Alpharetta executive to enter Lottery Industry Hall of Fame

Pat McHugh, executive vice president and lottery chief executive is based at the lottery division headquarters of Scientific Games in Alpharetta and also works in global operations.

Pat McHugh, executive vice president and lottery chief executive is based at the lottery division headquarters of Scientific Games in Alpharetta and also works in global operations.

An executive at Scientific Games International in Alpharetta where scratch-off instant tickets are produced will be inducted into the Lottery Industry Hall of Fame.

Scientific Games is the Georgia Lottery’s biggest supplier of tickets.

Pat McHugh, an executive vice president and lottery chief executive, is based at the lottery division headquarters of Scientific Games in Alpharetta and works in global operations. The north Fulton location manufactures a variety of lottery tickets. Alpharetta is also where designers huddle to create new games, software and hardware systems are developed and analytics are studied, McHugh said.

Lottery game purchases have remained steady during the pandemic, McHugh said.

The Milton resident was voted into the Lottery Industry Hall of Fame by 88 members of the Public Gaming Research Institute. The organization states that its mission is to work with public policymakers who support government-sponsored gaming. The Public Gaming Research Institute held its first ceremony in 2005. This year’s ceremony will induct six executives Oct. 14.

McHugh joined Scientific Games in 2006. The Massachusetts native said he started working in the industry in the 1990s and helped to launch the Georgia Lottery while working at a different supplier.

“I traveled the world for years putting in lottery systems,” he said.

Scientific Games provides games, technology and services for 150 lotteries in 50 countries. A company statement cites the $310 billion industry as being larger than the film and music industry combined.

McHugh said Scientific Games is the largest manufacturer of instant scratch-off games with more than 70% of retail sales.

“We are incredibly proud of Pat and all he has accomplished,” said Barry Cottle, CEO of Scientific Games in a statement.