AGEM July 2026 Recap
A comprehensive look at July's major goings-on.
• The 27th Annual AGEM & AGA Golf Classic, presented by JCM Global, announced that the event resulted in a donation of $185,000 to benefit the International Center for Responsible Gaming (ICRG), bringing the tournament’s lifetime fundraising total to $3.2 million. The event continues to be a success and shows the regulated gaming industry’s decades-long commitment to responsible gaming research.
• The recent National Council of Legislators from Gaming States (NCLGS) Summer Meeting, held at Hard Rock Hotel San Diego, offered attendees a unique opportunity to engage directly with the lawmakers, regulators, and industry leaders shaping the future of regulated gaming across the country. A comprehensive lineup of sessions addressing the most pressing issues at the intersection of legislation and regulation anchored the meeting. AGEM and its president & CEO, Daron Dorsey, attended and sponsored the gathering.
• AGEM Director of Responsible Gaming Connie Jones and Director of Membership & Events Allison McCoy attended the National Council on Problem Gaming (NCPG) Annual Conference in Nashville, Tennessee July 22-24, a gathering focused on bringing together clinical and policy leaders on problem gaming within the United States. As part of its ongoing monitoring and review of responsible gaming policy issues and ongoing disruption to regulated gaming in the United States from prediction markets and unregulated gaming companies, AGEM will continue to participate and voice our members’ concerns in these forums.
• AGEM appeared before the Nevada Gaming Control Board (NGCB) and Nevada Gaming Commission on their respective July agendas in support the NGCB Technology Division’s request to amend technology regulations related to certain progressive products within the jurisdiction. AGEM will continue to advocate and support efforts to modernize Nevada’s framework for the regulation of gaming technology.
Dave Lucchese, Marcus Prater Named for AGEM Awards
David Lucchese and Marcus Prater have been named recipients of the Association of Gaming Equipment Manufacturers’ (AGEM) 2026 Memorial Awards. Lucchese will receive the Jens Halle Memorial Award Honoring Excellence in Commercial Gaming Professionalism and Prater will receive the Peter Mead Memorial Award Honoring Excellence in Gaming Media & Communications.
AGEM created the unique annual awards program to acknowledge Halle’s and Mead’s lasting impacts on gaming. AGEM formally recognizes the honorees each year at the Global Gaming Expo (G2E) in Las Vegas, and this year’s awards ceremony will take place at an exclusive event during G2E on the afternoon of Wednesday, September 30.
David Lucchese is a gaming industry veteran with more than 35 years of experience spanning sales, operations, and executive leadership. Beginning with Bally, Casino Data Systems, Aristocrat and then Global Cash Access, Lucchese served in leadership roles within key gaming suppliers as the industry matured and grew.
Most recently, he served as an executive vice president at Everi, where he led sales and marketing initiatives, managed the strategy and development of the company’s interactive division, and played a key role in the planning and execution of Apollo Global Management’s acquisition of Everi and IGT in 2025. Since 2015, Lucchese also served as both a president and key board member of AGEM.
Marcus Prater is a respected gaming industry executive with nearly three decades of experience spanning both casino operations and gaming manufacturing. While he began his gaming career in marketing, first for operator Ameristar and then suppliers Sigma Game and Bally Gaming, Prater transitioned from board involvement at AGEM via his role at Bally and became AGEM’s executive director in 2008. There he helped transform the organization into a globally recognized trade association and elevate the influence of gaming suppliers worldwide until his departure in 2022.
Halle, a longtime Bally and Novomatic executive in Europe, was most recently CEO of Gauselmann Group’s Merkur Gaming before his untimely passing. Similarly, Mead was the founder and publisher of Casino Enterprise Management magazine.
AGEM Index
The AGEM Index rose by 128.94 points to 1,707.15 in June 2026, an 8.2 percent increase from the prior month. Compared to one year ago, the index declined by 10.3 percent, or 196.14 points. During the latest month, five of the nine AGEM Index companies reported stock price increases, which resulted in five positive contributions and four negative contributions to the index. The largest positive contributor to the monthly index was Aristocrat Leisure Limited (ASX: ALL), whose 22.3 percent increase in stock price led to a 136.32-point gain to the index. Meanwhile, Crane NXT, Co. (NYSE: CXT) saw its stock price increase by 31.7 percent, leading to a 27.95-point increase for the index. The largest negative contributor to the index was Konami Corp. (TYO: 9766), whose 6.7 percent decrease in stock price resulted in a 37.5-point loss to the AGEM Index. In June, two of the three major U.S. stock indices decreased from the prior month. The NASDAQ fell by 2.8 percent, while the S&P 500 experienced a 1.1 percent loss. Meanwhile, the Dow Jones Industrial Average improved by 2.5 percent.
