Casino operator Twin River Worldwide Holdings has enlisted Scientific Games to support its bid to take over the Rhode Island lottery contract currently held by IGT.
IGT’s current contract is due to expire in 2023, but the state is considering a 20-year, no-bid billion-dollar extension to the agreement.
However, Twin River is putting pressure on the state to launch a public tender for the contract, linking up with Camelot Lottery Solutions, Intralot and now Scientific Games as part of the effort.
With no request for proposals (RFP) issued to date, it remains unclear what services each supplier will provide. However, Scientific Games will now offer its full suite of lottery services to the consortium, with the exact elements it will provide to be based on any tender published by the state.
“Today’s announcement that Scientific Games has joined Twin River is further proof that there is significant interest in bidding for Rhode Island’s lottery and gaming business, with virtually the entire global lottery industry now confirming that they will participate if an open competitive bidding process develops in Rhode Island,” Twin River executive vice president, Marc Crisafulli, said.
Chief executive of Scientific Games’ lottery business Pat McHugh said the supplier was excited to participate in any future tender.
“We are confident that our products will improve the performance of Rhode Island Lottery programs and create millions of dollars in new revenue for the state,” he explained. “We are pleased to formalize our commitment to bidding with the Twin River/Camelot consortium.
“There are tremendous synergies created by our companies coming together to deliver a competitive package that seeks to increase Lottery sales and profits for Rhode Island.”
Twin River and Camelot put forward a proposal to take over operation of the state lottery in September, claiming that the bid would offer significantly better value than the current offer from IGT.
The proposed 12-year lottery contract would cost the state less than $500m, which Twin River said would place it at less than half the cost of current IGT agreement that it said is valued it over $1bn.
The consortium’s proposal also includes a commitment to create 1,100 jobs in Rhode Island, backed by a $100m guarantee to the state should it fail to do so.
The consortium also said that it would invest in best-of-breed lottery and gaming products to maximize sales and profits, as well as develop or construct a new corporate headquarters in Rhode Island, measuring approximately 50,000sq ft.
In addition, Twin River would make a $50m investment in new amenities and facility upgrades as part of the overall commitment to spend $150m in the state.
Twin River’s Crisafulli added: “We look forward to continuing our conversation with members of the General Assembly about the efficacy of a public bid process, the extraordinary savings to the State that likely could be realized when competition enters the marketplace and how we can collaboratively protect and enhance the State’s third largest source of revenue.”
The decision by Rhode Island Governor Gina Raimondo to renew IGT’s contract has proved controversial, prompting the state’s Ethics Commission to launch an investigation.
Image: Morrow Long