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William J. Bissett is President, Delaware North Companies Gaming & Entertainment, overseeing the company's seven successful racing operations in New York, Arizona, Florida, West Virginia and Arkansas. Delaware north Companies Gaming & Entertainment is part of Delaware North Companies, a global leader in hospitality and food service and one of the largest privately-held companies in North America with more than $2 billion in revenue and 50,000 employees in North America, United Kingdom, Australia and New Zealand.
Delaware North Companies Gaming and Entertainment is one of the most innovative gaming and racing operators in the country, specializing in racing venues with added amenities, including video gaming machines, poker rooms, full service restaurants, retail shops and lodging. The company oversees more than 6,500 video gaming machines across the country and is one of only four operators of video gaming machines at racetrack locations in New York State.
As part of a strategic focus to meet challenges and realize opportunities for growth in the company's gaming business, Bissett was named to the president post in May 2007 after serving as Delaware North’s vice president for external affairs for several years. In that position, Bissett was instrumental in moving Delaware North’s broader legislative, new business, and market reputation agendas forward for all of its subsidiaries.
He also served as a key adviser to the gaming and racing operations because of his experience, expertise, and reputation in the industry. Bissett actually joined Delaware North in 1992 as president of the company’s racing operations, then known as Sportsystems. Prior to joining Delaware North, he was executive director of the Illinois Racing Board from 1984 to 1988 and held positions at the Supreme Court of Wisconsin and in the Kentucky Attorney General's Office.
After serving as Sportsystems president for three years, Bissett was named Delaware North’s vice president of business development, where he orchestrated new business efforts nationally and internationally.
Earlier in his career, Bissett served as executive vice president of Anvan Development Corporation of Lombard, Ill., a company that owns and operates resorts in the Lake Geneva region of Wisconsin.
Bissett received a bachelor's degree from the University of California at Berkeley and a master's degree from Michigan State University. A member of the Phi Beta Kappa honor society, he currently holds leadership positions with the Buffalo State College Council and the Boys & Girls Clubs of Buffalo. He resides in Orchard Park, N.Y., with his wife, Kathy. | 