30 PUBLIC GAMING INTERNATIONAL • JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2025 maximum visibility and interaction. Some retailers and trade styles can benefit from having more than one LVM in a location, and using IGT’s Lottery Data Cloud we can help lotteries and retailers pinpoint those opportunities.” GAME INNOVATION “Cash Pop™, IGT’s popular draw-based game, stands as one of our growth-driving game innovations,” said Pursley. This game has now launched in 15 U.S. jurisdictions and is selling at an average weekly per capita of $0.11, with more jurisdictions onboarding in 2025. Lotteries that have already seen success with Cash Pop are also working with IGT to develop and launch game enhancements, such as an all-new instant win component at retail, which launched in 2024. “In the instants space, IGT’s Infinity Instants™ games represent something very exciting,” Pursley noted. “Lotteries are beginning to leverage the new game mechanics and prize structures made possible through Infinity technology, and which link to how the prize is revealed to provide new player experiences.” Jurisdictions are seeing the creative possibilities as they design and deploy Infinity Instants games in a multitude of ways, including omnichannel offerings. Other omnichannel opportunities enabled by IGT teams include bringing Fast Play and scratch-off offerings together. IGT also recognized several years ago that the system for producing scratch tickets was ripe for reimagining. The company invested in designing a revolutionary, patented new security system, NextGen, which links every process in instant ticket development to a common, coherent database and an associated blockchain for each game. “With the combined capabilities of IGT’s NextGen programming platform and Infinity Instants™ digital printing platform, we can provide players with new, highly engaging instants play mechanics that can’t be replicated with traditional printing technologies,” said Pursley. And, in 2025, IGT is adding a new printing press to its North American instants production facility in Lakeland, Florida — another example of the company’s investments to better serve current and future industry needs. DISTRIBUTION “What’s exciting about retail and the future are several opportunities for further success on the distribution side,” noted Pursley. “Channel expansion is critical as the industry looks to the future. Some retailers have indicated that in-lane is the only way they’re interested in selling lottery. Because retailers also have software development schedules, they may not always be able to undertake the software development necessary to implement in-lane lottery sales.” The good news is that IGT has been innovating in this space: A new product available in 2025, IGT LotteryLink™ is a small, plug-in retail device that solves an enormous need for the industry by affording the benefit of in-lane sales without any point-of-sale programming. “It enables in-lane sales for draw games and, even more exciting, scratch-offs,” said Pursley. LotteryLink is completely unique to the industry and offers a breakthrough in retail sales, especially for corporate and high-volume retailers around in world. “There are still numerous chains and trade styles that lottery players and potential players visit on a regular basis,” Pursley noted. “These retailers are also looking for growth opportunities and want to give consumers a reason to keep coming back. Lottery can be that reason.” To support lotteries and retailers with lottery channel expansion, one IGT team is specifically focused on penetrating and developing green-field retailers. ENGAGEMENT “Engagement is all about optimizing the experience of the consumer, making it more convenient and intuitive,” noted Pursley. IGT’s Connected Play solution provides an important suite of functionality that digitalizes the consumer experience at retail and enables known play rather than anonymous play, a unique benefit for lotteries that are not regulated to sell in the digital channel. The mobile lottery app is the lynchpin for this functionality, through which lotteries can establish a mutually beneficial relationship with players. “Connected Play enables lotteries to provide convenience and choices to players while only requiring a light registration, such as by email or phone number,” noted Pursley. With Connected Play data, lotteries can implement more personalized player marketing and support a connected, 360-degree lottery experience. Connected Play also enables paperless and cashless options for retail lottery sales, supporting sustainability initiatives and players’ changing preferences. “We’re proud of the level of investment IGT continues to make in enabling future opportunities at retail,” added Pursley. In
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