A quartet of lottery technology companies, including prominent international players Brightstar and Allwyn, have secured a big win in Italy this week.
A consortium involving the four firms has secured a nine-year deal to continue operating the Italy Lotto, one of Europe and the world’s biggest fixed numbers games.
Led by Brightstar Lottery, the newly-rebranded lottery solutions firm formerly known as IGT, the LottoItalia consortium also involves Allwyn, Ariana 2001 and Novomatic Italy.
The contract with Italy’s Agenize delle Dogane e dei Monopoli (ADM) is a particularly significant moment for Brightstar in particular, which is embarking on a new era under a new corporate identity.
“We are delighted to finalize our agreement with ADM and honored to continue being entrusted to operate Italy Lotto, one of world’s largest lotteries,” said Renato Ascoli, Brightstar’s CEO of Global Lottery.
Brightstar’s new groove
For many decades Brightstar operated as IGT, with its remit covering lotteries and iGaming.
However, this year the firm completed a divestment, with its Gaming and Digital division – covering iCasino and gaming – sold to international hedge fund Apollo Global Management.
The remaining lottery business subsequently changed its name to Brightstar Lottery, a name chosen to symbolise its focus as a lottery-only enterprise.
It has spent the following months securing long-running lottery contracts on both sides of the Atlantic, many of which were continuations of deals in place during its time as IGT.
This month alone has seen deals penned with the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation (TDLR), which oversees the Texas Lottery, and with Allwyn’s Czech division SAZKA.
Allwyn, which stakes a claim to being the second largest global gambling economy by value in the world, is a particularly important partner for the company as both part of the Lotto Italia consortium and as a commercial partner via SAZKA.
In Italy, Brightstar/IGT has been managing the lotto licence for over 30 years. The new deal will see the company and its LottoItalia partners retain this status until November 2034.
Ascoli remarked: “We look forward to driving Lotto wager growth with new player touchpoints and digitization of the retail experience, growing iLottery sales, and providing iCasino, sports betting, and other digital games to players in Italy.”