Scientific Games' $315m Fine Reduced

Gaming supplier, Scientific Games, will have a bittersweet taste in its mouth after 2018. It has been a roller-coaster ride for the company with both wins and losses.

What happened?

The provider will be paying a $151.5 million as a penalty after they have been on the losing side in an antitrust case against four companies. However, this could be considered a victory…

…since the developer was initially fined $315 million, plus attorney’s fees and costs, by a federal court in August 2018.

One of the plaintiffs was Shuffle Tech International and they believed that Scientific Games’ “sham patent litigation” restricted their rivals in bringing other card shufflers and making the market competition more dynamic.

SG Wants Matter to End

The Nevada-based company believes that they have been wrongly accused. James Sottile, the company’s Chief Legal Officer and Executive Vice-President wrote in a press release:

“While we firmly believe that the jury decision was wrong, we are pleased with the outcome of the settlement and that this matter will be resolved for good.”

The lowered amount which is issued to be paid still depends on the court ordering the judgement on the jury’s verdict to be vacated, according to Scientific. “The Company anticipates that the trial court will enter such an order,” continued the press release.

The popular Las Vegas provider says that the settlement does resolve the disputed claims. However, Scientific Games has not itted any liability, with pending motions and filings to be dropped.

Revenue Gains?

Initially, Shuffle Tech and the other plaintiffs were supposed to get $105 million…

…but that changed when the presiding judge considered the amount to be too small and decided to triple it!

By increasing the fine drastically, Scientific had to face holes in the budget. The company has included $309.6 million in the third-quarter financial report and that contributed to a $351.6 million loss in that period only.

However, it must be taken into consideration that the verdict was still being appealed at the time which did not result in cash outflow. Interestingly enough, last year, the company also recorded a loss in Q3, but it was significantly smaller – “only” 59.3 million.

On a similar note, in the final third quarter, the revenue was $821 million, which is a 6.8% jump compared to the same period in the previous year.

Other Moves

Despite the bottlenecks throughout the year, the supplier managed to get the job done. Their big purchase of the year came recently when they concluded the acquisition of Don Best.

Furthermore, they, just like the other providers focused on the emerging sports betting in the country. Scientific Games has been on the edge of their seat, waiting to hear the next country to regulate this form of gambling.

And as soon as Mississippi allowed it, Scientific was in the first row, offering its services to the state’s casinos.

2018 has been a turbulent year for the Las Vegas developer, but the obstacles didn’t throw them off the tracks.

Source:

“Scientific Games to pay reduced amount in antitrust settlement”, Paul How, calvinayre.com, December 14, 2018.