Camelot in bid for Illinois Lottery contract
UK lottery operator âhighly likelyâ to enter bid process after Illinois Lottery dumped private manager Northstar last weekÂ
UK lottery operator Camelot Global will throw its hat into the ring for the contract to operate the Illinois Lottery after the US state dumped private manager Northstar last week, eGR North America understands. [private]
The Illinois Lottery issued a request for information (RFI) on Friday after finally reaching an agreement to part ways with Northstar, a joint venture between Scientific Games and GTECH, seven years into a 10-year contract over missed revenue targets.
In its RFI, the Illinois Lottery said its new manager would be poised to take advantage of its âmassively underutilizedâ online platform, which launched in 2012 but had so far failed to generate significant revenues.
Sources close to Camelot said it was âhighly likelyâ the operator would respond to the request for information and submit a proposal as soon as the lottery issued an RFP.
A spokesperson for Camelot Global said the firm âsupportsâ the Illinois Lotteryâs decision to âpursue an open, transparent processâ in its search for a new private manager.
âCamelot Global believes that private management, if structured appropriately, has proven an effective way to manage lotteries,â the spokesperson added.
It would be the second time Camelot had applied to operate the Illinois Lottery, after losing out to Northstar back in 2010.
Camelot went so far as to file a formal protest against the Illinois Department of Revenueâs decision to award the contract to Northstar over claims it had not been a competitive bidding process.
The US has proven to be a difficult market for Camelot, which was awarded the contract to operate the Pennsylvania Lottery in 2012 only for it to be withdraw after the state attorney general later rejected the deal.