 | |
| Formerly | Scientific Games Corporation |
|---|---|
| Company type | Public |
| ISIN | US80874P1093  |
| Industry | Gambling |
| Predecessor | Autotote Corporation |
| Founded | 1973; 52 years ago (1973) |
| Headquarters | |
Key people | |
| Brands |
|
| Revenue | US$2.7 billion[3] (2020) |
| US$22 million[3] (2020) | |
| –US$548 million[3] (2020) | |
| Total assets | US$8.0 billion[4] (2020) |
Number of employees | 9,000[5] (2020) |
| Website | lnw |
Light & Wonder, Inc., formerlyScientific Games Corporation (SG), is an American corporation that providesgambling products and services. The company is headquartered inLas Vegas, Nevada.
Light & Wonder's gaming division provides products such asslot machines,table games,shuffling machines, and casino management systems. Its brands includeBally,WMS, andShuffle Master.
The company traces its history toAutotote,[6] a manufacturer oftotalizator systems forparimutuel wagering at racetracks. The history of Autotote dates to 1917, whenGeorge Julius founded Automatic Totalisators Limited in Australia to build the totalizator system he had invented.[7][8]
Automatic Totalisators opened its U.S. office in New York City in 1953, and then moved it toWilmington, Delaware in 1956.[9] It moved again toNewark, Delaware in 1972.[10] In 1978, the U.S. division was renamed as Autotote Ltd., to reflect its diversification into businesses other than totalizators, such as lottery systems, off-track betting, and slot machine accounting.[11]
In 1979, Autotote Ltd. was acquired for $17 million by a group led byThomas H. Lee Co.[12]
In 1989,United Tote, another leading totalizator company, purchased Autotote for $85 million.[13] Before the companies' operations could be integrated, the merger was challenged byfederal antitrust regulators.[14][15] A 1991 court ruling forced the company to split back up. The former United Tote assets were sold back to that company's founders, the Shelhamer family, and what remained of the company was renamed as Autotote Corporation, now a publicly traded company.[14][16]
In 2000, Autotote bought Scientific Games Holdings Corp., a maker ofinstant lottery equipment, for $308 million.[17][18] Scientific Games was founded in 1973, and introduced the first secure instant lottery ticket in 1974.[19] The combined company changed its name from Autotote to Scientific Games Corporation in 2001.[20]
By 2002, two-thirds of the $20 billion wagered annually on racing in North America was tracked by Autotote computers. Autotote supplied parimutuel wagering systems worldwide. These were automated, computerized off-track and on-track systems for betting onhorse races andgreyhound racing. It was an integrated system for off-track betting, keeping track of race results and winning tickets, and race simulcasting. The security of Autotote software for the racing industry garnered media attention in 2002 when one of their software developers, Chris Harn, attempted tosteal $3 million during the2002 Breeders' Cup betting scandal through a hole in their software and processes described as "an example of a very simple exploitation of a rather stupid design flaw."[21]
TheNational Thoroughbred Racing Association took swift action in the face of a growing outcry once the nature of the scam emerged. It required all tote companies to modify their software to transmit betting information immediately after the bet has closed. It also pressured its member tracks into not doing business with parlors that did not have the ability to record wagers taken over the phone.[22][23]
In 2007, theNew York Times credited Scientific Games andGtech for transforming what was known "historically [as] an underground operation run by mobsters" into "a lucrative, state-sponsored corporate enterprise."[19] Autotote's racing division, the core of the original Autotote, was sold toSportech in 2010.[24]
In March 2017, Scientific Games acquired rights to use theJames Bond franchise through a deal withEon Productions andMGM Interactive.[25][26][27]
SG launched its social gaming division, SciPlay, as a publicly traded company in 2019, selling a minority share in the business through aninitial public offering.[28]
In 2020, SG began a strategic review with the aim ofdeleveraging its balance sheet, as it struggled under $9.2 billion of debt.[29] The company ultimately decided to sell its lottery and sports betting businesses, to focus on its casino gaming business.[29] In 2021, SG agreed to sell its sports betting division toEndeavor Group Holdings for $1.2 billion, and to sell its lottery division (the core of the original Scientific Games) toBrookfield Business Partners for $6.1 billion.[30][31] As the divested lottery business took the Scientific Games name, the company announced in March 2022 that it would rebrand as Light & Wonder.[32]
In May 2022, Light & Wonder listed on theAustralian Securities Exchange.[33]
In November 2025, Light & Wonder delisted from theNasdaq.[34]
Wholly owned subsidiaries of Light & Wonder include The Global Draw,[35] Barcrest,[36]Bally Technologies,[37][38]WMS Industries,[39][40] MDI Entertainment, LLC, and NYX Gaming Group Limited.[41]
In 2006, the company acquired the lottery operations of the Swedish firmEssNet,[42] as well as The Global Draw which provides server-based gambling machines to betting shops in the UK.[35] Another UK-based gaming company Barcrest was acquired fromIGT in 2010.[36] Barcrest is the owner of Deal Games and a producer of betting and gambling terminals.[43]
In October 2013, the company bought WMS Industries, the third largest manufacturer ofslot machines, for $1.5 billion.[39][40] Scientific Games later acquired another slot machine maker, Bally Technologies, in November 2014, for $3.3 billion plus $1.8 billion in assumed debt.[44]
In 2016, the company acquired DEQ Systems, a Canadian table-game maker.[45] The mobile bingo app maker Spicerack Media Inc. was acquired in April 2017 to expand the Scientific Gamessocial gaming division.[46] Scientific Games also announced the $631 million acquisition of NYX Gaming Group Limited in September 2017.[47] When NYX acquisition was completed, the company gained the sports-betting platformOpenBet which handles about 80% of all sports betting in the UK as of 2018.[48] In November 2021, SG acquired Authentic Gaming, a provider of live streaming casino games.[49][50]
In May 2022, after previously reaching an exclusive distribution agreement with the company in Europe and North America, Light and Wonder acquired Playzido.[51]