LOS ANGELES, Oct. 1, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- In less than 30 days, a group of lottery officials will do something that hasn't been done in more than 12 years - create a new multi-state lottery game. The new lottery game, called MONOPOLY MILLIONAIRES' CLUB, will pool prize money to make "more and more millionaires." The news comes as the lottery industry's largest annual gathering at the North American Association of State and Provincial Lotteries (NASPL) conference commences.
"Lotteries across the country came together and listened to what players wanted," said Rebecca Paul Hargrove, President of the Tennessee Lottery. "With three chances to win $1 million, a $5 popular price point, and the ability to unlock more and more millionaires, MONOPOLY MILLIONAIRES' CLUB is expected to spread the wealth across the country like no other game in lottery history."
The new multi-state premium lottery game and weekly one hour prime time television show was created by Scientific Games Corporation (NASDAQ: SGMS), a leading developer of technology-based products and services and associated content for worldwide gaming and lottery markets. The new lottery game goes on sale in 23* participating states on Sunday, October 19 where lottery tickets are sold, with more lotteries** planning to join in the following months. The population of lottery jurisdictions selling the game at launch will be approximately 175 million. By the first week of March 2015, that population is expected to be close to 250 million.
With three different ways to win a million dollars, MONOPOLY MILLIONAIRES' CLUB is the first game to combine the high-stakes and rich rewards of multi-state lottery gaming with the fun and entertainment of a national television game show. The television series will feature players selected from an audience comprised mainly of ticket holders drawn from those who registered their lottery tickets online or via a smartphone app, and will be hosted by actor and comedian Billy Gardell ("Mike & Molly," "You, Me & Dupree").
The uniquely designed MONOPOLY MILLIONAIRES' CLUB draw game is expected to generate more simultaneous millionaires than any other game in lottery history. The prize pool will begin with a $15 million Top Prize and ten $1 million Club Prizes. If the Top Prize is not won in a given week, it will continue to increase in value for the next three weeks until it reaches $25 million. For as long as no one wins the Top Prize, all additional prize money will be allocated to fund additional $1 million Club Prizes until someone wins the Top Prize. Winning the Top Prize will unleash the $1 million Club Prizes. With the draw taking place on Friday evenings at 11:15 pm (ET), literally hundreds of players across the country could wake up Saturday morning as millionaires.
This new approach to a national lottery draw game was created by Scientific Games under license from Hasbro, Inc. (NASDAQ: HAS) and is based on the iconic MONOPOLY™ brand, which is one of the most well recognized brands in the world.
"MONOPOLY is one of the most successful brands in gaming with lottery, slots and sweepstakes. With MONOPOLY MILLIONAIRES' CLUB, more millionaires will be made than ever before," said Steve Saferin, President of Properties Group and Chief Creative Officer for Scientific Games. "Our player research consistently indicates that participants would prefer to see the millions of dollars in lottery prizing distributed to lots of winners, rather than one or two players winning hundreds of millions of dollars each."
MONOPOLY MILLIONAIRES' CLUB is the first multi-state draw game at the $5 price point in the United States, though $5 is the most popular price point for instant scratch ticket games. This $5 price point strengthens the game's play value while differentiating it within lottery draw game portfolios.
Lottery players can register their tickets online to build MONOPOLY-themed Property Sets that, when complete, earn an entry into a drawing for the chance to appear on the nationally televised game show "MONOPOLY MILLIONAIRES' CLUB," which premieres in February 2015. Thousands of players will win a five-day, four-night trip for two to Las Vegas to be in the studio audience of a "MONOPOLY MILLIONAIRES' CLUB" taping.
Contestants on the show will then be selected at random from the audience to play a series of games, each with a MONOPOLY theme, each of which will offer cash and other prizes valued up to $100,000. A final round will offer one player on each episode a shot at $1 million. More than $2.5 million in prize money is available to win on every episode.
Since 2006, there have been more than 170 MONOPOLY-themed lottery games launched globally with a retail value of nearly $5 billion, most performing 10% or more above industry averages, based on data from MDI Entertainment, LLC, a Scientific Games company. According to LaFleur's Magazine, "MONOPOLY Millionaire", distinct from the traditional MONOPOLY brand, was one of the most popular licensed brands in lottery gaming in fiscal year 2013. MDI Entertainment has introduced 14 MONOPOLY Millionaire lottery games with retail value in excess of $850 million since 2012.
*Participating states launching October 19
Arizona
Arkansas
Florida
Georgia
Indiana
Iowa
Kentucky
Maine
Maryland
Michigan
Minnesota
Missouri
New Hampshire
New Jersey
New Mexico
New York
North Carolina
Pennsylvania
Rhode Island
South Dakota
Tennessee
Texas
Washington D.C.
**States expected to launch post October 19
California (pending regulatory approval)
*Idaho
*Kansas
North Dakota
Ohio
*Vermont
Virginia
West Virginia
*Wisconsin
*may need further regulatory approval
About Scientific Games
Scientific Games Corporation is a leading developer of technology-based products and services and associated content for worldwide gaming and lottery markets. The company's portfolio includes instant and draw-based lottery games; electronic gaming machines and game content; server-based lottery and gaming systems; sports betting technology; loyalty and rewards programs; and social, mobile and interactive content and services. For more information, please visit: www.scientificgames.com.
Forward-Looking Statements
In this press release, Scientific Games makes "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements describe future expectations, plans, results or strategies and can often be identified by the use of terminology such as "may," "will," "estimate," "intend," "continue," "believe," "expect," "anticipate," "should," "could," "potential," "opportunity," or similar terminology. These statements are based upon management's current expectations, assumptions and estimates and are not guarantees of timing, future results or performance. Actual results may differ materially from those contemplated in these statements due to a variety of risks and uncertainties and other factors, including, among other things: competition; U.S. and international economic and industry conditions; including declines or slow growth of lottery retail sales or gross gaming revenues and reductions in or constraints on capital spending by gaming or lottery operators; slow growth of new gaming jurisdictions; slow addition of casinos in existing jurisdictions; declines in the replacement cycle of gaming machines; ownership changes and consolidation in the casino industry; opposition to legalized gaming or the expansion thereof; ability to adapt to, and offer products that keep pace with, evolving technology; ability to develop successful gaming concepts and content; laws and government regulation, including those relating to gaming licenses and environmental laws; inability to identify and capitalize on trends and changes in the lottery and gaming industries, including the expansion of interactive gaming; dependence upon key providers in our social gaming business; retention and renewal of existing contracts and entry into new or revised contracts; level of our indebtedness; availability and adequacy of cash flows to satisfy obligations or future needs; restrictions and covenants in our debt agreements; protection of our intellectual property; ability to license third party intellectual property; intellectual property rights of others; security and integrity of our software and systems; reliance on or failures in our information technology systems; natural events that disrupt our operations or those of our customers, suppliers or regulators; inability to benefit from, and risks associated with, strategic equity investments and relationships; inability of our joint venture to meet the net income targets or otherwise to realize the anticipated benefits under its private management agreement with the Illinois lottery; inability of our joint venture to meet the net income targets or other requirements under its agreement to provide marketing and sales services to the New Jersey lottery or otherwise to realize the anticipated benefits under such agreement (including as a result of a protest); failure to realize the anticipated benefits related to the award to our consortium of an instant lottery game concession in Greece; failure to achieve the intended benefits of the WMS acquisition, including due to the inability to realize synergies in the anticipated amounts or within the contemplated time-frames or cost expectations, or at all; inability to complete and integrate future acquisitions; restructuring costs; revenue recognition standards; impairment charges; fluctuations in our results due to seasonality and other factors; dependence on suppliers and manufacturers; risks relating to foreign operations, including fluctuations in foreign currency exchange rates and restrictions on the import of our products; dependence on our employees; litigation and other liabilities relating to our business, including litigation and liabilities relating to our contracts and licenses, our products and systems, our employees, intellectual property and our strategic relationships; influence of certain stockholders; and stock price volatility. Additional information regarding risks and uncertainties and other factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those contemplated in forward-looking statements is included from time to time in Scientific Games' filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC") (including our Annual Report on Form 10-K filed with the SEC on March 17, 2014 and in our subsequent periodic reports), including under the heading "Risk Factors" in Scientific Games' periodic reports. Forward-looking statements speak only as of the date they are made and, except for Scientific Games' ongoing obligations under the U.S. federal securities laws, Scientific Games undertakes no obligation to publicly update any forward-looking statements whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.
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SOURCE Scientific Games Corporation