Another lottery story. The Arkansas Lottery Commission Legislative Oversight Committee met this morning to continue their review of the online gaming contract, which was discussed at length in Tuesday’s meeting. They also reviewed the contracts for instant, or scratch-off, tickets and the advertising contract. The committee completed their review of all three, essentially giving the lottery commission the go-ahead to sign each contract.
The committee moved quickly on the online gaming and instant ticket contracts, but debate got a little heated when the discussion turned to the advertising bid submitted by The Communications Group. Sen. Robert Thompson (D-Paragould) specifically referred to Rex Nelson, vice president of government relations for The Communications Group, who recently made some controversial remarks about the Delta region. Thompson’s main concern was that rural areas and smaller media businesses would be left out of the advertising strategy of the lottery. Legislators also took issue with a provision in the bid submitted by the Little Rock-based ad agency that said broadcast outlets would be required to offer one free advertisement for every one purchased by the commission.
Check out the jump for the gritty details.