Celebs Who Have Cashed In By Selling Themselves To Slot Machines

It’s been an interesting few years for US TV host and now slot game star Ellen DeGeneres (and all of us, to be fair). In April 2020, stories came out that crew members on her eponymous hit show were unhappy about their treatment during the Covid-19 pandemic. Workers on The Ellen DeGeneres Show reported a toxic environment on set and Ellen made a televised apology over the controversy. 

More than a year later, in May 2021, the presenter announced her show was coming to an end, but all’s not lost as she is set to benefit hugely in royalties from her International Game Technology (IGT) slots. IGT was so confident that Ellen’s slots would be a hit it made three: The Ellen DeGeneres Show Featuring Twelve Days of Giveaways, The Ellen DeGeneres Show Featuring Ellen’s Dance Party and Ellen’s Know or Go.

Ellen DeGeneres isn’t the only North American TV host making big bucks from Las Vegas slot machines. Wheel of Fortune legends, Pat Sajak and Vanna White, who have been hosting the show for a record 40 years, earn $14 million and $10 million respectively per year for their deal for the Wheel of Fortune slot machine. 

Madonna’s slots, created by Aristocrat, shimmied on to the world slot stage in 2017, making their debut at the Global Gaming Expo in Las Vegas. The pop pair are called simply “Madonna” and “Madonna: Express Yourself”.

Some of the songs featured in the slots are Borderline, Get into the Groove, Like a Virgin, Lucky Star, Open Your Heart, Vogue, and Material Girl. And Madonna hit the jackpot with this slots deal. The makers of the slots paid Madonna an estimated $10 million to use her intellectual property in the casino game.

Britney Spears is another popstar to make a deal with slot creator Aristocrat. It created several slots with the pop princess. The first was named Britney Spears – imaginative, right? While enjoying a few rounds of the game, you can listen to hits like Hit Me Baby One More Time, Toxic, 3, Oops I Did It Again and Crazy. Aristocrat released a follow-up slot in 2018, called Britney: One More Time. 

You might notice a theme here. With Madonna and Britney featuring, Mariah fits in perfectly with the divas in this list. Aristocrat made the slot machine “Mariah Carey” to be played at Caesars Palace in Vegas. Mariah, who is the best-selling female artist of all time, had a headlining residency in Las Vegas in 2018. The Mariah Carey slot game includes Mariah’s songs Dreamlover, Emotions, Fantasy, Heartbreaker, It’s Like That and Make It Happen.

You might have already played the Baywatch slot game and if you have, you’ll be excited to discover one of its stars, David Hasselhoff, who played lifeguard Mitch Buchannon, has a handful of his own slot machines, including The Hoff by OpenBet, Knight Rider by NetEnt and Hoffmeister and Hoffmania, both created by software provider Novomatic. The Hoff is a slot that allows casino players to help Hasselhoff become a millionaire celebrity. The Hoff has previously attended the Global Gaming Expo in Las Vegas to promote his casino games. What’s more, he’s enjoyed royalties from scratchcard games.

American country singer Tim McGraw is another celebrity to benefit from an Aristocrat slot deal. He has previously enjoyed a residency performing in Sin City but now, he’s back in slot machine form. McGraw attended the Global Gaming Expo in Vegas to show off his slot “Tim McGraw”. If you see the words “Truck yeah!” you’ll know you’ve won big, just like the “Humble and Kind” singer.