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Investigation: Illinois Lottery didn't award 40% of scratch-off grand prizesNews Story
It was called The Good Life and offered the biggest grand prize of any instant game the Illinois Lottery had ever produced. Two lucky winners could scratch their way to $46 million each, paid in periodic installments. At $30, tickets weren't cheap, but millions were sold. Then the game ended before the lottery sold most of the tickets that were printed, with neither top prize awarded. The same thing happened with another instant game, called Birthday Surprise. Two large grand prizes offere
Dec 9, 2016, 1:50 pm - Lottery News

Audit: Illinois Lottery broke law to get around budget impasseNews Story
Eleven months ago, just as the state budget impasse was about to take hold, the Illinois Lottery violated state finance law by prepaying $20 million to take part in future multi-state lottery games, according to an Auditor General's report. Lottery officials made the prepayment because they were worried that a budget stalemate could prevent the state from participating in the Multi-State Lottery Association's future Powerball and Mega Millions games, according to the audit. The state's Lot
May 21, 2016, 5:14 pm - Lottery News

Illinois fires lottery operator NorthstarNews Story
Will continue to operate lottery for more than a year The nation's first private company to manage a state lottery was fired Friday by the Illinois Governor after years of failing to make the lofty revenue targets it promised. In a news release Friday, Gov. Bruce Rauner announced that his office had reached a termination agreement with Northstar Lottery Group that will remove the firm as private manager as of Jan. 1, 2017, or until a replacement is chosen. The agreement also stipulated
Sep 19, 2015, 10:48 am - Lottery News

Illinois lottery winners file class-action lawsuit against stateNews Story
Includes video report Rhonda Rasche had a great plan for the $50,000 she won from a scratch-off Illinois Lottery ticket. She wanted to help her best friend cope with the loss of her mother. I wanted to take her and her sister on a trip because they were doing at-home hospice for her, and it was pretty tough on all of them emotionally [and] physically, said Rasche, 48, of Homer Glen. She never made that trip. Instead, Rasche became one of two plaintiffs in a class-action lawsuit file
Sep 10, 2015, 8:59 am - Lottery News

Illinois lottery director calls it quitsNews Story
Michael Jones' run as Illinois Lottery Director is over. Late Wednesday Jones sent a brief memo to his Lottery colleagues that said his job there is done. Jones went on to write that he had informed Gov. Bruce Rauner's chief of staff a while ago that he was planning to leave his post. Jones said his immediate plan is to go surfing at my home break, Seapark, next week. In a statement to the Chicago Business Journal this afternoon, Gov. Bruce Rauner said he appreciated Michael Jones steppin
Mar 20, 2015, 8:59 am - Lottery News

Illinois Lottery cuts ties with private managerNews Story
The split between the Illinois Lottery and its private manager, Northstar Lottery Group, is now official after three years of acrimony over lower-than-expected revenues. The termination agreement, signed Tuesday by Gov. Pat Quinn, comes a little more than three months after he directed lottery officials to sever ties with the company after it fell short of promised revenues for the third consecutive year. At the time, the company had posted record profits to the state, but those figures st
Dec 10, 2014, 9:11 pm - Lottery News

With Northstar terminated, what will the Illinois Lottery do now?News Story
So what's next for the Illinois Lottery? That's the big question looming in the wake of Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn's politically-expedient move late last week to fire Northstar Lottery Group. Quinn made history late in 2010 when he inked a 10-year contract with Northstar to become the first-ever private manager of any state lottery in the nation. Two other states now have private lottery managers Indiana and New Jersey. Quinn's move last week to terminate Northstar may prove too little too la
Aug 23, 2014, 10:27 pm - Lottery News

Illinois to fire private lottery operatorNews Story
The bumpy marriage between the state and the private company that operates the Illinois Lottery is ending in a divorce. Gov. Pat Quinn's office confirmed to me today that it is ending its contract with Northstar Lottery Group LLC to operate the $2 billion-a-year lottery system, seven years earlier than scheduled. It is not yet certain whether the separation will be voluntary by both parties, but a decision to end the contract has been made. The governor's office has directed the lotter
Aug 23, 2014, 10:20 pm - Lottery News

Indecision at the Illinois Lottery over new national gameNews Story
The Illinois Department of Lottery is working to decide whether it wants to take a chance on a new Monopoly game that will be rolled out in October across the United States. The decision-making process is hurting the profitability of the Illinois Lottery, according the private company that manages it. Northstar Lottery Group, which was awarded a 10-year contract to manage the Illinois Lottery in 2010, is pushing for the state to include a new, national $5 Monopoly game. Northstar CEO
Jul 29, 2014, 7:06 am - Lottery News

Illinois legislator urges Gov. to fire company running the lotteryNews Story
Northstar disagrees, says revenue targets met Citing nearly three years of lackluster performance, an Illinois state lawmaker is urging Governor Pat Quinn to fire the company his administration hired to run the Illinois Lottery. State Rep. Jack Franks, D-Marengo, said the state's contract with Northstar Lottery Group has cost taxpayers hundreds of millions in lost revenues due to the firm's failure to meet revenue goals. The privatization of the Illinois State Lottery has been nothing
May 15, 2014, 12:13 pm - Lottery News