Hoosier Lottery settles with private vendor for $6 million

The Hoosier Lottery will pay its private vendor $6 million as part of a settlement between the two entities. The settlement comes out of three disputes with IGT Indiana, which has operated the lottery for about a decade.

Last year, the Hoosier Lottery recorded its highest revenues ever, boosted by circumstances around the pandemic. IGT thinks it should have received more money because of that.

Earlier this year, state lawmakers stopped the lottery from expanding online. IGT said the revenue target it must hit should be lower as a result.

READ MORE: Hoosier Lottery chair 'disappointed' by General Assembly's halt to online lottery

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And after a problem with a new game this year, the lottery sought to recover millions from IGT. The private vendor thinks that amount should be a lot lower.

The lottery will pay $6 million to resolve the disputes. Executive director Sarah Taylor said it won’t affect the ongoing relationship between the lottery and its vendor.

“Things are bound to happen and change in an environment of a long-term relationship that impacts how we do our business," Taylor said. "We address those; we move forward. And we are pleased with the success we’ve seen these past few years.”

Taylor said the money will come out of the surplus revenue the lottery sends to the state. That’s a relatively small amount in the context of the more than $300 million Indiana should get from the lottery at the end of the fiscal year.

Contact reporter Brandon at bsmith@ipbs.org or follow him on Twitter at @brandonjsmith5.

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