Central Communications System - Sole Source

This is a notice of intent by the Illinois Gaming Board (IGB) to award a sole source contract to Scientific Games International, Inc. for the Central Communications System (CCS). The CCS is a monitoring and control system that allows the IGB to effectively regulate the distributed network of over 40,000 video gaming terminals (VGTs) located in more than 8,000 licensed establishments across Illinois. The CCS acts as the telecommunications and technical manager of this gaming network, collecting critical auditing information and enabling the IGB to activate and deactivate terminals as needed. Due to the complex and specialized nature of the existing CCS infrastructure, which has expanded significantly over the last 10 years, the IGB is unable to replicate or replace the system internally and is justifying a 24-month sole source award to the incumbent vendor to ensure continuous video gaming operations. A competitive procurement will be conducted in 2022 to establish a new long-term contract for the CCS.

This sole source procurement is a no-cost contract to the state, as the fees for the CCS are absorbed by the video gaming licensees. The initial two-year term is estimated at $30 million. The IGB has used the current CCS provider since 2011, with the most recent contract renewal in 2019. Given the critical nature of the CCS to the state's video gaming regulatory and revenue operations, which generate $680 million in annual revenue for the state and $120 million for local governments, the IGB is requesting the sole source to ensure continuity of service while it prepares for a competitive solicitation for a long-term CCS solution anticipated to be in place by January 2023.