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Principal Biographies

Eugene Martin Christiansen – Chairman

Mr. Christiansen has been active as an executive and consultant to the commercial gambling and entertainment industries since 1976. In the area of commercial gambling, he has conducted studies of the economics, taxation, financial structure, and regulation of casino gaming, pari-mutuel wagering, and lotteries, and has counseled Manhattan and Washington, D.C. law firms in legal proceedings where gambling was an issue.

Representative work includes studies of the efficiency of a U.S. state lottery; estimates of the demand for casino gaming, lotteries, and pari-mutuel wagering in U.S. and foreign markets; the feasibility and revenue potential of off-track betting; the financial structure of the Atlantic City casino industry; the impact of gambling on U.S. Indian reservation lands on State-authorized gambling industries; analyses of gambling taxation; procedures to increase wagering and improve the efficiency of pari-mutuel betting operations; the changing nature of communications media and the implications of the changes for horse racing; the interrelationships among evolving consumer expectations, casino gaming, and other forms of entertainment; the evaluation of a proposed cable television network for a major U.S. telecommunications company; and assessment of acquisition prospects for a major equity fund.

Mr. Christiansen is the author of numerous articles dealing with casinos, horse racing, greyhound racing, jai alai, off-track betting, lotteries and related activities in trade, professional, and academic publications. He prepares authoritative statistical reports that are widely used domestically and abroad, including annual analyses of the gross wager of the United States which appears annually in International Gaming and Wagering Business magazine and other trade publications. These are recognized throughout the world as the most comprehensive and authoritative description of the gambling industries of the U.S. He is also a co-author of an influential academic study of gambling, The Business of Risk: Commercial Gambling in Mainstream America(University Press of Kansas, 1985).

Mr. Christiansen is a member of the advisory boards of the National Council on Problem Gambling and the Institute for the Study of Gambling and Commercial Gaming at the University of Nevada, Reno. He has also served on the faculty of that University's Executive Development Program.

Sebastian Sinclair – President

Sebastian Sinclair Gaming Conference Mr. Sinclair has been an analyst at Christiansen Capital Advisors, LLC since 1993, in that capacity; he has conducted studies of the economics, financial structure, and valuation of existing and proposed gambling facilities. Mr. Sinclair has extensive experience in the development and application of quantitative computer models and specializes in the competitive economics, business models, and the strategic financial analysis of legal gambling industries.

Illustrative projects include: for the State of Rhode Island, an assessment of the fiscal and economic impacts of newly authorized gaming in Massachusetts; advised the State of New York regarding the award of four casino licenses: including creating gaming zones in the State, determining a one-time license fee payable when to estimated market size (License fees ranged from $35 million for a casino in sparsely populated parts of the State to $70 million for a casino in densely populated areas north of New York City) and evaluating the economic projections and business plans of all applicants; for the District of Columbia, an in-depth analysis of the value of the District’s lottery system and an evaluation of the benefits as well as the issues associated with privatizing its lottery system; For the State of New Jersey, provided the Office of the Treasurer with an analysis of new casino competition from New York and Pennsylvania on Atlantic City casinos and evaluated the feasibility of VLTs at the Meadowlands and how such newly authorized devices might mitigate the exporting of consumer gaming dollars to its neighbors; for the State of Indiana, a detailed review and analysis of the Hoosier Lottery, including recommendations to optimize performance and thereby maximize revenue returned to the State; for the Kansas Lottery, a series of studies evaluating the market potential, optimal locations, and impacts of expanded gaming; for the State of Illinois, advisory and consulting services to assist in selecting a third-party manager to run the day-to-day operations of the Illinois Lottery, including the proper structure of the management relationships, assisting in drafting a request for proposal, developing selection criteria and tools and assisting in the valuation of offers and support in contract negotiations.

Mr. Sinclair is the author of numerous professional articles dealing with the economic and financial aspects of legal gambling industries in trade and professional publications. His opinion and comments regarding these and other gambling matters are often sought by the news media. Mr. Sinclair has testified on various aspects of commercial gambling before State, local governments, and the US Congress. He has been a featured speaker at the World Gaming Congress and Expo, G2E, The Global Interactive Gaming Summit, Gaming Online, Investing in Online Gaming, and several other industry conferences.

Mr. Sinclair is a graduate of New York University.