Paul still believes ‘joint venture’ was good idea
NASHVILLE (AP) — Tennessee’s top lottery official still believes that the joint venture she proposed while head of the Georgia games was a good idea.
Rebecca Paul joined the Tennessee Lottery as CEO last fall after officials here rejected her proposed “joint venture” with Georgia.
Almost six months later, Paul said Thursday that she still believes her proposal — in which Georgia would have helped Tennessee with its startup if it joined the Peach State’s vendor contracts — could have meant more revenue for both states.
“I really in my heart believed — and still do — that a joint venture between two lotteries saves so much money in the long term … that it was in the best interest of both states,” Paul said during a speech to the Tennessee Press Association.
Despite Paul’s assessment, the Tennessee Education Lottery Corp. voted against the plan, saying the risk of a lawsuit from vendors who couldn’t compete for the contracts was too great.
Although the Tennessee games didn’t start by November, as Paul said the Tennessee-Georgia partnership would have allowed, they did begin three weeks earlier than the Feb. 10 startup target. That meant $100 million in additional revenue, including $30 million to fund college scholarships for Tennessee students, she said.
Paul outlined the progress of the games since their Jan. 20 launch to about 50 newspaper executives gathered for the three-day conference. She also answered questions on a range of issues including the pros and cons of picking a particular multistate lottery game, which is expected to begin this summer; the differences between Tennessee’s lottery operation and those Paul previously headed; and what role newspapers play in the lottery.
Paul said one particular difference has been the amount of news coverage she’s received in Tennessee compared with her other lottery jobs.
“For four months we were the only game in town and were covered every day,” Paul said. “The depth of reporters you have with nothing else to cover was unexpected.”
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On the Net:
Tennessee Lottery: www.tennesseelottery.com
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