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May/June 2016 // PUBLIC GAMING INTERNATIONAL //
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IGT Signs Seven-Year Contract with
the Virginia Lottery to Provide New
Lottery Technology and Services
“We look forward to taking our customer
service to a new level, for our retail partners
and our players, when the new IGT terminals
hit the market in 2017,”
said Paula Otto,
Virginia Lottery Executive Director. Under
the contract terms, the Virginia Lottery
will receive components of IGT’s Aurora™
platform. Aurora Open Retail (f/k/a NEOS),
a new retail solution software architecture,
will enable the Lottery to support multiple
types of retailer solution devices in an ef-
ficient manner, improving time to market.
The Aurora Lottery Services Portal, a robust,
interactive website, will provide the tools
independent and corporate retailers need to
successfully start, manage, and grow their
lottery business without being tied to a lot-
tery terminal. In addition, the Lottery will
receive Aurora Navigator (f/k/a NVISION)
back-office applications for lottery person-
nel who will have the ability to customize
the look and feel of the interface to meet
their exact needs, help them better manage
their business, and enhance productivity.
The Virginia Lottery will also receive 5,500
Altura™ Flex draw-based lottery terminals
which feature a highly-configurable platform
derived from IGT’s Altura GT1200 product,
and a smaller footprint.
The Aurora MultiMedia digital advertising
display solution will be provided to stimulate
increased brand awareness, winner aware-
ness, and player recognition of jackpots and
game activities, directly at the point-of-sale,
as well as Ticket-Scan™ Plus self-service
ticket checkers for players. Additionally,
the Gemini™ Touch, IGT’s new self-service
lottery vending machine, provides fully
customizable screens and supports up to
28 instant-ticket games and a configurable
number of draw games. The communica-
tions network will be upgraded utilizing
next-generation satellite technology. In addi-
tion to the installation and maintenance of
the central system, terminals, and communi-
cations network, IGT will provide warehous-
ing and distribution for instant tickets, field
services, and marketing support. The control
room/operations is co-located with the
Virginia Lottery where both IGT and the
Lottery manage day-to-day operations.
EquiLottery LLC and IGT Global
Solutions Corp. Sign Agreement for
Innovative Lottery Game
EquiLottery offers a compelling new game
for lotteries that delivers the excitement
of live horse racing to lottery players. This
unique offering provides lotteries an oppor-
tunity to grow the revenues going to lottery
good causes while increasing the exposure
and revenues to the sport of horse racing, an
industry that supports hundreds of thou-
sands of jobs across the country.
Studies conducted over the summer of
2015 with global research leader Ipsos
show that the EquiLottery game concept,
which allows players to purchase quick pick
lottery tickets based on future live horse
races and watch these races at their conve-
nience through mobile, online and in-store
platforms, has widespread appeal across all
major demographics in Kentucky. Pro-
jected player appeal and spend scores make
EquiLottery a viable game for state lotteries
searching for ways to increase lottery profits
and appeal to new player bases, including
the Millennial Generation.
Schafer Systems Inc. Awarded
Contract Extension by the Ohio
Lottery Commission
The contract provides the Lottery with ticket
dispensers and other products produced and
supplied by Schafer Systems Inc. through
March 31, 2017.
Legalized Sports Betting Just a
Matter of Time, Says Trade Group AGA
Sports betting will become legal across the
U.S. in the next three to five years. This is
the prediction of the president and CEO
of the American Gaming Association, the
country’s top casino trade organization. Ac-
cording to
LegalSportsReport.com,bills to
legalize sports betting are before legislatures
in four states: Pennsylvania, California, New
York and Delaware. In a relatively short
time, the question about sports betting has
evolved from whether it will expand to what
regulations are needed when it does spread
beyond Nevada.
Legalization of Daily Fantasy
Sports Could Void Native American
Casino Compacts
Many states are moving to approve legisla-
tion to legalize and regulate daily fantasy
sports, although most Indian tribes are
opposed to these measures. If states legalize
daily fantasy sports, it may open the door for
tribes to 1) argue that it violates the exclusiv-
ity clause in their state-tribal contracts, mak-
ing them null and void; 2) expand their own
online gaming operations, and/or 3) stop
fulfilling their revenue-sharing obligations to
the state. The Unlawful Internet Gambling
Enforcement Act was passed by Congress in
2006. It created an exemption for fantasy
sports. However, the daily fantasy sports in-
dustry has evolved in the past 10 years from
a season-long contest to daily wagering.
New Lobbyists Hired to Enter Online
Gambling Fray
Players on both sides of the online gambling
dispute in the United States have hired new
lobbyits. Sheldon Adelson’s Coalition to
Stop Internet Gambling (CSIG) and Amaya
Services Ltd., a division of PokerStars parent
Amaya, have retained the services of lob-
bying organizations. The CSIG, funded by
Las Vegas Sands CEO Sheldon Adelson, has
retained the services of The Keelen Group,
a lobbying firm based in Washington, D.C.
Adelson and the CSIG were the driving
forces behind the Restoration of America’s
Wire Act (RAWA), a federal bill that aimed
to make online gambling illegal in the U.S.
The Department of Justice in 2011 clari-
fied its stance on the Wire Act, saying that
it did permit on-line sports gambling. That
incensed anti-online gambling people like
Adelson, who sees internet gaming as a
threat to his brick-and-mortar investments.