Greg Avioli

Early life and education

Gregory "Greg" C. Avioli was born in 1964. He and his four siblings Richard, Michael, Edie, and Judy were raised by their parents, Louis V. Avioli M.D. and Joan Truax Avioli. Much of Avioli's childhood was spent in St. Louis, Missouri, where his father taught at Washington University School of Medicine. A Jersey City native who had left New Jersey for St. Louis in 1966, Louis Avioli was a notable osteoporosis researcher in the 1960s, and would go on to study the health effects of space flight with NASA in the mid-1970s. Associated with a number of medical and educational organizations, Louis Avioli also founded the American Society for Bone and Mineral Research in 1979, serving as president. After high school Greg Avioli moved to North Carolina, where he graduated with a bachelor's degree from the University of North Carolina and earned his J.D. from the same university in 1989.

1990s: early years

Initially working as a lawyer, from 1989 to 1994 Avioli worked as an associate at the law firm Long Aldridge and Norman. In 1994 he was hired as Senior Vice President of business affairs by International Sports and Entertainment Strategies (ISES), a company based in Atlanta, Georgia. While at ISES he worked with the PGA Tour, United States Tennis Association and United States Olympic Committee to develop "domestic and international properties," staying at the company until 1998.

From 1998 to 2000 Avioli served as General Counsel and VP of Business Affairs for the National Thoroughbred Racing Association, a coalition of interests related to horse racing in the United States. Beginning in the late 1990s, Avioli oversaw a number of successful lobbying campaigns in Washington D.C. When the NTRA registered a "hard money" political action committee with the Federal Election Commission on July 14, 2000, Avioli was listed as Treasurer and ultimately became President. Avioli was quoted as saying that “a $1-million PAC is a necessary complement to the NTRA's federal lobbying efforts." Shortly afterwards, the NTRA promoted him to both Deputy Commissioner and Chief Operating Officer.

On December 15, 2000, the United States Congress passed a package of appropriations bills which included an amendment to the Interstate Horseracing Act (IHA), a bill first enacted in 1978. Avioli and the NTRA had been a key lobbying team behind the new legislation, with Avioli authoring an extensive white paper on the legality of online wagering by the horse racing industry in 1999, based on historical precedent. The IHA Amendment was signed by President Bill Clinton on December 22 and clarified that the U.S. horse racing industry could conduct interstate simulcasting and "commingling of pools and account wagering," so long as the states where the activity occurred permitted such activity. This legislation confirmed that Internet-based wagering related to horse racing was legal, so long as the wagering business could confirm the identity and age via closed-loop authentication. Separate gambling legislation known as the Federal Wire Act that historically prohibited any betting over state lines via technology stayed intact, with horse racing becoming the sole exemption for federally recognized online gambling in states that authorized the activity. At the time, Avioli stated "this is a very very favorable development for racing because it takes the 800-pound gorilla of the Justice Department off our backs and gives us the opportunity to continue to grow the business of off-track wagering." In 2006 Avioli and the NTRA lobbying team were successful in securing an additional exemption for horseracing in the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act of 2006, signed by President George W. Bush on October 13, 2006.

On July 12, 2001 he appeared on a panel before Congress's Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations, which was investigating Internet gambling and horse racing's exemptions. Much of Avioli's testimony amounted to explaining the positive economic impact of horse racing and the industry's dependence on online wagering and simulcasting.

Beginning in 2002 he and the NTRA lobbing team advocated for H.R. 4474, which gained bipartisan support for its proposal to eliminate the 30% tax that the US government then placed on all international bets. This legislation was signed into law in by President Bush October 22, 2004 with Avioli stating "What this does is open up the U.S. market to other countries able to take U.S. signals."

2004-07: task forces and NTRA presidency

In April 2004 The New York Times announced that Avioli was serving as chairman of the Wagering Systems Task Force, tasked with understanding why racetracks in the United States were receiving "less net revenue from interstate simulcasting. Money is leaking out of the system and not going back to live racing." In August 2004 Avioli stated that the industry needed "activation of a strong national office of wagering security" to oversee the legal online betting operations being run by host events. The task force released an official report in September 2004, with Avioli highlighting the revenue from high-volume off shore online betting operations and their impact on the US industry. Also while with the NTRA Avioli commissioned the NERA study Thoroughbred Racetrack Economics: Emerging Issues in Competition, Regulation, and Wagering. He remained interim CEO until January 15, 2007.

In January 2006 Avioli began serving as interim President and CEO of the National Thoroughbred Racing Association and Breeders' Cup, Ltd., after their respective boards offered him both roles at a June 2006 joint meeting in New York City. As interim CEO of the NTRA, he continued to be involved with federal online gaming lobbying, and in late 2006 he put support behind the Internet Gambling Prohibition Act. Though also supported by senators such as Jon Kyl, critics of the bill argued that the exemption left for online wagering on horse racing was an unfair loophole. Avioli responded that the exemption was not a new development but a "recognition of existing federal law," per recent additions to the Interstate Horseracing Act. He remained interim CEO of the NTRA until January 15, 2007.

2007- 11: CEO of Breeder's Cup

At nine months serving as "interim" CEO of the Breeder's Cup, he became the permanent CEO in April 2007. During his first year at the organization he oversaw a 40% reduction in expenses, as well as the addition of multiple new $1M races. Stated Avioli, the organization's core purpose and his objective as CEO was "to create an event of that stature and size that it will attract new racing fans and new buyers of racehorses." In April 2008, Sports Business Daily named him one of six "people to watch in the horse racing industry," along with people such as Frank Stronach and Churchill Downs CEO Robert Evans. For the October 2008 World Championships the event was expanded from one to two days, with the first day devoted to female horses and the overall purse increasing to $25 million. Fourteen races were held instead of eight. The 2008 Championships were the first to draw 35 horses from abroad, and international bets on Breeder's Cup Pools for that year's event totaled $17.6 million, up 34% from 2006.

On October 22, 2009, the Breeder's Cup announced it had signed simulcasting and licensing agreements with Betfair, a company which in turn had purchased the horse-racing network TVG in January of that year. The agreement brought in Betfair's customer base of over 2.5 million. After announcing the deal in London, The Guardian reported that Avioli called the deal "a gateway to the future." Betfair handled common-pool wagering at the organization's November 2009 championships, also streaming the events live to both national and international bettors for the first time. At that point, the World Championship event was being telecast in over 140 countries, through various networks.

James Emmett of SportsPro wrote in November 2010 that Avioli had "reinvigorated" the Breeder's Cup as CEO by "doubling revenues and attracting the best horses from across the world." Avioli had also introduced the "Win and You're In" playoff system, a policy wherein winners of major races throughout the year, from England, Ireland, France, Hong Kong, Japan, South Africa, and Australia would gain automatic access to the Breeder's Cup Championships races. Profits for 2009 and 2010 were the highest in the organization's history, with wagering (both pari-mutuel and non-pari-mutuel) in 2010 nearing $200 million, or $21 million more than the previous year. Over $23 million of the non-pari-mutuel was wagered over Betfair.

2011-12: CEO of Stronach Group

In April 2011 he officially left the Breeder's Cup to join the newly created racing and gaming division of the company MI Developments (MID). Stated Avioli, "It was a difficult decision because I've had such a tremendous opportunity with the Breeders' Cup Board... and together we've been able to accomplish some great things. But Frank (Stronach) really wants to revitalize these assets and help grow American racing at a very important time." Shortly after the change, Frank Stronach and Belinda Stronach split off from MI Developments and formed The Stronach Group, hiring Avioli as their first CEO and president. Avioli clarified that his focus as CEO would involve "the quality of the facility, the quality of the horses, and the betting product," which he felt would improve the overall health of the horse racing industry.

Among the transferred racing and gaming assets were the licensed online wagering company Xpressbet, the bet-processing company AmTote, fifty percent ownership of the television network HRTV, Santa Anita Park, and Gulfstream Park Racing and Casino. In June 2011 Avioli also oversaw Stronach Group's financial takeover of the "ailing" Maryland Jockey Club, which owns and operates Laurel Park and Pimlico Race Course. After a year managing what Avioli called "a conglomeration of gaming and entertainment assets with $400 million in annual revenues," he left the Stronach Group in April 2012. The parting was amicable, with Avioli explaining that "with the transition to the new ownership structure now complete and each of the business units fully licensed and operational, I just felt it was the right time to move on to new business ventures."

2012-14

Starting in June 2012, he became the Managing Director of the company Teneo Strategy, advising clients in the online gaming, entertainment, and sports industries in New York City. He worked with Teneo until January 2014. Avioli is Executive VP of Game Play Network, an international technology and gaming company that owns brands such as Oddz and bspot. In February 2014, he testified before the California Horse Racing Board at their regular meeting on behalf of Game Play Network, focusing on the potential growth opportunities for racing in the online wagering sector and successfully advocating for an account wagering license for the company.

Personal life

As of 2007 Avioli lived with his family in Lexington, Kentucky, also spending time in Manhattan to work at the Breeder's Cup headerquarters. After being hired by the Stronach Group in 2011 he continued to live in central Kentucky while working out of various Stronach Group-owned properties in Los Angeles, Miami, and Toronto. By 2014 Avioli was also based out of Los Angeles, California.