Scientific Games reappoints Steve Beason to lead digital and betting

Beason returns to the lottery group – which was spun off from Light & Wonder and sold to a private equity company in April – some six years after departing, having held the roles of enterprise chief technology officer and president of its lottery systems division between 2005 and 2016.

Beason was most recently group chief technology officer for Inspired Entertainment. His more than four decades worth of industry experience also includes seven years as CTO for The Hong Kong

Jockey Club and 12 years as vice-president of software at GTECH.

Pat McHugh, Scientific Games’ chief executive, said: “Steve’s experience and hands-on team approach make him a perfect fit to complement our executive leadership team. He’ll add immediate value across our technology, operations, content, and services offerings with a global view on commercially developing our business.

“Under Steve’s leadership, as we continue to accelerate growth, our digital product innovation will enhance each of our existing product lines expanding play and promotion of lottery games.”

McHugh added that the online lottery and sports betting markets are a major focus for Scientific Games, which is 100% lottery since the company was sold to Brookfield Business Partners in April 2022.

The deal, which was agreed in October last year, was worth $5.8bn (£4.4bn/€5.3bn) in gross cash proceeds and approximately $5.0bn in net after-tax cash proceeds.

“Our recent successes in Denmark, Hungary, Turkey, and Azerbaijan, where we deliver integrated programmes for lottery instant games, draw games and sports betting across retail and digital channels, have created opportunities and an exciting need to expand our technology leadership across all lottery categories and consumer experiences.”