SBTech Suing Oregon Lottery Over Contract Confidentiality

• SBTech is suing the Oregon Lottery among others named in a lawsuit to keep its sports betting contract with the state private.
• The tech company has allowed documents to be released that have certain information that involves the company’s financial structure blacked out.
• SBTech is presently in the middle of merging with DraftKings, a deal that would make the owners of the Malta-based company $650 million.

SALEM, Ore. – SBTech, a sports betting and iGaming provider, is suing the Oregon Lottery over contract confidentiality.

Such contracts like the one between the lottery and an iGaming company are typically deemed public information but SBTech has had issues with this rule since the beginning.

They agreed to release documents of the deal to the public but much of what’s been released has been heavily redacted.

The Lawsuit Grows Bigger

Through the terms of their contract with SBTech, the Oregon Lottery only gave out information that was okayed by the tech company to The Oregonian and Oregon Live when they asked for the documents last Spring.

The news outlets were unhappy with the chunks of information missing from the papers and made an appeal with the Department of Justice. The DOJ agreed on the side of the media companies.

Ellen Rosenblum, the Attorney General of Oregon ordered the full disclosure of all documents within the deal between SBTech and the Oregon Lottery.

On January 10, in retaliation, the tech company decided to sue not only the lottery but Barry Pack, the director of the lottery, the Oregon Department of Justice, the Oregonian and OregonLive as well as Ellen Rosenblum, the Attorney General that started the domino effect with her orders.

The Oregonian and OregonLive were both named in the lawsuit because they were the first to request the records of the deal to publish for their readers and then appeal what they originally received.

After the new names were added to the docket, SBTech requested a restraining order to stop the release of their contract by the lottery. They were granted the restraining order and will return to the courtroom in Marion County on Wednesday before Judge David Leith in hopes of turning the restraining order into an injunction while the problem tries to be resolved.

SBTech has said that the reason they want to keep certain information regarding Oregon sports betting confidential is that it contains their financial structure for their company which should remain a secret.

If other companies knew how they did business, they could lose everything they’ve built because their strategies could be used by others. The information they would like to keep contained has nothing to do with the effects that sports betting is having on the state of Oregon.

The iGaming company is currently in the middle of a huge merger with DraftKings that would make the owners a pretty penny to the tune of $650 million. The release of their formula for business success in the world of sports betting could cost them the deal should the information be made public. Court proceedings will resume this week.

News tags: David Leith | DraftKings | Ellen Rosenblum | Oregon Lottery | Oregonian | OregonLive | SBTech