Scientific Games has officially congratulated the Oklahoma Lottery on surpassing the $1 billion in contributions to the Oklahoma Education Lottery Trust Fund maximizing revenue for public education in the state.
The $1 billion milestone coincides with the Oklahoma Lottery's 15th Anniversary, giving the state cause to celebrate. The Oklahoma Lottery is one of the youngest in the U.S. and has partnered with Scientific Games on all of its games and technology since the Lottery's inception in 2005.
"When voters approved the Oklahoma Lottery in 2004, they did so with the promise of increased funding for education. Today we celebrate an accomplishment that has helped countless Oklahoma teachers and students," said Jay Finks, Deputy Director of Oklahoma Lottery. Finks will become the Executive Director on November 1.
In 2017, the Oklahoma Lottery received profit relief through state legislation and entered a major growth phase with a commitment to deliver additional dollars to Oklahoma education. Since the relief went into effect July 1, 2017, scratcher game retail sales have grown by almost 200%.
"The Oklahoma Lottery recognizes Scientific Games' partnership and commitment to helping our organization succeed. Their contribution to our business has been a major factor in our recent success and why we can celebrate hitting the $1 billion mark," said Finks.
Through its performance-driven Scientific Games Enhanced Partnership program, the Company provides Oklahoma Scratchers games as well as collaborating with the Oklahoma Lottery's team on all of the components that make an instant lottery program successful, including analytics and insights, advanced logistics, and retailer optimization. Additionally, Scientific Games provides the Lottery's central gaming system and services across the network of 1,900 Oklahoma Lottery retailers. The Company has a 50+ member staff based at its Oklahoma City operations.
"On behalf of Scientific Games, we congratulate the Oklahoma Lottery on topping $1 billion in proceeds to education at its 15th Anniversary," said John Schulz, SVP Instant Products for Scientific Games. "We commend the Lottery for its vision and commitment to maximizing profits to benefit education. It has been an honor to support its leadership and the State of Oklahoma on this journey to success."
U.S.-based Scientific Games launched the world's first secure retail instant game in 1974, the first digital instant game in the U.S. in 2014, and is the leading provider of lottery interactive games, mobile apps, player loyalty programs, and other interactive products and services in the U.S. lottery industry. The company is also the fastest growing lottery systems technology provider in the U.S.