Enhanced Partnerships Could Lead to Florida Lottery Privatization

Enhanced Partnerships

One of the main factors that drive the possible privatization of a Lottery is the so-called enhanced partnerships. According to Tampa Bay Times:

“Analysts who track the industry say the largest companies are trying to forge what one calls ‘enhanced partnerships’ with the states, and what others refer to as ‘privatization’ programs that will transfer most of the day-to-day management and strategic decision-making from states to private companies.”

The roots of privatization of the lottery in Illinois, Indiana, and New Jersey can be traced to this type of partnership and it may be seen in the Scientific Gaming and International Game Technology’s presence in Florida. Though it is not a guarantee, it is one of the indicators that something may happen in the future.

Scientific Gaming and IGT

As the only two participants in the Florida Lottery’s “vendor support fund,” IGT and Scientific Gaming provide essential sales services and marketing research that helps the lottery stay up-to-date with the latest changes in technology and marketing initiatives.

This research is essential in helping the lottery to develop new products and services that meet the needs of Florida’s lottery customers. Without this vital support, the Florida Lottery would not be able to provide the same level of service or product offerings.

As a result, IGT and Scientific Gaming play an important role in supporting the Florida Lottery and its mission to provide fun, entertaining games that support education funding in the state.

homepage of floridda lottery

For the FY20-21, Scientific Gaming got $5.6 million via cash deposit while IGT got $360,000. The use of these payouts is limited to market research and product sales expenses.

For the FY ended 2021, Scientific Gaming still has a $3.16 million balance from Florida Lottery while IGT had a little less than $270K.

If all the vendors who are being paid by the Lottery are considered, the total cash paid is more than $115 million.

More About Florida Lottery

Florida Lottery has been putting up impressive numbers for a long time as it generated $9.23 billion during the fiscal year 2021-2022, which is the 11th consecutive year that Sunshine State had a lottery sales record.

Surprisingly, the said sales were generated from purchases at brick-and-mortar businesses alone which makes Florida Lottery Secretary “incredibly proud”.

It also forwarded $2.3 billion of the FY21-22 sales to the Florida Educational Enhancement Fund (EETF).

Florida Sports Betting Update

On the other hand, Florida Sports Betting is still not legalized after its 2021 brief legalization, due to conflicting interests and interpretations.

In a statement, Derril B. Jordard expresses his stand that tribes should not have competed with licenses after Hard Rock Sports betting operations were ceased by Seminole just three weeks after launching the Hard Rock Sportsbook app.

“…If there is an ambiguity and there’s two plausible explanations, I think the tribes generally should get the benefit of the doubt that as long as the server is on tribal lands, it’s gaming under IGRA and it’s legal under IGRA”.

On the other hand, Daniel Wallach believes that there were no ambiguities because “Indian lands” and “gaming activity” were already defined by IGRA and Supreme Court, respectively.