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Tag: iLottery

Pa. Lottery provider receives 7-year iLottery contract

Pennsylvania Lottery has awarded Scientific Games a new contract for iLottery online/mobile games (PRNewsfoto/Scientific Games Corporation) –

 

After what it called a record-breaking year, the Pennsylvania Lottery has renewed its contract with lottery provider, Scientific Games Corp., of Las Vegas to manage its iLottery.

The contract gives the firm, which has been running the state’s Lottery and new Lottery online gaming, a 7-year contract with three additional 1-year renewal options.

The company launched the Pa. Lottery’s iLottery games in May of last year. The company said it was its most successful iLottery platform launch to date in North America.

In its first year, the iLottery games brought in $342 million in gaming, and as of this month, it has reached $642 million in gaming.

The new iLottery contract includes implementation, operation, maintenance and support of the iLottery solution and services, iLottery and web application, and web-based presence.

“Selling lottery online is a big part of our effort to modernize the lottery, appeal to new customers and meet our players where they already are, which is online, while generating new funds to benefit older Pennsylvanians,” said Drew Svitko, executive director of the Pennsylvania Lottery. “Sales of these new digital products as well as sales for our instant and draw-based games at Pennsylvania Lottery retailers grew beyond all expectations over the last year.”

Svitko added that the Lottery overall has experienced another record-breaking year in 2019.

It had $4.5 billion in total retail sales led by $3 billion instant scratch game sales.

He said fiscal year 2018-19 was the Lottery’s eighth consecutive year of providing more than $1 billion to benefit older Pennsylvanians.

With new online games, Pa. Lottery reports record fiscal year

The Pennsylvania Lottery sold a record of more than $4.5 billion in games in the 2018-19 fiscal year, from which it generated a record profit of more than $1.14 billion to benefit older Pennsylvanians. In addition, a record of more than $2.9 billion in prizes was paid to winners. (Photo submitted) –

With additions such as online games, the Pennsylvania Lottery is reporting a record year for sales and profits.

Drew Svitko, executive director of the Pennsylvania Lottery, said it sold more than $4.5 billion in games for fiscal 2018-2019. It also generated a record profit of more than $1.14 billion, which goes towards programs benefiting older Pennsylvanians.

Svitko said it is the eighth consecutive year that the Lottery has had more than $1 billion in profits.

More than $2.9 billion in prizes were distributed to winners, which Svitko said was also a record.

The new lottery offerings did contribute to sales.

Svitko said the Lottery’s modernization efforts, including PA iLottery and its monitor games, Keno and Xpress Sports, generated more than $40 million in profits in their first full fiscal year.

“We are thrilled that the new and exciting games that were authorized by Act 42 of 2017 are proving to be a tremendous success,” he said.

PA iLottery, online games played on a computer, tablet or mobile device, saw more than $381 million in play in its first full fiscal year, generating an estimated $31.3 million in profit.

More than 91,100 players created online accounts during the fiscal year.

Monitor games such as Keno and Xpress Sports games, which are displayed in such areas as bars and lottery retailers, brought in an estimated $46.7 million in their first full fiscal year, and generated around $10 million in profit.

Of course traditional lottery games such as scratch off tickets and draw games also did well.

Svitko reported that sales of Scratch-Off games totaled a record of more than $2.9 billion, up by $165.5 million, or 5.9 percent, from the previous year. Scratch-off games account for more than 66 percent of total sales.

Svitko said sales of Draw Games such as Cash 5, Match 6 and Powerball totaled close to $1.4 billion for the fiscal year, up $109.4 million, or 8.7 percent, from the previous year’s total.

There were more than 9,700 licensed Lottery retailers statewide during the fiscal year, many of them small and family-owned businesses.

They earned an estimated $266 million in sales commissions, an increase of more than $41.8 million from the prior fiscal year, 2017-18.

Pa. casinos seek court injunction to stop iLottery games

Pictured is a screenshot of the Pennsylvania Lottery’s website for iLottery games. –

As Pennsylvania prepares to roll out online casino-based gambling in July, a group of seven commonwealth casinos are seeking to stop the Pennsylvania Lottery from continuing to offer certain online games.

The coalition has a filed a preliminary injunction with Commonwealth Court to stop the state Department of Revenue, which oversees the Lottery, from offering casino-style games that “imitate the look, sound, player experience and payouts of slot machines.”

The injunction follows a lawsuit filed last August that argued that the Lottery has unfair advantage over the casinos. Casino operators must pay $10 million license fees to offer online casino games, plus they will pay high tax rates of 54 percent and 16 percent, respectively, for online slot machines and table games.

The casinos, including Hollywood Casino at Penn National Race Course, contest they were given the exclusive right to offer these online games under the state’s 2017 gambling expansion law. The Lottery, meanwhile, was permitted to run other online games to generate additional revenue as gambling options have also grown to include smaller satellite casinos and sports betting.

But since the iLottery debuted last May, the casinos say they have found the following issues:

  • Nine iLottery games have the same titles and/or themes as slot machines offered on Pennsylvania casino floors or online casinos in other states.
  • iLottery games have an average payout of 85 percent, which is the minimum payout percentage for slot machines in Pennsylvania. Traditional lottery games have a 40 percent minimum payout.
  • Several iLottery games offer bonus games and free spins, mirroring the play of slot machines.
  • The state’s own vendors refer to the iLottery games as slot machines. The Department of Revenue also required its game supplier to not sell the same games to Pennsylvania casinos, effectively admitting these are casino games that would otherwise be sold to and offered by casino operators.
  • At least 22 of the iLottery games are certified for compliance with casino gaming standards in other jurisdictions, including the United Kingdom’s Gambling Commission and New Jersey’s Internet and Mobile Gaming regulations.

“Pennsylvania casinos are not opposed to iLottery — only simulated, casino-style games,” said coalition spokesman David La Torre. “In fact, casinos are supportive of the lottery’s mission and provide space for lottery ticket vending machines on their casino floors. Some have become the best-selling outlets of lottery tickets in Pennsylvania.”

Jeffrey Johnson, a spokesman for the Department of Revenue, said the department believes the iLottery games are being operated in accordance with the 2017 law.

“We are working every day to ensure the Pennsylvania Lottery continues to fulfill its mission of responsibly generating profits for senior programs,” he said.

Read the full injunction here: As-filed Application for Preliminary Injunction by Jason Scott on Scribd

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