Scientific Games launches Beijing Olympic lottery tickets

NEW YORK -- (PRESS RELEASE) -- Scientific Games (Nasdaq: SGMS) today announced the successful launch of Olympic themed instant lottery tickets by the China Sports Lottery ("CSL") in the People's Republic of China ("PRC"). The program debuted on Sunday, March 23rd, in the Shandong province with over 1,500 initial retail locations, with the combination of distributed tickets and activations generating approximately 40 million Yuan, or US$5.6 million, on the first day. The CSL and Scientific Games expect to expand to 5,000 retailers in Shandong in the coming weeks and to add an additional provinces every couple of weeks until all 31 provinces in the PRC sell CSL instant tickets.

The tickets display the Fuwas (the five Beijing Olympic mascots), the Olympic torch relay route and other designs. The new instant lottery tickets have face values currently ranging from three to ten Yuan and offer players a 65 percent prize payout. The distribution and validation of CSL instant tickets throughout the PRC are being tracked by a central system and retailer validation terminals that have been provided by Scientific Games and are operated by CSL. Scientific Games will also provide a national call center and 90,000 instant ticket validation terminals within two years, in addition to related services such as game design, marketing and a variety of distribution services to the CSL provincial lotteries. Revenues to Scientific Games will be based on a percentage of retail sales.

"We are thrilled to report that the CSL's national instant ticket program had a smooth launch, and look forward to adding additional provinces in the coming months ahead of the Beijing Olympics," stated Lorne Weil, Chairman and CEO of Scientific Games. "We were impressed with the level of sales on the first day, and expect to see substantial growth which will raise more funds for the great causes of the China Sports Lottery."

In 2007, China's total lottery sales exceeded 100 billion Yuan (US$14 billion), an increase of 20 billion Yuan or 24 percent over 2006, setting a 20-year record in China's lottery history. Of the 100 billion in total lottery sales, only approximately four billion Yuan or four percent were from instant tickets, in sharp contrast to the United States where instant tickets account for over 55 percent of total lottery sales.