NJ Placing Bet on Lottery Privatization

Companies interested in running the New Jersey Lottery showed up for a mandatory pre-privatization meeting in Trenton on Thursday.

The state Treasury Department is looking to hand over daily operations to a private vendor.

The operator will be required to pay $120 million up front and sign a 15-year contract.

The state believes a privately managed lottery could bring in substantially more net income than the current $959 million. New Jersey's lottery is the eighth largest among the 50 states and employs 150 people, mostly to manage the network of lottery retailers.

It's on pace to generate nearly 5 percent more revenue than last year.

Vendors have until Nov. 15 to submit their proposals to the state.