In the battle for Maryland’s lottery central system, technical criteria outweighs the cost.

The Maryland State Lottery and Gaming Control Agency has found itself with its back against the wall as it defends its decision to pick the most expensive of three contract proposals for a new lottery central system.

In awarding the controversial lottery contract to gaming technology provider Scientific Games Inc. (SGI), Maryland Lottery Director Gordon Medenica pointed out that the technical criteria of the $262 million contract over eight years trumps than the high cost differences when compared to overall lottery sales.

He explained that SGI received the top ranking by a lottery committee on “technical” criteria that includes the data center, hardware, software, communications, field service, operations, marketing, game support and more.