NeoPollard Interactive Congratulates the Michigan Lottery as Lottery Operator of the Year at the EGR North America Awards

LANSING, Mich., Nov. 3, 2020 /CNW/ - NeoPollard Interactive LLC ("NeoPollard Interactive" or "NPi") congratulates the Michigan Lottery ("Lottery") for its recognition as the Lottery Operator of the Year at the 2020 eGaming Review ("EGR") North America Awards. The EGR North America Awards are regarded as the premier gaming awards for companies operating in the North American market, recognizing leading operators for outstanding performance and innovation.

The Lottery Operator of the Year category celebrates operators that demonstrate success in the lottery sector, with particular regard for growth and commercial success, innovation and differentiation, quality of product, and branding and marketing. Leading the market as North America's first $1 billion iLottery operator, the Lottery's FY2020 performance culminated in over $1.9 billion in topline sales and more than $228 million in net gaming revenue. The Lottery's financial success represents 80% growth year-over-year in net gaming revenue and outpaced the next top grossing iLottery operation in the U.S. by more than 150%. The Lottery has experienced strong growth in recent years across both online and retail channels, with retail increasing 150% since 2013. The parallel revenue growth proves that coexistence of iLottery and traditional products lifts the entire brand, not one channel alone.

As a lottery that has racked up a significant number of industry firsts, its recognition as Lottery Operator of the Year is well aligned with the Michigan Lottery's leadership position in the North American market. The Michigan Lottery was the first U.S. lottery to deploy an omnichannel payment solution allowing players to fund eWallets at retail as a cash-based transaction and was the first to launch PayPal for the iLottery channel. In its latest innovation to the player experience through payments, the Michigan Lottery introduced a "retail cashout" feature which allows players to expedite their withdrawals by cashing out online via a mobile voucher that is redeemable at lottery retailers.

Judges for this year's awards recognized the Michigan Lottery's "very impressive performance. To be so far ahead of other US iLottery operators is a testament to excellent performance across the board." The Michigan Lottery's iLottery program was hailed as an "innovative approach to the lottery experience" with "many well-thought innovations across payments, product and marketing." The remarks concluded by commending the Michigan Lottery's "impressive focus on player protection."

The Michigan Lottery has revolutionized the way its players engage with the Lottery–in terms of channel accessibility, payments, game content and direct player marketing. This approach yielded enviable commercial success and has promoted a continuous cycle of innovation. 

"We are thankful for our partnership with the proven leaders and relentless innovators at the Michigan Lottery," said Liz Siver, General Manager, NPi. "The entire team demonstrates their passion for the business every day and are an inspiring team of collaborators. From our team at NPi, congratulations to this year's Lottery Operator of the Year – the Michigan Lottery!" 

About NeoPollard Interactive

Born in the digital domain, NeoPollard Interactive LLC ("NPi") is an award-winning supplier of best-in-class iLottery solutions to the North American lottery market. Serving the largest share of U.S. lotteries that currently sell online, NPi helped pioneer the successful introduction of iLottery in the U.S. and, is North America's proven partner of choice to enable regulated lotteries to design and deploy complex gaming solutions in support of generating incremental revenue for good causes through the online channel. NPi offers cutting-edge technology, a full suite of managed services, and the industry's top performing game content, as part of its innovative and comprehensive approach to partnering for iLottery success. Jointly owned by Pollard Banknote Limited and NeoGames S.à r.l.—both globally recognized industry leaders—NPi powers the most profitable iLottery programs.

Forward-looking Statements

Certain statements in this press release may constitute "forward-looking" statements and information, which involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties, and other factors that may cause actual results, performance, or achievements to be materially different from any future results, performance, or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. When used in this document, such statements include such words as "may," "will," "expect," "believe," "plan," and other similar terminology. These statements reflect management's current expectations regarding future events and operating performance and speak only as of the date of this document. There should not be an expectation that such information will in all circumstances be updated, supplemented, or revised whether as a result of new information, changing circumstances, future events, or otherwise.

SOURCE NeoPollard Interactive

FOR MORE INFORMATION ABOUT NEOPOLLARD INTERACTIVE, CONTACT: Doug Pollard, Co-Chief Executive Officer, Telephone: [phone], E-mail: [email protected]; Moti Malul, Co-Chief Executive Officer, Telephone: [phone], E-mail: [email protected]; Liz Siver, General Manager, Telephone: [phone], E-mail: [email protected]