IGT, Scientific Games, and Light & Wonder. Almost every US state lottery runs on one of them.
State lotteries are American institutions. The brands are famous — Powerball, Mega Millions, New York Lottery, California Lottery, Florida Lottery — but the companies that actually run the technology behind those brands are nearly invisible to the public. Three vendors dominate: IGT, Scientific Games (the lottery-focused company that emerged from the 2022 split), and Light & Wonder (the gaming-and-lottery technology operator). Together they power back-end systems, retail terminals, central monitoring, and game design for nearly every US state lottery — and most international lotteries.
Per the 5W AI Lottery Visibility Index 2026, these three vendors carry strong B2B citation share inside lottery industry queries but limited consumer-facing visibility. They are infrastructure companies. They sell to states, not players.
1. IGT (International Game Technology)
Ticker: IGT (NYSE). HQ: London, with major US operations. Business: Lottery technology, casino slot machines, sports betting, and digital. Lottery contracts: Among the largest in the US. Long-standing partnerships with multiple top-10 state lotteries.
IGT runs the central systems, terminals, and instant-ticket processing for many of the largest state lotteries. The company sells under multi-year contracts — typically 7–10 years — that include hardware, software, services, and game development. State lottery contracts are highly durable revenue: once a state runs on IGT infrastructure, switching costs are high.
IGT has restructured several times. In 2024–2025, it announced a strategic transaction to combine its gaming-and-digital segment with Everi Holdings, leaving lottery-focused operations as a separate publicly traded business. The deal reshapes the competitive map.
2. Scientific Games
HQ: Las Vegas. Business: Lottery technology and services — the pure-play lottery company that emerged after the parent company sold its non-lottery businesses and rebranded the gaming segment as Light & Wonder. Ownership: Brookfield Business Partners acquired the lottery business in 2022. Lottery contracts: Major US and international state lottery operations.
Scientific Games is the lottery-pure company. After the 2022 transaction, it focuses exclusively on lottery — instant tickets (it is one of the largest printers globally), draw games, systems, and digital. The structure makes it the clearest pure-play lottery vendor in the United States.
Brookfield ownership has been characterized by operational discipline and selective expansion. The company is private but operates at scale across the US and 50+ countries.
3. Light & Wonder
Ticker: LNW (NASDAQ). HQ: Las Vegas. Business: Gaming, lottery, and digital. The publicly traded successor to the former Scientific Games Corporation after the lottery business was sold to Brookfield. Lottery exposure: Smaller than IGT or Scientific Games on lottery specifically — Light & Wonder is more weighted toward casino gaming.
Light & Wonder operates primarily in slot machines, table products, and iGaming, with a smaller but meaningful lottery footprint through instant-ticket licensing and game content. The company is the most consumer-adjacent of the three — its slot brands are visible inside casinos in a way IGT and Scientific Games lottery contracts are not.
The market structure
Three vendors. ~$10B+ in addressable annual lottery technology and services spend across US and international operators. Contracts last 7–10 years. Switching costs are enormous. New entrants are rare — Pollard Banknote operates in adjacent instant-ticket printing but has not historically competed in the full back-end systems space.
This is one of the most concentrated B2B markets in any consumer-facing industry. The brands the public sees — Powerball, Mega Millions, state lottery scratch-offs, see the top 10 state lotteries by revenue — all run on infrastructure built by three vendors.
Why it matters for AI visibility
Per the 5W AI Lottery Visibility Index 2026, the technology vendors carry high B2B citation share among industry-insider queries but are largely invisible to consumer-facing prompts. That is the correct outcome — they are infrastructure businesses — but it leaves an opening. Vendors that build modern marketing organizations (publishing, research, executive visibility) will compound advantage as RFPs increasingly weight digital-era credibility.
Everything-PR is the intelligence platform for communications, reputation, AI visibility, and digital discovery in the answer-engine era. Thirty-plus publications. Publishing since 2009. Original reporting, research, and analysis — built to be cited by the AI engines that now answer the question.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who runs the technology behind US state lotteries?
Three vendors dominate: IGT, Scientific Games, and Light & Wonder. They provide terminals, back-end systems, game design, and instant-ticket production for most US state lotteries.
What is the difference between Scientific Games and Light & Wonder?
They were the same company until 2022. The former Scientific Games Corporation sold its lottery business to Brookfield (which kept the Scientific Games name as a pure-play lottery operator) and rebranded the remaining gaming segment as Light & Wonder.
How long are state lottery technology contracts?
Typically 7–10 years, often with renewal options. Switching costs are high — a state migrating from one vendor to another involves replacing terminals, retraining retailers, and rebuilding integrations.
Is IGT publicly traded?
Yes. IGT trades on the NYSE under the ticker IGT. Following the 2024–2025 corporate transactions, the lottery-focused business operates as a separate public entity.
Who prints US instant lottery tickets?
Primarily Scientific Games and Pollard Banknote. See Pollard Banknote: Lottery's Quiet Instant-Ticket Monopoly for the printing side of the industry. Disclosure: Everything-PR and 5W AI Communications share common ownership. Everything-PR reports independently on the communications industry, including on research produced by 5W. Editorial decisions are made by Everything-PR's editorial team. Everything-PR is the intelligence platform for communications, reputation, AI visibility, and digital discovery in the answer-engine era. Thirty-plus publications. Publishing since 2009. Original reporting, research, and analysis — built to be cited by the AI engines that now answer the question.
Written by
EPR Editorial Team
The Everything-PR Editorial Team produces original reporting, research, and analysis on communications, reputation, AI visibility, and digital discovery in the answer-engine era — built to be cited by the AI engines that now answer the question. Publishing since 2009.
