The Kentucky Lottery has signed a 10-year extension to its partnership with International Game Technology PLC (IGT). The new deal will run until 2036 and includes an upgrade to Kentucky’s central systems. The Kentucky Lottery will transition to IGT’s Aurora platform, its iLottery will benefit from new features, including cloud integration, and 3,400 lottery retailers across the state will receive new hardware.
The Bluegrass State was among the first to introduce an online lottery in 2016. Partnering with IGT from its launch, the state’s iLottery has tripled the number of draw games and introduced many other online games, including progressive jackpot eInstants.
Jay Gendron, IGT’s COO for Global Lottery, said the Kentucky lottery has always been among the leaders in iLottery innovations and that IGT’s goal is to continue to support those efforts. He added:
IGT’s future-forward mindset and next-generation product portfolio are critical in today’s evolving lottery space. Over the next 10 years, we will build upon our longstanding partnership with the Kentucky Lottery and deploy our sophisticated technology to further enhance the player experience.
According to IGT, Aurora will deliver the Kentucky Lottery the following benefits:
- Omnichannel capability, providing a consistent experience for retail and online customers
- Integration with third-party services through an open platform
- Rapid delivery of games and new functionality
- System reliability, integrity, performance, and security
- User-friendly GUI design to improve productiveness
IGT Says iLottery Upgrade Will Improve User Experience
The most tangible benefits of the upgrade will be for users of the Kentucky online lottery app. New features include:
- Enhanced account security
- Faster performance
- More customized user experience
- New games and more ways to play
- Cashless and contact-free transactions
- Biometric login (Face ID/Touch ID)
- Customizable interface
To ensure safe play, IGT’s iLottery has responsible gaming features available to players, including:
- Wagering limits, set by amount and timeframe (day, week, month)
- Loss limits
- Deposit limits
- Session time limits
- Self-exclusion forms
- Cool-off periods
- Wagering history
The Kentucky Lottery has also set certain system-wide limits. Users’ individual limits can’t exceed the maximum allowed by the Lottery.
Retailers Will Also Benefit From New Technology
The Aurora system will also benefit retailers. They will be able to manage their sales more easily through several tools, including:
- Retailer Wizard: a website that provides tools and location-specific data that gives retailers a picture of their business plus ways to grow the business.
- Sales Wizard: an analytical tool that provides reports and insights to help grow lottery sales.
- Order Wizard: manages game inventory to ensure retailers have the best-selling games in stock at all times.
Retailers will also get new point-of-sale hardware, including 4,000 new Retailer Pro terminals, ticket-checkers, and 850 GameTouch™ 28 lottery vending machines. IGT says the hardware Kentucky will receive is designed for high-volume customers while delivering ease of use and high reliability.
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