband died, Judy took over the business.
The business was already thriving, but as any business duo will tell you, the work of two is a lot to take on solo.
While the death of her husband was unfortunate, it pushed Judy into the spotlight, and she became the first woman to own and operate a hotel-casino in Sin City. What makes Judy particularly amazing is that she didn’t have any formal business training behind her and took the business from success to success.
Judy Bayley earned herself the title of First Lady of Gambling because of her efforts and success.
Jette Nygaard- Andersen
You may not have heard of Jette, but you have probably heard of the company of which is a CEO. This Danish casino titan is the lady who forged a path for other women in the industry to follow. After getting her degree in economics at the University of Copenhagen, she went on to secure a position as chair for a Danish eSports team.
This was no small feat either because, at the time, this was typically a seat you’d find men in. The Modern Times Group, which was a Swedish media company, was somewhere else she secured a high-level role as a senior exe.
In 2019 Jette was appointed as the non-exe director of Entain, and after putting in the work – and seeing Entain grow from strength to strength she was made CEO, which puts Jette, a woman, at the top of the chain for what is one of the largest gambling companies in the world. Entain brands include Coral, Ladbrokes, bwin, Eurobet, and BETMGM, just to name a few.
A true titan of a gambling company has a woman at the helm.
Denise Coates
If there is one name that always comes up when it comes to women in the casino industry, it is the BET365 CEO, Denise. She quite literally worked her way up and created the roadmap for online casino success.
Using money from the land-based betting shops, Denise took a gamble herself and put the cash into creating the online BET365 website. That small website with basic functions showed the rest of the industry just how much could be made with online casinos.
Denise’s personal fortune is estimated to be in the region of $5.3 billion, and BET365 is reported to take about $45 billion in bets every year.
If Denise hadn’t had the initiative to read the trends and make an early investment to be one of the first to market, BET365 wouldn’t be as big as it is right now.
Sue Schneider
Sue is considered one of the leading experts in the iGaming field and has been involved in the industry since 1995. Her early days consisted of owning a gaming consumer portal, then River City Group – which was responsible for the epic GIGSE and EiG iGaming events.
While the RCG was bought by Clarion Events, Sue remained the CEO of Americas until June 2009. Sue also founded and served as the Chairman of the IGC 120-strong council.
And if all of that wasn’t enough, she frequently speaks at gaming conferences and has testified to the House of Representatives, the US Senate, and the National Gaming Impact Study Commission. Not to mention that she sat as Editor-in-Chief of the Gaming Law Review, partnered with the Malta iGaming Seminar, and with iGaming North America.
Sue is considered one of the go-to iGaming consultants in the world and covers a range of projects across the iGaming industry.
Women are leading the charge in the industry, creating projects and resources for more women to get into the industry – and the female player base grows every year too!
