The Ohio Lottery has selected IGT as the new vendor for a 10-year contract worth $50 million that will oversee over 10,000 slot-like gambling machines in the state for the first time since the terminals went live more than a decade ago.
IGT to Replace Intralot
In 2011, Gov. John Kasich allowed Video Lottery Terminals (VLTs) in the state’s seven racinos.
Ever since, the Greek supplier of integrated gambling, transaction processing systems, and game content, Intralot, has been responsible for supervising over 11,500 slot-like machines.
Intralot became responsible for monitoring the inputs of the machines, along with payouts and user behavior for the state.
In March 2012, Ohio started paying Intralot approximately $48.8 million for the respective contract, as per information from the lottery’s spokeswoman, Danielle Frizzi-Babb.
Now, IGT, a London-based company that has shown interest in several contracts with different elements of state lottery operations, will take over.
The new contract has been signed for approximately $47.7 million, according to the same spokeswoman.
The list of responsibilities will include making sure only approved software gets uploaded into the slot-like machines, keeping track of user behavior, and seeing that all games meet the minimum requirements for payouts.
As per the Lottery’s request for proposals, work will start sometime in June.
Three Submitted Bids
Intralot, IGT, and M3 Technology Solutions, a 2005-founded company that creates, deploys, and services next-generation software and hardware solutions, all submitted their bids for the contract.
The lottery did not disclose the bid prices presented by the losing parties.
IGT’s victory represents the first time Ohio’s VLT contract has accepted competitive bidding.
The proposal for competitive bidding was rejected in 2012 during the attempt to bring racinos online.
The lottery spokesperson explained the agency became open to the idea of accepting multiple bids following consultations with industry experts who made it clear there are several companies that can offer the same service.
The expert also argued it was in Ohio’s “best interest” to bid the contract separately from the gaming system contract.
In 2023, the state’s VLTs generated over $15 billion in revenue. The amount included $1.35 billion in profits that were split between the state Lottery, the Racino Commission, and problem gambling services.
At the moment, Intralot is responsible for overseeing two other important Ohio Lottery contracts, a “type C” sports gaming contract featuring 800 sports betting machines covering 3% of the sports betting market, and the central gaming contract.
The central gaming contract has also been subject to competitive bidding that has since been closed. The Lottery will announce the winner in October.
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