Slot manufacturer WMS Gaming announced that Ron Rivera, who spent two decades as a sales executive for rival manufacturer International Game Technology, has been hired as vice president of the WMS Western sales division. Rivera will be in charge of Western Division sales and national accounts.
Rivera was IGT’s senior vice president of sales for North America when he left the company last year.
The hiring was part of an effort by WMS to revamp its national sales staff. In addition to hiring Rivera, the company promoted Rick Riehm to vice president of Eastern Division sales, and hired Steve Byrne, a former Caesars Entertain-ment executive, as executive director of product marketing.
Riehm joined WMS in 2006 as regional sales director for the Central Region and was most recently executive director for the Central Atlantic Region, where he led a team of six account executives working with more than 100 casinos located in the Midwest and Northeast.
Byrne has 14 years of experience in the gaming industry, most recently as director of slot performance at Caesars Entertainment, where he was primarily responsible for slot product strategy, revenue management and vendor business relationships at 36 Caesars-owned casinos in North America.
