WINNIPEG, MB, Feb. 16, 2021 /CNW/ - Pollard Banknote
Limited (TSX: PBL) ("Pollard Banknote") is pleased to
announce that it has been granted a one-year extension to its
instant ticket games and related services contract by the Michigan
Lottery ("Lottery"). Under this agreement Pollard Banknote will
continue to supply the Lottery with outstanding games and strategic
support through December 31,
2021.
Pollard Banknote has worked closely with the Lottery for 25
years, offering strategic insights and recommendations across a
broad range of lottery products and services, including innovative
games, retail initiatives, and digital engagement. Over the course
of the current contract, which began on January 1, 2017, Pollard Banknote has printed
many of the Lottery's instant games. In addition to providing
instant tickets and related services, Pollard Banknote, together
with its family of companies, supplies the Lottery with ticket
dispensing systems, digital games, pull-tabs tickets and pull-tabs
vending machines, and its award-winning iLottery program.
The Lottery has achieved exceptional sales results since the
start of the current agreement, including a 25% increase in
instant sales from FY 2017 to FY 2019, which is more than double
the rate of average growth among U.S. lotteries (11 %) over the
same period. In addition, the Lottery has earned consistent
year-over-year instant sales growth in the double-digits for the
past seven years.
Over the years, Pollard Banknote has helped the Lottery
strengthen and complement its core games category with novel play
concepts, innovative printing methods, and digital game apps. For
example, 5X Cashword, launched in February 2020, delighted players with a brand-new
play style and app-based second chance promotion, resulting in
10-week sales that were 47 % higher than average sales for the
Lottery's other $5 crossword games
since 2017.
Pollard Banknote also has played a role in the incredible
49% sales growth of the Lottery's higher price point ($20+)
category from FY 2017 to FY 2019. Strong recent contributors to
this category were $50,000,000
Cash Blowout and Millionaire Wild Time, both of which
represented the inaugural $20 launch
of a popular brand. Millionaire Wild Time, which launched
alongside the Lottery's redesigned Wild Time app, contributed to a
12 % increase in $20 sales based on a
comparison of sales 10 weeks before and after its launch.
"We are proud of the strong relationship we've cultivated with
the Michigan Lottery, based on a shared vision for success focused
on outstanding games, retail excellence, and digital innovation,"
said Donna Preziotti, Director,
Sales & Marketing, Pollard Banknote. "This contract extension
demonstrates the productive nature of our collaborative partnership
and we look forward to helping the Lottery continue to deliver
outstanding lottery experiences to its players."
"We strive to offer Michigan
players innovative and engaging products. Pollard Banknote
routinely brings exciting and innovative instant ticket games and
strategies to the table. Many of those games are manufactured in
Pollard Banknote's Michigan
facility by Michiganders, having a positive economic impact on the
state," said Glenn Strong, Deputy
Commissioner of Games and Marketing, Michigan Lottery. "Our
partnership with Pollard Banknote has helped us achieve consistent,
record-breaking growth over the past four years and maximize our
contributions to the School Aid Fund."
About Pollard Banknote
Pollard Banknote is a leading lottery partner to more than 60
lotteries worldwide, providing high quality instant ticket
products, licensed games, Schafer Systems and Fastrak retail
merchandising solutions, and a full suite of digital offerings,
ranging from world-class mkodo game apps to comprehensive player
engagement and iLottery solutions, including strategic marketing
and management services. The company is a proven innovator and has
decades of experience helping lotteries to maximize player
engagement, sales, and proceeds for good causes. Pollard Banknote
also provides pull-tab tickets, bingo paper, and its Diamond Game and Compliant Gaming electronic
games and devices to charitable and other gaming markets in North
America. Established in 1907, Pollard Banknote is owned
approximately 66.7% by the Pollard family and 33.3% by public
shareholders, and is publicly traded on the TSX (PBL). For more
information, please visit our website at
www.pollardbanknote.com.
Forward-looking Statements
Certain statements in this press release may constitute
"forward-looking" statements and information, which involve known
and unknown risks, uncertainties, and other factors that may cause
actual results, performance, or achievements to be materially
different from any future results, performance, or achievements
expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. When used
in this document, such statements include such words as "may,"
"will," "expect," "believe," "plan," and other similar terminology.
These statements reflect management's current expectations
regarding future events and operating performance and speak only as
of the date of this document. There should not be an expectation
that such information will in all circumstances be updated,
supplemented, or revised whether as a result of new information,
changing circumstances, future events, or otherwise.
SOURCE Pollard Banknote Limited