An iconic board game like Monopoly is recognized throughout the world.
And its maker is capitalizing on that notoriety by expanding a licensing deal to put Monopoly and other Hasbro board game brands on lottery games outside the U.S.
The new deal with 40 lotteries calls for up to 20 games to appear on everything from instant scratch-off and pull-tab tickets to mobile, online terminal and Internet games. Countries include Ireland, Belgium, Germany, Austria and Hungary.
Popular games like Twister, Operation, Risk, Scattergories, Upwords, Mystery Date, Subbuteo and Ouija will appear on the platforms, in addition to old-time favorites like Scrabble and Clue.
“Hasbro has a rich portfolio of brands that have worldwide appeal and translate very well into many different categories,” says Bryony Bouyer, senior vice president, HPG Americas, Hasbro Inc.’s licensing division. “Consumers have a strong emotional connection to our brands and enjoy experiencing them in a variety of ways. The lottery certainly makes sense given it is about a game.”
HPG is working on the pact with Scientific Games Corp., a lottery service provider, and its subsidiary MDI Entertainment. The international push broadens an existing deal that brought nine Hasbro properties to U.S. lotteries in the late 1990s, including Monopoly, Game of Life, Twister and Battleship.
HPG has been busy striking a number of new deals.
In its largest licensing deal to date, 140 Steve & Barry’s stores are offering 12 Hasbro properties on T-shirts, casual bottoms, hooded sweatshirts and sports hats to its core customer: 18- to 34-year olds.
One shirt carries the words “Luxury Tax” and an image of a jeweled faux ring. Another depicts Operation patient Cavity Sam and his many ailments. A paint-splashed T-shirt with colorful handprints plays up the Twister brand.
“There are many people who recognize icons from the brand,” Bouyer says. “Sometimes, you don’t even have to say ‘Monopoly.’”
Other retailers carrying Hasbro T-shirts include Dillard’s, Nordstrom, Lord & Taylor, Macy’s, Saks, Bloomingdales, Urban Outfitters and Delia’s.
In a separate deal with DreamWorks, HPG developed The Transformers Collector’s Edition, based on the “Transformers” film. It is also out with the Risk Transformers Cybertron Battle Edition, Transformers Stratego and a Transformers Chess Set.
“At the end of the day, the game play hasn’t changed,” Bouyer says. “The graphics have changed, but the mechanics of how people play the game hasn’t. That’s led to our success.”
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