Wayne Gretzky told the G2E Main Stage audience in Las Vegas on Tuesday, 29 September, that the world’s best athletes are “really selfish”, using the word for the focus, preparation and commitment it takes to perform at the top level.
The Hockey Hall of Famer, who is a BetMGM ambassador, was speaking in “Defining Greatness: A Conversation with Adam Greenblatt and Wayne Gretzky” at The Venetian Expo. BetMGM CEO Adam Greenblatt led the session as interviewer.
A conversation format on the Main Stage
The session opened the Tuesday programme at 8:45am, on the second day of a G2E that runs from 28 September to 1 October. The American Gaming Association (AGA), which organises the show, billed it around the convergence of sports, digital innovation and sports betting, and what it takes to reach the top of a field.
Greenblatt acted as interviewer and conversation partner. His questions tied Gretzky’s career to leadership, performance and the way sport is now watched, played and bet on. The AGA programme also set out a link between the preparation and mentorship behind Gretzky’s career and the work of building a gaming brand while the industry changes quickly.
G2E presented Greenblatt as a natural fit for the slot, since BetMGM’s business sits across sports, digital product, entertainment and betting. The operator has used athlete ambassadors in other markets too, signing Peter Forsberg as its Swedish market ambassador in June.
Selfish focus
Gretzky’s central point was that “selfish” can describe something positive in elite sport. In his use, it covers the hours of practice and preparation that leave little room for anything else.
“The best athletes in the world, and I mean this in a nice way, are really selfish.”
He said that cost falls on the people around the athlete. Family members, he said, accept a smaller share of attention so that one person can chase the top level.
“Everybody sort of takes a back seat for every athlete to be successful.”
He also named athletes whose passion he admired, including Larry Bird, Magic Johnson, John McEnroe and Björn Borg.
Lessons from his father
The second theme was how Gretzky was raised. He quoted his father, Walter, on how to treat people:
“Respect people. Treat people the way you want to be treated.”
He tied the advice to meeting his idol, Gordie Howe, at the age of 9. Gretzky told the audience he came home and told his father that Howe was bigger, better and nicer than he had expected.
A coaching story from Brantford
Gretzky also told a story about coaching youth hockey in his home town of Brantford, Ontario. He said he told a team of 7-year-olds that winning or losing did not matter and that what counted was how many goals they scored. The parents asked him not to come back.
The story fit the session’s theme. A scoring-first approach that worked at NHL level did not suit a room of children.
Sport and betting on the G2E stage
A hockey player on the Main Stage of a gaming trade show shows how much of the US gambling business now runs on sport. Online sportsbooks such as BetMGM depend on sports audiences, league deals and athlete names, and the AGA programme framed the Gretzky session around that overlap.
The session followed a G2E opening day led by MGM, Caesars and Wynn CEOs, and was part of a Main Stage lineup the AGA confirmed earlier in September.
What comes next for BetMGM
For Greenblatt, the stage time came during a demanding year. BetMGM cut its full-year guidance alongside its first-quarter results in April, and its third-quarter figures, due later this autumn, will show whether the second half has closed that gap.
Greenblatt used the session to put BetMGM’s name next to one of hockey’s best-known players. Investors will judge the operator on the third-quarter numbers.
Source: American Gaming Association
