A brushless motor system for use with a mechanical reel gaming machine is provided. The brushless motor system includes a reel hub and a reel frame rotationally attached to a center shaft of the reel hub. The brushless motor system also includes a permanent magnet (PM) rotor attached to the reel frame and including a plurality of permanent magnets attached to the PM rotor. The brushless motor system further includes a stator including stator coils attached to the reel hub, the plurality of stator coils are mounted parallel to a surface of the PM rotor at a separation distance. The stator causes the PM rotor to rotate during activation of the stator without direct contact between the stator and the rotor, thereby causing the display of one or more symbols of the plurality of symbols during the wagering game based on the rotation.