Scientific Games contract with William Hill
NEW YORK, December 2007
Scientific Games (Nasdaq:SGMS) announced that its wholly owned subsidiary The Global Draw Ltd. hasbeen awarded a four year contract to supply multi-game server-based gaming terminals to William Hill (LSE: WMH.L) betting shops. This contract establishes Global Draw as the supplier of gaming machines to a minimum of 548 William Hill betting shops, which will house approximately 2,100 terminals. William Hill has over 2,250 betting shops across the UnitedKingdom and Ireland, with an installed base of over 8,300 gaming machines.
This new contract follows the recent change in British gaming law in September 2007, which allows betting shops to have up to a total of four of either Category B2 (formerly FOBTs) or Category B3 (Jackpot Machines)gaming machines. Global Draw upgraded all of its gaming machines to Nevada(TM) dual screen terminals which can offer either Category B2 or B3 content on the same machines. The contract award follows a trial of these new machines in a limited number of William Hill shops. William Hill will be replacing all of the machines in each of the 548 shops following the conclusion of its current supplier’s contract in January with up to four Global Draw Nevadas(TM). The machines should all be fully installed during the first quarter of 2008.
“William Hill is the largest betting shop operator in the UK and one of the best known names in the betting industry and we are proud to become a part of their family,” said Lorne Weil, Chairman and CEO of Scientific Games. “Global Draw has worked extremely hard to create a new standard for gaming machines following the recent changes in British gaming laws and we are extremely encouraged by this contract award.”
Ian Chuter, Group Director, Gaming of William Hill stated, “We have been very impressed with the performance of Global Draw’s new Nevada(TM)terminals and level of service we have received during our trial period.The Global Draw dual purpose machines, server- based gaming technology and in-house content should ensure greater choice and flexibility for William Hill’s betting shop customers and we are looking forward to rolling out these machines in approximately one-quarter of our estate.”
“We would like to thank William Hill for their display of confidence and we look forward to expanding our relationship with them,” said Steve Frater, Managing Director for The Global Draw Ltd. “We have been extremely pleased with the performance of our new Nevada(TM) terminals and this is a further endorsement of the dual purpose B2/B3 machine strategy pioneered by Global Draw. This order will expand our installed base of Nevadas(TM) to over 11,400 machines and will make us the leading supplier of B2/B3 machines to the UK LBO market.”