Sports betting is heading to state lotteries.
Gaming equipment giant International Game Technology and sports book provider William Hill U.S. announced a deal Tuesday to bring sports gaming to U.S. lotteries. Under the agreement, the companies will create “a full-service solution for sports betting” tailored toward the state lottery industry.
Financial terms were not disclosed.
In a joint statement, the companies said a partnership was created after IGT was awarded the contract to run sports betting for the Rhode Island Lottery together with William Hill.
The announcement marks the first sports betting arrangement that could impact the U.S. lottery industry after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in May that the 25-year-old Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act was unconstitutional, opening the door for all states to legalize and regulate sports betting.
Since June, Delaware, New Jersey, Mississippi, and West Virginia have launched legal sport betting operations at casinos and racetracks. More than a dozen other states are considering sports gaming legalization.
IGT and William Hill will seek future sports betting opportunities and bid requests from U.S. lotteries. An IGT spokesman said the company operates the Hoosier Lottery in Indiana and the Illinois State Lottery. The company provides equipment and services to 39 of the 45 state lotteries.
IGT is headquartered in Italy with offices in the U.S., including Providence, Rhode Island, Las Vegas and Reno, Nevada. William Hill US, which is headquartered in Las Vegas, is a subsidiary of UK-based betting giant William Hill PLC.
“Through this unique partnership, our customers will be able to enter this new activity with total confidence and trust in the service being offered,” IGT North America CEO Renato Ascoli said in a statement. “By forming this partnership with William Hill, we are able to bring to our lottery customers in every state a world-class combination of technology and operational expertise.”
William Hill US CEO Joe Asher said the company currently owns or is a partner in the five states where sports betting is currently taking place.
“U.S. lotteries can be confident that in choosing IGT and us together, they will be benefiting from a reliable, trustworthy, and responsibly-managed solution,” Asher said.
According to the statement, IGT and William Hill US will offer U.S. lotteries a sports betting platform for land-based, retail, online, and mobile gaming options.
Howard Stutz is the executive editor of CDC Gaming Reports. He can be reached at hstutz@cdcgamingreports.com. Follow @howardstutz on Twitter.
