IGT is best known for slot machines like Wheel of Fortune, but its lottery business is the parent company’s main business.
International Game Technology (IGT) has signed a 13-year contract with the Florida Lottery to provide a variety of lottery solutions and services. The deal with IGT came after a competitive negotiation phase.
The two parties have fueled record lottery sales in the past 5 years in the Sunshine State. Though other providers made bids to acquire the lucrative Florida contract, IGT had the advantage of being the successful incumbant.
13-Year Support Deal
The initial deal is for a 10-year period, but the Florida has the option to make 3-year renewals. Upon signing the deal, the Florida Lottery opted to exercise the first of its three renewal options, as a sign of good faith. Thus current deal thus runs into 2013.
The Florida Lottery has used IGT’s services since 2005, though the brand name on its printed tickets would not have registered the IGT crest until the past year. GTECH was the original name of the lottery side of the business, until GTECH bought International Game Technology in 2014. At the time, IGT was the world’s largest slot machine manufacturer.
GTECH Becomes IGT
In 2015, GTECH chose to change the corporation’s official name to IGT, because of the global brand recognition the name has. The primary support for the Florida Lottery will be through IGT’s Aurora lottery solution. Aurora is described as a “highly-secure, robust, and flexible” lottery technology to help with Florida’s evolving requirements.
Jay Gendron, the SVG of IGT North America Lottery, said, “Since 005, the Florida Lottery and IGT have worked together to implement solutions and initiatives that have been key to the Lottery’s growth. Working together, our aligned organizations can build on this success ever further, for the benefit of Florida’s education program.”
Terms of the Deal
Under terms of the new deal, the Florida Lottery‘s communications network will be uprgraded. That upgrade is going to use a combination of VSAT technology and the IGT-patented Dual Comm Inside tech. Dual Comm Inside provides the highest network available in today’s lottery industry.
IGT’s services are going to include terminal installation and maintenance, tech support operations, retailer training, call center hotline management, and telecommunications maintenance.
Florida Lottery’s Successes
The Florida Lottery is enjoying a golden age at present, so there was little reason to change suppliers. In fiscal year 2015-16, the Florida Lottery generated revenues of $6.06 billion. That represents the fifth consecutive year with record figures.
Throughout its history, the Florida Lottery has contributed over $30 billion to the state’s education system. The Florida Lottery’s contributions have been pointed out in the ongoing debate over lottery gambling legalization in Florida’s neighbor, Alabama. Ultimately, the Alabama state lottery measure failed in the legislature in August 2016. FLorida has the 14th-rated school system in the United States, while Alabama has the 42nd-rated school system.
About IGT
IGT was founded as A-1 Supply by William “Si” Redd in 1975. Si Redd changed the company’s name to Sircoma in 1978. When the company went public in 1981, it changed its name to the more public-friendly International Game Technology, usually known as IGT.
IGT was an innovator of electronic gaming machines in the 1980s and 1990s. IGT introduced slots cards, progressive jackpots, and many of the video features now standard in the industry. IGT released the most popular slot machine ever, Wheel of Fortune. The company also produced MegaBucks, which owns the 10 highest progressive jackpot wins in gambling history. IGT is famous for its many licensed slots, which take the best elements from music, movies, classic TV shows, and other world pop culture franchises.
GTECH was founded as the Italian lottery company Lottomatica in 1990. In 2006, the company acquired the U.S. lottery company, Gtech Corporation. The acquisition made the merged company one of the largest lotto firms in the world, with operations in dozens of U.S. states, Europe, Australia, Asia, the Caribbean, and Latin America. The new company changed its name to GTECH. GTECH agreed to acquire IGT in July 2014. When the acquisition was completed in April 2016, GTECH changed its name to IGT.
