Ludovico Calvi, the President of Global Lottery Monitoring System (GLMS), is set to be inducted into the Sports Betting Hall of Fame on the final day of the Betting on Sports Europe conference and exhibition. 

The Sports Betting Hall of Fame was launched by SBC in 2016 to recognise the individuals who have made significant long-lasting contributions to the industry, and its latest members will be celebrated at a lavish ceremony in the spectacular setting of London’s Natural History Museum on 11 November.

Calvi has been selected for membership as a result of his work in the integrity space and of his role in the development of the betting industry in Italy.

He has been a member of the GLMS Executive Committee since 2015 and was elected President two years later. During that time he has contributed to the expansion of the state lotteries’ mutualized monitoring system to detect suspicious betting activity into a truly global body with 42 members. 

Calvi’s other representative roles include being a member of the World Lottery Association’s Sports Integrity Committee and a member of the American Gaming Association’s Sports Betting Task Force, which was influential in the campaign that led to the US Supreme Court ruling that declared PASPA unconstitutional. 

He also has extensive experience as a senior executive, most notably in online, retail and B2B roles with Lottomatica Betting Ltd, GTECH Plc and IGT between 2006 and 2017. He remains a non-executive board director at Lottomatica Betting. 

Prior to that, he spent eight years as a strategy consultant for Sisal, during which time he set up a new betting division for the company and advised the Italian regulator on the creation and implementation of the national legal and regulatory framework. 

Calvi now runs his own strategic betting consultancy practice providing strategic, regulatory and operational consultancy services to licensed operators, governments, regulators, lotteries, sport federations and law enforcement agencies. He acted as Strategic Gaming Advisor to the Oregon State Lottery during the launch of sports betting in the state, and is also now an External Gaming Advisor for Bain & Co.

He said: “It is an honour to be inducted into the Sports Betting Hall of Fame and I would like to express my deep appreciation to SBC for hosting a terrific event despite the challenges posed by the pandemic. I am also grateful to several industry leaders, some close friends and colleagues, for sponsoring my candidacy.

“I consider the sports betting industry a community of men and women of great professional standing driven by a contagious passion and inspired by relentless innovation, creating the conditions for achieving any and all objectives.

“It has been a great privilege for me to be part of this community for the past three decades, during which I had the opportunity to launch sports betting initiatives in all continents and to contribute to the achievement of many goals that led to the global growth of our industry.

“For me to be inducted into the Sports Betting Hall of Fame is a recognition by the industry of having contributed to raise the standards of excellence, always supporting regulated, responsible and sustainable betting market environments while safeguarding the level of integrity and customer protection throughout the journey.”

The European Sports Betting Hall of Fame Class of 2021 also includes Vincent Caldwell (Founder, betinternet and Chairman & CEO, Virtual Software), Simon Bold (Founder SBGL and Former CEO bwin International), Birgitte Sand (Former Director General, Danish Gambling Authority), Clive Hawkswood (Former CEO, RGA and Former Chairman, RAiG), and Jan Svendsen (Founder, Coolbet, Nordicbet and Triobet). All will be inducted at a special ceremony at the Natural History Museum on 11 November, the final day of the Betting on Sports Europe event, which takes place at Stamford Bridge, London.

The North American Sports Betting Hall of Fame Class of 2021 includes Yolanda Acuña (Former Director of Race & Sports Administration, MGM Resorts International), Joe Asher (President of Sports Betting, IGT), Johnny Avello (Director of Race & Sportsbook Operations, DraftKings), Joe Brennan Jr (Former Chair, IMEGA), and Jimmy Vaccaro (Legendary Las Vegas Bookmaker & Sports Marketing Director, South Point Hotel & Casino). They will be inducted at a ceremony at the MetLife Stadium on December 1, 2021, during the SBC Summit North America conference and trade show. 

About the Sports Betting Hall of Fame

SBC launched the Sports Betting Hall of Fame in 2016, in order to honour, preserve and perpetuate the names and outstanding accomplishments of personalities who have brought lasting success to the industry. 

The original inductees were Carsten Koerl (Founder & CEO, Sportradar), Mark Blandford (Founder, Sportingbet), and Howard Chisholm (Director, Bookmakers Technology Consortium). 

They have since been joined by: 

2017: Paris Smith (CEO, Pinnacle), Fred Done (Founder, Betfred), and Vigen Badalyan (Founder & CEO, BetConstruct).

2018: Norbert Teufelberger (Co-Founder, Bwin), Pontus Lindwall (CEO, Betsson), Warwick Bartlett (CEO, GBGC), Constantinos Antonopoulos (Vice-Chairman, Intralot), and Fabio Schiavolin (CEO, Snaitech). 

2019: Denise Coates (Founder & CEO, bet365), John Boyle (Founder & Chairman, BoyleSports), John Anderson (former CEO, 888 Holdings), Armin Sageder (Founder, paysafecard & BGT), Richard Flint (Non-Executive Director, Flutter Entertainment & former CEO, Sky Betting & Gaming), Jukka Honkavaara (Bettor who placed the first ever online sports bet), Art Manteris (retired VP Race and Sports Book Operations, Station Casinos), Dennis Drazin (CEO, Monmouth Park), and Chris Christie (former NJ Governor).

2020: Ralph Topping (former William Hill CEO), Victor Chandler (Founder, BetVictor), Bill Mummery (pioneer in online betting & Asian market), Giovanni Garrisi (CEO, StanleyBet), Juan B. Pérez Hidalgo (former President, Coljuegos), Victor Salerno (President, USBookmaking & US Fantasy Sports), Raymond Lesniak (former NJ State Senator), Roxy Roxborough (Legendary Las Vegas Oddsmaker), Sara Slane (former Sr. VP, American Gaming Association), and Jay Rood (SVP, Risk & Trading, Bally’s Interactive).