The largest live state lottery agency-of-record in market — and the transition case study for the entire category.
The California State Lottery issued Request for Proposal #R002925 in the summer of 2025 for its Lead Advertising and Marketing Agency contract, with proposals due September 24, 2025. It is the largest active state lottery marketing procurement in the United States — a multi-year, multi-hundred-million-dollar assignment that will run through the answer-engine transition and set the template for how state lottery marketing gets bought for the rest of the decade.
The scale
The California State Lottery is the second-largest state lottery in the United States by annual sales. FY2023/24 sales exceeded $9.2 billion. The lottery contributed more than $2.3 billion to California public schools in the same year. Products cover an average of 54 Scratchers games annually plus Powerball, Mega Millions, SuperLotto Plus, Fantasy 5, and Hot Spot, sold through more than 23,000 retail locations statewide.
The lead marketing agency contract is one of the largest single marketing engagements available in the US regulated public-sector consumer category. The incumbent contract — held by David&Goliath, LLC (D&G) with Horizon Media as media planning and buying subcontractor — has been extended through May 18, 2026, with expenditure authority raised to $612 million total to bridge the gap while procurement completes. Market reporting on the successor contract has referenced a total scope in the $400 million+ range across the full contract term.
The incumbent
David&Goliath has held the California State Lottery lead advertising and marketing agency contract since 2013 through successive renewals and extensions. The agency has been responsible for brand advertising across the lottery's game portfolio, jackpot moment activation, beneficiary storytelling around the Prop 37 education mandate, and stewardship of the California Lottery brand through more than a decade of scratch-off innovation and multi-state jackpot cycles. Horizon Media has served as the media planning and buying partner throughout.
The extension of the incumbent contract through May 2026 — approved by the California State Lottery Commission in November 2024 — was tied to staffing shortages inside the Lottery's Marketing division and a decision to give the RFP process additional runway rather than rush the procurement. That extension positions the successor contract as one of the most-watched state lottery agency selections of the decade.
The scope
The RFP calls for a strategic agency partner capable of full-service brand and consumer marketing across the California State Lottery product portfolio. Scope includes:
Brand advertising across TV, radio, out-of-home, digital, and paid social
Jackpot moment communications for Powerball and Mega Millions
Scratchers game launches — up to 54 per year
Beneficiary storytelling for the public education mandate
Market research and consumer insights
Public relations and earned media
Social media and content production
Diversity supplier program participation
The RFP is companion to RFP #50180, the California State Lottery's separate Promotions and Retail Marketing Agency procurement, which handles retail activation and in-store marketing programs. Together the two contracts govern the majority of the lottery's downstream marketing spend. The broader procurement context — how state and municipal buyers write, score, and award PR and marketing RFPs — is documented in Everything-PR's PR & Marketing RFPs Archive.
The AI Communications wedge
The California procurement is the first major state lottery AOR cycle to run entirely inside the answer-engine era. State lottery directors are asking questions that did not exist three years ago — what is our Citation Share inside ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, Perplexity, and Google AI Overviews? Which agencies can measure it, defend it in front of the Lottery Commission, and improve it inside a multi-year contract? The sector-wide measurement baseline is documented in The 2026 AI Lottery Visibility Index; the operator-level analysis is in Lottery Is $113B. AI Can't See It.
Traditional lottery marketing metrics — brand awareness, retail foot traffic, jackpot moment lift — are still the historical evaluation criteria. Layer 5 (AI visibility, Citation Share, GEO infrastructure) is the newest scoring axis. Agencies that can answer the AI Communications question with measurement, not pitch slides, are entering the room earlier. The full 2026 operator's guide for agencies pitching state lottery work is The 2026 State Lottery AOR Cycle.
What the California decision signals
The California award will be read across the state lottery ecosystem as a signal about how the largest state lotteries are weighing AI Communications capability against traditional creative and media evaluation. Three outcomes are possible:
Incumbent retention. David&Goliath wins renewal. Signal to the category: continuity and institutional knowledge outweigh AI Communications differentiation for now.
Traditional-agency challenger. A major integrated agency displaces D&G. Signal: creative and brand-building matter more than AI capability at this cycle.
Digital-first challenger. A firm with real Citation Share measurement capability wins. Signal: state lottery procurement has crossed the AI Communications threshold — every subsequent state lottery RFP will score for it.
The California State Lottery's Request for Proposal for its Lead Advertising and Marketing Agency contract, issued in the summer of 2025 with proposals due September 24, 2025. It is the largest live state lottery marketing procurement in the United States.
Who is the current California State Lottery marketing agency?
David&Goliath, LLC (D&G), which has held the lead advertising and marketing agency contract since 2013 through successive extensions. Horizon Media serves as media planning and buying subcontractor. The current contract has been extended through May 18, 2026 with $612 million in expenditure authority to bridge the procurement.
How big is the California State Lottery?
Second-largest state lottery in the United States. FY2023/24 sales exceeded $9.2 billion. Contribution to California public schools exceeded $2.3 billion in the same year. Products sold through more than 23,000 retail locations across the state.
What services does the RFP cover?
Full-service brand and consumer marketing: brand advertising, jackpot moment communications, Scratchers game launches, beneficiary storytelling, market research, public relations, and social media. Retail activation and in-store marketing sits under a separate RFP (#50180) for the Promotions and Retail Marketing Agency contract.
Why does the California award matter for the broader state lottery industry?
California is the largest live state lottery marketing procurement in market and the first major state lottery AOR cycle to run entirely inside the answer-engine era. The award will signal how state lotteries are weighing AI Communications capability, Citation Share measurement, and GEO infrastructure against traditional creative and media evaluation. It will shape subsequent state lottery RFPs in Texas, Indiana, Tennessee, and Missouri.
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.
