Tuesday
Oct232012
Northstar Lottery Group Names VP of Sales & Marketing
Tuesday, October 23, 2012 at 12:53PM CHICAGO, IL October 23, 2012—Northstar Lottery Group, private manager for the Illinois Lottery announced the appointment of Francesco Parola as Vice President of Sales and Marketing.
Parola comes to Northstar from Sisal S.p.A in Milan, Italy, where he spent 24 years gaining a 360° knowledge of the gaming industry; covering roles both financial and business management and development side.
“Francesco brings extensive experience in game innovation and business growth experience to our team,” said Marco Tasso, CEO of Northstar Lottery Group. “Having a highly qualified and talented executive such as Francesco will infuse our sales and marketing planning and execution at Northstar with industry best practices.”
While at Sisal, Parola led the re-launch of the jackpot game SuperEnalotto in Italy, contributing to skyrocketing sales success of 3 billion euro in two years. He also served as Head of Finance and Strategic Planning Department, covering roles also for AWP/VLT legalization and Sports Betting launch where he designed a new approach for Football pools and a new model for Horse Betting.
He developed a rapid turnaround with an increase in company sales gains, growing from 5.9 billion euro in 2007 to 11.3 billion euro in 2009. This increase is a direct result of a significant focus on product innovation, including the re-launch of the company’s leading brand, SuperEnalotto, the launch of the Lottery’s Internet gaming platform and the design and development of Win-for-Life draw game.
Most recently, Parola served as VP for Sisal Product and Business Innovation, contributing in 2011 to launch a new SiVinceTutto special edition game, the first mobile application for Sisal lotteries and SuperEnalotto’s world’s biggest lottery community on Facebook. He was a keynote speaker at the World Lottery Association, EL and Gaming Marketplace Events.
Parola, 53, has a degree in Economics with a focus on Finance and Strategy from Università Commerciale Luigi Bocconi, Milan. He resides in Chicago with his family.