PokerStars, 888 vie for Delaware gaming contract
A total of 14 applicants submit bids to run the state's online lottery and gaming operations.
Fourteen applicants including European operators PokerStars and 888 have applied to provide online gambling services to the Delaware State Lottery.
The Request for Proposals (RFP) deadline for egaming system and service providers arrived last Friday having been announced in February, sparking what looks set to be a highly competitive tender process.
Stars parent company Rational Services has surprised many submitting an RFP document to offer B2B services for the first time, as the state seeks a number of suppliers and content providers in order to offer a full suite of games after Delaware Governor Jack Markell approved a bill in June 2012 that legalised online gambling.
According to GamblingCompliance, other applicants include 888 and Amaya Gaming, while current offline lottery supplier Scientific Games has also applied.
Amaya’s bid is in conjuction with Bally Technologies, while 888 enters the fray in partnership with Scientific Games and its recently acquired subsidiary WMS.
SHFL Entertainment (formerly Shuffle Master), IGT, Stan James, and Continent 8 Technologies have also applied.
The RFP called for companies to tender for the position of backend technology platform provider and operations manager, as well as internet game content vendors and suppliers of support services including e-wallets, identity verification and geolocation.
According to the RFP document, Delaware’s lottery is set to offer one version of casino table games, poker and bingo “ not necessarily from the same game content vendor “ and will provide multiple video lottery games from multiple vendors.