London-based IGT Global Solutions Corporation previously protested that the Maryland lottery inflated its 2 million contract to include types of internet gambling that currently are not allowed under the law. IGT said lottery officials later explained internet gambling was included “simply to avoid future review and approvals by the Maryland Board of Public Works,” which still would have to approve the contract.
The lottery is recommending that its eight-year contract for central monitoring and control system go to rival bidder Scientific Games International Inc. of Las Vegas.
But recently IGT launched a second protest specifically naming Lottery Director Gordon Medenica, who wrote in an email to his staff last month that it was “simply false” that the lottery is launching an internet lottery sales program. Medenica said technical criteria “is vastly more important” than the cost in defending his choice of the most expensive of three offers.
IGT claims if it had “been warned in the RFP that price was ‘vastly’ less important than technical factors, IGT’s proposal would have been structured differently.” Medenica responded, “The real story here is the attempt by the losing bidders to bring political pressure to an ongoing procurement process. Their manipulation of an independent, objective, competitive procurement is blatantly inappropriate.”
