The contract between the state of West Virginia and lottery officials has been finalized, with the new video lottery system ready to be integrated into the lottery of the state. John Myers, the acting director of the lottery, stated earlier this week that the state’s contract with Scientific Games Corp. covers a central computer system and has a cost of $8.7 million.

The central computer system will be used to monitor and control over 14,000 video lottery machines that operate in the state. The system will also be in control of over 7,000 video lottery machines that are located at the racetrack casinos of the state such as The Mardi Gras in Cross Lanes and The Greenbrier resort’s casino property in White Sulfur Springs.

This contract will see the currently outdated West Virginia lottery system replaced. The old system uses a dial-up connection to relay data to the central computer, which is not as convenient based on current technology. Newer IP cellular connections will be used with the new system that will be much faster and more reliable for the lottery. The new system will not be implemented fully until 2018.