Home Economy IGT assessed penalties for violating terms of lottery contract

IGT assessed penalties for violating terms of lottery contract

Updated at 12:55 p.m.

By

Christopher Allen

-

10/08/2024

IGT-1 — INTERNATIONAL GAME Technology PLC was fined by R.I. Lottery for noncompliance with its 20-year contract extension over the previous fiscal year. The company is also facing a Dec. 31 deadline to confirm an 1,1000 Rhode Island-based full-time employee threshold. /PBN FILE PHOTO/RUPERT WHITELEY

PROVIDENCE – IGT Gaming was assessed financial penalties by the R.I. Lottery for noncompliance with several benchmarks required under its 20-year contract to be the state’s exclusive supplier of scratch tickets, lottery tickets, iLottery games and slot machine technology, with the potential for additional fines if the company fails to meet its local employee quota

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PROVIDENCE – IGT Gaming was assessed financial penalties by the R.I. Lottery for noncompliance with several benchmarks required under its 20-year contract to be the state’s exclusive supplier of scratch tickets, lottery tickets, iLottery games and slot machine technology, with the potential for additional fines if the company fails to meet its local employee quota by Dec. 31. According to a memorandum dated Aug. 13 sent to House Speaker K. Joseph Shekarchi provided by R.I. Lottery, director Marc A. Furcolo said IGT has not met its contracted obligation to employ 1,100 full-time employees in Rhode Island, part of The Marc A. Crisafulli Economic Development Act passed by the General Assembly in 2021. The master contract includes the stipulation that IGT and Bally’s Corp. incur a $7,500 penalty for each job they fail to employ under the agreement. Lottery spokesperson Paul Grimaldi on Tuesday confirmed that IGT had 986 full-time employees as of the August letter. According to the memo, IGT was assessed $1,468.77 for “unscheduled downtime” of its retailer terminals; $3,396.14 for issues related to iLottery operations; and $641.84 for temporary failures of its online system. IGT also failed to provide the lottery division with one-hundred GT-20 Instant Ticket vending machines by the Aug. 31, 2023 deadline, however no penalty was assessed because the company did provide eighty-eight of the machines and the remaining 22 were subsequently installed by May 2024. IGT was also tasked with upgrading the iLottery by Aug. 23, 2023, however, “This solution is not yet live at the request of the Rhode Island Lottery as additional enhancements and functionality are to be included in this system modification.” The company announced in July they are being acquired by private equity firm Apollo Global Management Inc., receiving $4.05 billion in cash for its digital and gaming business. The agreements would spin off the IGT Gaming business and create a combined private company with Everi Holdings Inc. Messages to IGT seeking clarification on the company's current Rhode Island-based employee count were not immediately returned. In July IGT Global Solutions Chairperson Bob Vincent told PBN there will be minimal disruption in Rhode Island resulting from the Apollo deal. “We intend to keep our commitment that’s under the master contract we have with the state,” he said. “That includes a number of jobs, payroll, as well as investments we agreed to make under that contract.” The multinational gambling company is headquartered in London and has offices in Providence, Rome, and Las Vegas. Furcolo said the lottery uncovered no instances of contractual noncompliance at either of Bally’s Corp. properties in Lincoln and Tiverton. (UPDATE: Clarifies IGT employee count in 3rd paragraph.) Christopher Allen is a PBN staff writer. You may contact him at Allen@PBN.com.