Connecticut Lottery Moving Online With Expanded IGT Partnership

Posted on: June 2, 2023, 08:51h. 

Last updated on: June 2, 2023, 11:56h.

Devin O'Connor @CasinoorgDevinO Read More
Expertise: Asia Pacific Gaming, Commercial Gaming, Legislation, Politics.

The Connecticut Lottery is taking its operations online through an expanded partnership with International Game Technology (IGT).

Connecticut Lottery online lottery IGT
The Connecticut Lottery is making it easier for players to purchase tickets. Set to debut later this year, the lottery plans to roll out an online website and mobile app where tickets will be available for purchase. (Image: Hearst Connecticut)

IGT is a market leader in lottery operations and provides games and central operating systems to 25 state lotteries in the US. The company generates about 75% of all US lottery sales.

In September 2021, IGT secured a 10-year partnership with the Connecticut Lottery to provide its central lottery management system called “Aurora.” The pact additionally included IGT distributing more than 3,000 retailer lottery terminals and vending machines to lottery retailers across the state.

Now, the Connecticut Lottery is expanding on that partnership by contracting IGT to manage its forthcoming iLottery operations.

Under the terms of the contract, IGT will provide its iLottery platform to the Connecticut Lottery. IGT will design a mobile app and online lottery website that will allow players inside the state to purchase lottery tickets online.

The Connecticut Lottery Corporation recognizes that today’s lottery player is looking for convenient and modern options to play their favorite games, and IGT’s iLottery system will allow us to offer our players the same great experiences they receive at retail in a responsible, digital format,” said Gregory Smith, Connecticut Lottery Corporation president and CEO. “We look forward to deploying this iLottery system and believe the expanded play options will be a welcome addition among our players.”

IGT says Keno, multistate jackpot games like Powerball and Mega Millions, and Connecticut Lottery draw games such as Lotto!, Cash5, Play3, and Play4 will be available for purchase. The online website and mobile app are expected to go live by the end of the year.

Ticket Sales, Not Gameplay

The Connecticut Lottery moving online only involves the selling of lottery and Keno tickets. It does not include instant online lottery gaming.

Currently, only seven states permit online lottery gameplay: Georgia, Illinois, Kentucky, Michigan, New Hampshire, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania. The Pennsylvania Lottery, for instance, offers more than 100 instant online lottery games.

Though online instant lottery games aren’t coming to Connecticut, the state is home to legal iGaming and online sports betting. The state’s two tribes, the Mohegan and Mashantucket Pequot tribes, hold the exclusive rights to online casino slot machines and table games.

In part of the state’s amended Class III gaming compact with its tribal partners in 2021, the Connecticut Lottery gained the rights to operate an online sportsbook and as many as 15 retail sports betting locations.

The Connecticut Lottery is searching for a new sportsbook partner. That’s after Rush Street Gaming earlier this year announced its plans to terminate its Connecticut Lottery partnership. Rush Street had secured the Connecticut Lottery’s sports betting rights through a competitive bidding process where the company guaranteed to direct at least $170 million to the lottery over the 10-year duration of the partnership.

Lottery Benefits

The lottery and its sports betting operations are the only forms of commercial gambling in Connecticut. The lottery benefits an array of programs, including public health, libraries, public safety, and education.

Since its inception in 1972, the Connecticut Lottery has generated more than $11 billion in financial benefits for the state programs.