> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://www.igamingnews.biz/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # Mark Phelan Takes Over as Accel CEO on August 7 - URL: https://www.igamingnews.biz/accel-phelan-ceo-transition/ - Published: 2026-07-14T12:00:00.000Z - Updated: 2026-08-12T12:55:33.000Z - Description: Accel Entertainment set incoming CEO Mark Phelan's pay almost entirely on the share price, weeks before he succeeds founder Andy Rubenstein on August 7, 2026. - Author: iGamingNews Editorial Desk - Tags: Executive Moves *Image credit: Source: Accel Entertainment SEC filings.* **Accel Entertainment has tied the pay of incoming chief executive Mark Phelan almost entirely to the company's share price, weeks before he succeeds founder Andy Rubenstein as CEO on August 7, 2026.** The structure, disclosed in an SEC filing on July 11, tells you how the board wants the new **Accel Entertainment CEO** to run the business. Phelan's 2026 long term incentive grant carries no time-based restricted stock and no relative-return units. It is 41,313 performance stock units, all tied to stock-price goals. That is the sharpest signal in the filing. Where other executives got a spread of award types, Phelan's entire equity opportunity pays out only if Accel's shares hit specified price targets over a three-year window. ## What the filing says The Compensation Committee approved the 2026 awards on July 11 under Accel's Second Amended and Restated Long Term Incentive Plan. The [8-K](https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1698991/000169899126000045/acel-20260711.htm?ref=igamingnews.biz) lists three named executives: - **Mark Phelan**, Chief Operating Officer and President of US Gaming, CEO effective August 7, 2026: 41,313 stock-price-goal PSUs, no RSUs, no relative-TSR PSUs. - **Scott Levin**, Chief Legal Officer and Corporate Secretary: 16,222 RSUs, 24,956 stock-price-goal PSUs, 7,267 relative-TSR PSUs. - **Brett Summerer**, Chief Financial Officer: 6,612 RSUs, 4,629 stock-price-goal PSUs, 1,984 relative-TSR PSUs. The standard 2026 award splits value 50% RSUs and 50% PSUs, with PSUs weighted 30% to total shareholder return against the Russell 3000 and 70% to stock-price goals. The stock-price component pays from 50% of target at threshold to 300% at extraordinary performance, and is uncapped above that. The performance period runs January 1, 2026 to December 31, 2028. Phelan's grant sits at the far end of that design: pure stock-price PSUs, no downside cushion from time-vesting stock. ## The succession, in context Accel announced the handover on February 2, 2026\. Rubenstein, who built the company over 17 years, moved to Chairman. Phelan, previously President of US Gaming, was named Chief Operating Officer and Rubenstein's successor, and will join the board when he becomes CEO on August 7\. Karl Peterson shifted from Chairman to Lead Independent Director. The company also signed a Leadership Transition and Advisory Services Agreement keeping Rubenstein on as a non-employee advisor to the CEO for three years, a common continuity mechanism when a founder steps back. Accel is a distributed gaming operator, not an online book. It runs slot and amusement terminals across bars, restaurants and convenience outlets, with Illinois as its core market and a NYSE listing under ACEL. That makes the pay design notable: the board is asking a route-gaming CEO to deliver equity-market outperformance, not just operating growth. Executive pay usually rewards a mix of tenure, relative performance and absolute results. Loading a new CEO's entire long-term award onto stock-price hurdles removes the hedge. Phelan is paid to move the shares or earn nothing from the grant. The move lands amid a run of US gaming leadership changes, from [FanDuel's presidency handover](https://www.igamingnews.biz/fanduel-leadership-transition-howe-genetski/) to [Sportradar hiring Entain's Sameer Deen as COO](https://www.igamingnews.biz/sportradar-sameer-deen-coo/) and [Ciaran Carruthers taking the top job at UAE regulator GCGRA](https://www.igamingnews.biz/gcgra-ciaran-carruthers-ceo/). Accel's version is quieter, but the compensation math is louder than the announcement. ## The pay tells you the mandate Watch the first proxy after August 7 for the specific stock-price targets Phelan must clear, and whether he elects to raise the stock-price weighting toward the 100% ceiling the plan allows. The grant already reads as a bet on the share price. The thresholds will show how big a bet the board made. **Related:** [Amy Howe Departs FanDuel as President Christian Genetski Takes Over](https://www.igamingnews.biz/fanduel-leadership-transition-howe-genetski/) | [Sportradar Hires Entain's Sameer Deen as COO](https://www.igamingnews.biz/sportradar-sameer-deen-coo/) | [Carruthers Named CEO of UAE Regulator GCGRA](https://www.igamingnews.biz/gcgra-ciaran-carruthers-ceo/)