Twin River Management Group has partnered Camelot Lottery Solutions in a bid to wrestle the Rhode Island state lottery contract from International Game Technology (IGT).
The proposal, submitted to the offices of the Governor, Speaker of the House and Senate President, is designed to prompt the state to launch a competitive selection process for the lottery contract, rather than re-award it to IGT.
It has proposed a 12-year contract, compared to the 20 years put forward by IGT, during which it commits to provide 1,100 jobs in Rhode Island. Should it fail to do so, it has pledged to pay $100m to the state.
The bidders claim their proposal will cost the state $500m, half the $1bn cost of the IGT contract, while it only aims to take a 50% share of video lottery revenue from Rhode Island’s two Twin River Casinos. By cutting its take, from the 85% proposed by IGT, it believes it can encourage increased competition between suppliers, either preserving or enhancing the $300m in annual revenue form the machines.
Furthermore, it has committed to investing $150m should it secure the contract, including $75m to new economic development, such as a $50m investment in the Twin River properties, as well as constructing a new corporate headquarters in Rhode Island.
Twin River Worldwide Holdings executive vice president and Twin River Rhode Island president Marc Crisafulli said the proposal was designed to highlight that the state could secure a much better deal through an open procurement process.
“As is evident, we have significantly improved upon the no-bid deal under consideration for IGT in many areas, notably in the shorter term, the lower fees to the state, meaningful investments in real estate development and a $100 million guarantee to secure 1,100 new jobs, all while matching every other element of the proposed IGT deal,” Crisafulli explained.
He said the General Assembly could now make a decision on whether to launch the process, which has already proved highly controversial after Governor Gina Raimondo made the unilateral decision to renew IGT’s contract for 20 years. This new contract, to 2043, has prompted the state’s Ethics Commission to launch an investigation into the decision.
Camelot Lottery Solutions chief executive Wayne Pickup said he was excited by the prospect of partnering Twin River to compete for the contract.
“[We] strongly believe, if given the opportunity to do so, we will help the state secure a much better deal,” Pickup said. “We see a lot of opportunity to create more value for the state and its residents, and look forward to replicating the success we have delivered for our customers across the globe.”