How IWG Investment Boosts Allwyn’s US Online Lottery Presence
The Switzerland-based company now owns 70% of Instant Win Gaming
2 min
Worldwide lottery operator Allwyn took a significant step toward strengthening its U.S. footprint at the end of last week.
The Switzerland-based company finalized its investment in Instant Win Gaming, one of the industry’s top suppliers for digital instant win lottery games. Allwyn now owns 70% of IWG, which boasts more than 250 games in its library.
IWG immediately and significantly expands Allwyn’s presence in North America.
It works with the Pennsylvania Lottery, Virginia Lottery, New Hampshire Lottery, and Michigan Lottery, as well as the Georgia Lottery and Kentucky Lottery via an integration with IGT in those states.
“[This] marks Allwyn’s second investment focused on North America, an important lottery market where the Group sees growth optionality in the long-term,” part of Allwyn’s Q2 2024 financial report presentation read.
‘The operator of choice’
All in all, IWG works with more than 25 lotteries around the world in both the World Lottery Association and North American State & Provincial Lotteries. IWG co-founders Rhydian Fisher (current CEO) and Simon Bucknall (current COO) will remain in their roles at the company.
“Allwyn’s agreement with IWG will enable us to create and leverage high-quality content throughout the group,” Stepan Dlouhy, Allwyn chief investment officer, said in February when Allwyn first announced it would enter an agreement with IWG. “This demonstrates our ambition to deliver the best user experience to players across our international markets, and to be the operator of choice.”
Currently, Allwyn’s North American footprint for the most part begins and ends with it operating the Illinois Lottery. In 2023, the Illinois Lottery generated $882 million in net revenue and $518 million in online lottery sales.
Allwyn’s newer and broader scope across the U.S. iLottery industry puts it more on par with its American lottery competitors.
IGT has long been one of the big players in the lottery space. It operates the Indiana Lottery and New Jersey Lottery, and it works with many other U.S. lotteries, including behemoths Texas and California, plus Colorado, Mississippi, and Missouri.
For the digital market, IGT works with the Kentucky Lottery and Connecticut Lottery, among others.
Scientific Games is probably the other most high-profile lottery operator in the U.S. Its partnerships include the Kentucky Lottery, New York Lottery, Florida Lottery, Washington Lottery, Arkansas Lottery, Maine Lottery, Arizona Lottery, and Louisiana Lottery.
NeoPollard is definitely an operator to watch in the U.S. thanks to its rapid rise in the iLottery space. Its online partnerships include the lotteries in Virginia, West Virginia, Michigan, North Carolina, New Hampshire, and Georgia.
Pollard Banknote Limited makes some noise, too. It just signed a contract to launch its first iLottery platform for Kansas when that state goes live early next year.
Which IWG games are popular in the US?
Pennsylvania recently became the first market to launch eFastPlay games, IWG’s new category of games. Pennsylvania is calling these games “EZ eInstants,” and at first the state is offering three games: Prospector’s Gold Rush, Firework Fortune Frenzy, and Treasure Tomb.
IWG’s multi-state eInstant progressive jackpot game, Mega Money Jackpots, is also a popular option for U.S. online lotteries. Pennsylvania, Virginia, and New Hampshire all offer Mega Money Jackpots.
Back in May 2023, IWG launched the first digital-only lotto game with a progressive jackpot top prize. It debuted in Virginia, called Lotto Virginia.
IWG also offers something called InstantBoost, a game tool that allows lotteries to customize in-game actions players can take to boost their game-play experience. Michigan, Virginia, and New Hampshire all use InstantBoost in their iLottery offerings.
