Mass. lottery seeing strong interest in online gaming
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The Massachusetts lottery could move into the online gaming business.
The Massachusetts Lottery received 20 responses from companies interested in aspects of potentially bringing games online, including a company that does lottery business in New York, fantasy sports outfits and one of its own a major vendors.
"I was expecting somewhere between 9 to 12, or at least hopeful that we would get 9 to 12 what I would call legitimate responses," State Lottery Executive Director Michael Sweeney told the News Service. "We got 20."
Among those responding to the Lottery's request for information were Jackpocket, which says it supports six lottery games in New York and is "coming soon" to California. International Game Technology, a publicly traded company that has lottery business, was among the respondents as was Scientific Games, which has done $8.1 million in business for the Massachusetts Lottery so far in fiscal 2016.
The state has done business with International Game Technology, or IGT, as well.
In late December the Lottery indicated interest in hearing from companies about developing an iLottery System and new games, including social gaming and daily fantasy sports.
The State Lottery, whose profits fill the coffers of cities and towns, offers scratch tickets, participation in multi-state drawings and instant Keno games. It is not allowed to run contests online. Convenience store owners, who rely on the Lottery for some of their business, have strongly opposed a Lottery move to the Internet.
While Boston-based DraftKings and New York-based FanDuel have commanded much of the attention in pay-to-play daily fantasy sports, a number of other outfits responded to the Lottery's request. Neither DraftKings nor FanDuel were among the 20 respondents.
Fast Strike Games, a company whose executive team has Boston ties, advertises fantasy sports with a "unique twist." Stratmish offers players in its fantasy football game the chance to participate in a "Tournament of Champions." The Florida-based Top3 Sports lets players bet on who they believe will be three top fantasy sports performers at a particular position.
Treasurer Deborah Goldberg, who oversees the Lottery, said it would take some time to go through the responses as officials seek to "figure out what's best in the long-term for the Lottery."
Under former Treasurer Steven Grossman, the Lottery pushed for legislation authorizing it to conduct online games so that it could experiment with the technology. Goldberg said she is not seeking that authorization this legislative session.
The responses were due March 4, according to Sweeney who said the responses "run the gamut."
The 20 respondents were: Amaya, Alphastreak, Bede Gaming, Camelot, Coin Machine Industries Association of Massachusetts, Continent 8/Sports Draft Daily, Fast Strike Games, Flower City Gaming, Gaming Laboratories International, GeoComply, IGT, Intralot, Jackpocket, NeoPollard, Scientific Games, Stratmish, Structura Capital, The Quality Group, Third Screen Sports, and Top 3 Fantasy Sports.
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