By Todd Northrop
Ending a years-long process of replacing its current management company, the Illinois Lottery today awarded its private management contract to Camelot Illinois, LLC — essentially the same company that operates the United Kingdom's lottery.
The Lottery's Notice of Award was posted to the Illinois Procurement Bulletin after the State of Illinois Chief Procurement Office of General Services certified the procurement rules for selecting the private manager were correctly followed.
"Camelot has shown more than a decade of success in managing lotteries throughout the world," Acting Lottery Director Greg Smith said. "The Lottery and Camelot Illinois have common goals to responsibly grow the Lottery's player base, align incentives, eliminate conflicts of interest, introduce new technology and innovation, and ensure responsiveness to public needs and concerns."
The proposed ten-year contract is based on a revised structure that aligns financial incentives and includes new permanent point-of-sale at retailers, new games, and a next-generation iLottery platform that supports omni-channel lottery participation. Additionally, the contract mandates transparency and regular audits. Camelot will reinforce the Lottery's commitment to responsible gaming and social responsibility by pursuing World Lottery Association Level 4 standards.
A 14-day protest period now begins, and the procurement file will be available for public inspection on Friday, Sept. 29. The public may request access to the procurement file by contacting the Lottery's Procurement Officer, Helen Kim, at helen.kim@illinois.gov. If no protests are submitted, or after all timely protests are resolved, a contract can be executed.
In 2009, the Illinois Legislature mandated a private management model for the Lottery. Northstar Lottery Group, LLC, the Lottery's first private manager, will continue to provide management services to the Lottery until a successful transition is complete.
Northstar was fired by the Illinois Governor more than three years ago, but has continued to manage the lottery's operations since then.
Northstar had a bumpy road managing the Illinois Lottery, facing multiple lawsuits and enduring several other controversies and shortfalls of revenue.
I do not know much about UK lotto but alot of the games look terrible
I hope that Illinois games don't get even worse odds then they already have but I expect Camelot to make it more difficult to win
Well good for them. I rather like how Camelot operates and how much they do for their winners in Europe. It's impressive. Above and beyond. Camelot is probably Illinois best shot for turning their dismal lottery system around.
Congratulations to Camelot for breaking into the American Lottery market.
Martyn and Kay Tott of London, England can teach players some lessons. Do not lose your ticket. Remember to check your numbers soon after the drawing. Report a lost ticket before the deadline is reached.
YouTube videos of Camelot's drawings and winners can be found at "Decade of Disasters" on YouTube.
Camelot began in 1994. I do like the name.
The tabloids and broadsheets, magazines and newspapers, can be ruthless to the winners if they go public in Britain.
Enjoy the videos.
Will Camelot get rid of RNG???
If U.K. Sandwellmobiles Youtube scratch card videos are any indication, Illinois players will likely do better to travel out of state for instant tickets too.
A look at the prize odds for various Instant games, such as U.K. National Lottery 1 Pound Fast 50 is depressing: 1 in ~1895 of winning 50 Pounds, which is the top prize. In contrast, Pennsylvania Lottery $2 50 Buck$ odds is 1 in 60 to win $50. Roughly 31 times easier! Plus, the PA version features higher prizes too, including $100, $500, and $50,000. To be fair, the PA 50 Bucks$ is a $2 ticket, but that alone can't justify the U.K. game being that much more difficult. Really illustrates how bad U.K. National Lottery games can be...
Maybe I missed something on the National Lottery Fast 50 info page, because I can't believe a game with a top prize of only 50 Pounds could have odds that bad: 1 in ~1895. Insane!
On a related note, I'm very skeptical of lotteries that privatize much of their operations. I realize most lotteries contract out to vendors much of their day to day operations. However, when it extends to management too, it's near certain the private operator (Northstar, Camalot, etc) is skimming off even more. Raises additional concerns of questionable activity to boost profits, such as cheating by insiders, instant tickets with winners remaining being pulled early, rigged drawings, etc.
Got a link to that Fast 50 page? Can't find it.
Bad enough for states to give control to third party (Northstar couldn't bring in what it promised im Illinois) but to let that third party be a foreign entity really makes me wonder.
List of National Lottery scratch cards:
https://www.national-lottery.co.uk/games/gamestore/scratchcards
Direct link to Fast 50:
https://www.national-lottery.co.uk/c/files/scratchcards/fast50.pdf~2
Can't believe how bad the odds are, and wonder if I'm overlooking something.
PA 50 Buck$ link:
https://www.palottery.state.pa.us/Scratch-Offs/View-Scratch-Off.aspx?id=2838
Even when adjusting for the price difference (1 Pound verses $2), the Pennsylvania Lottery game is so much better.
For the tin hats;