Twin River Management Group (TRMG), in partnership with Camelot Lottery Solutions (Camelot), an international lottery company, has submitted to the offices of the Governor, Speaker of the House and Senate President a competing proposal to operate the State’s lottery system that, among other things, provides 1,100 jobs backed by a $100 million guarantee, saves the State and its taxpayers approximately $500 million in fees, invests $75 million in development and improvements including a new 50,000 square foot corporate headquarters in the state, and would limit the control of the casino slot floor to the current state law of 50 percent.

The proposal was developed to provide for a public, open bid process, one in where the State solicits proposals from interested vendors in order to secure the best deal, rather than simply renewing the existing billion dollar contract with IGT for a period of 20 years. Twin River and Camelot requested that the State comply with purchasing laws and proceed with a competitive bid process.

According to Marc Crisafulli, Executive Vice President of Twin River Worldwide Holdings, Inc. and President of Twin River Rhode Island, the binding partnership was formed to jointly respond to any RFP in Rhode Island that combines lottery systems (Camelot) and VLTs (Twin River). The highlights of the joint proposal include:

-A commitment to provide 1,100 jobs over the life of the contract, which is guaranteed by $100 million to the State if provisions of the bid are not met;

-A contract term of 12 years versus the 20 years proposed by IGT which will allow the State to assess its market/technology needs and rebid the contract earlier;

– A total cost to the State of less than $500 million which is approximately half of what is proposed by the $1 billion IGT no-bid deal;

-50% share of VLTs at the two Rhode Island casinos to stimulate increased competition among suppliers and preserve and/or enhance current State revenue of approximately $300 million annually. This is in accordance with existing state law – in stark contrast to the 85% sought by IGT in its proposed deal which requires a change to existing law;

-As part of the commitment to invest $150 million, $75 million is committed to economic development including $50 million at Twin River and the development of a 50,000 square foot new corporate headquarters in Rhode Island. Targeted communities include Providence, Pawtucket, Cranston, Warwick and Lincoln.

“We believed all along that Rhode Island would secure a much better deal through a competitive bid process and today’s bid submittal demonstrates exactly that,” said Mr. Crisafulli.

He continued, “As is evident, we have significantly improved upon the no-bid deal under consideration for IGT in many areas, notably in the shorter term, the lower fees to the State, meaningful investments in real estate development and a $100 million guarantee to secure 1,100 new jobs, all while matching every other element of the proposed IGT deal.”

Crisafulli concluded, “We’re grateful the General Assembly will now take up this issue and can best decide for themselves, on behalf of their constituents, which is the better course for the State. Importantly, they can do so knowing that the 1,100 jobs thought to be in jeopardy if the IGT contract was not automatically renewed absolutely will be guaranteed.”

In Rhode Island this week, Wayne Pickup, CEO of Camelot Lottery Solutions said, “We’re excited about the possibility of teaming up with Twin River to compete for the State’s lottery business and strongly believe, if given the opportunity to do so, we will help the State secure a much better deal. We see a lot of opportunity to create more value for the State and its residents, and look forward to replicating the success we have delivered for our customers across the globe.”

Both TRMG and Camelot are experienced operators in the casino and lottery gaming industries respectively. Camelot has decades of lottery experience and has delivered outstanding results on contracts in Illinois, Arkansas, UK, Ireland and Switzerland.

Earlier this year, Camelot successfully delivered the largest retail and technology transformation (from IGT) in US lottery history for the Illinois Lottery, rolling out 50,000 pieces of equipment across more than 7,200 retailers and seamlessly converting the lottery gaming system.

Other recent achievements include:

• Record returns of $731 million for Illinois Public Schools, following Camelot’s first full year of operations in Illinois
• Record sales and returns for the Arkansas Scholarship Lottery in its most recent financial year, with 35% growth in net income since 2014, in partnership with Camelot
• Sales growth of over 20% for the Irish National Lottery since 2014, in partnership with Camelot.

TRMG is one of the lowest levered casino owner/operators in the United States. Its parent company, Twin River Worldwide Holdings, Inc., or TRWH, owns and manages four casinos; two casinos in Rhode Island, one in Mississippi, and one in Delaware, as well as a Colorado horse race track that has 13 authorized OTB licenses. Properties include Twin River Casino Hotel (Lincoln, RI), Tiverton Casino Hotel (Tiverton, RI), Hard Rock Hotel & Casino (Biloxi, MS), Dover Downs Hotel & Casino (Dover, DE) and Arapahoe Park racetrack (Aurora, CO). Its casinos range in size from 1,000 slots and 32 table games facilities to properties with over 4,100 slots, approximately 125 table games, and 48 stadium gaming positions, along with hotel and resort amenities. Its shares are traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol “TRWH.”

Source: Twin River Worldwide Holdings, Inc.

New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy has signed a bill which allows the Atlantic City’s Golden Nugget casino to accept bets on most National Basketball Association (NBA) games.

Tilman Fertitta, a billionaire from Texas, is the owner Golden Nugget casino. He also owns the NBA’s Houston Rockets team. When New Jersey lawmakers legalised sports betting last year, a provision in the law banned team owners from placing or accepting bets on any games involving their sport.

“We’re grateful, and appreciative that people eventually realized this was an overreaction. It allows us to compete,” Steve Scheinthal, general counsel for the Golden Nugget’s parent company, Houston-based Landry’s Inc., said.

The ban on all NBA bets cut badly into the Golden Nugget’s New Jersey sports betting business. A gambler wanting to place bets on football at the Golden Nugget had to go somewhere else to bet on basketball, making it much less likely he or she would visit the Golden Nugget at all for sports betting.

“It was like going into a boxing ring with one arm tied behind your back. You just can’t compete that way. It gave everyone a year’s head start on us,” Scheinthal said.

Andy Beshear, the Democratic candidate of Kentucky gubernatorial election, has unveiled his plan to expand gaming and bring casinos, sports betting, fantasy sports and potentially online poker into the Bluegrass State.

Beshear, the state’s current Attorney General, faces Republican incumbent Gov. Matt Bevin in the November general election. Bevin has spoken out against gaming, especially as an option to increase funding for public pensions.

Beshear’s plan resembles what Illinois officials pushed through in their state earlier this year. While Illinois already had casino gaming, the new law expands the number of casino licenses available and allows sports betting across the state. Illinois plans to use the revenue stream to shore up the state’s infrastructure and fund pensions.

Kentucky is one of the 10 states in the US without a commercial or tribal casino. The border states of Kentucky such as Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio have casinos or racinos located just across the Ohio River near major population centres in Kentucky. Beshear said that the state loses out on $500 million in tax revenue annually to its neighbouring states.