There’s a fierce battle a-brewing in Rhode Island. Casino operator Twin River doesn’t want International Game Technology (IGT) to retain the lottery contract, preferring its rival, Scientific Games.
At stake is perhaps $14 million a year in additional gambling revenue if the state put the contract out to bid instead of retaining IGT, according to the Providence Journal.
The economic-impact study, requested by the Senate Finance Committee, answers a question lawmakers have asked repeatedly: Is the state paying a premium for keeping the 1,100 IGT jobs in Rhode Island?
The analysis warned of potential damage to the state’s economy if IGT were to leave and none of their employees found new jobs there. The 72-page report was aired during a Senate hearing on the day Twin River announced its deal with Scientific Games. Twin River opposes a 20-year, no-bid contract extension Governor Gina Raimondo wants to give IGT.
“Scientific Games brings industry leading performance to 150 lotteries across 50 countries, and operates lottery services in 44 states,” a Twin River news release said. “It is the only full-service lottery company headquartered in the United States, providing lottery draw, instant, internet, mobile, video lottery and sports wagering solutions worldwide, with more than 70 percent share of all U.S. instant game sales, and is the primary instant game supplier for nine of the top 10 performing U.S. lotteries.”
The response from IGT spokesman Bill Fischer said Twin River did not present any detailed plan on how they will replace IGT’s $111 million payroll or how long that would take to accomplish.
Raimondo told reporters from NBC 10 News, “I have serious concerns about the management at Twin River and the ability to run their business, much less go after business they are clearly unqualified to do and have no track record of doing.”
Twin River’s Marc Crisafulli said competition will get the best deal for the state. “I think IGT has been pretty clear they are afraid of competition and they will do anything they can to avoid competition. If they’re so confident in their abilities, why can’t they just have a bid process,” he said.
Twin River said it will build a new headquarters in Rhode Island if it gets the deal and add 1,100 jobs, the same number of jobs IGT is threatening to move out of Providence if the contract goes up for a bid.
“We’re confident we would win. But we wouldn’t be guaranteeing the 1,100 jobs in the process. That’s the difference here,” IGT’s Bob Vincent told NBC.
