Pressing Ahead: Investments to Serve Customers

The changes at Brightstar Lottery’s instants printing facility are part of an ongoing and comprehensive modernization program.

By Brightstar

Published October 21, 2025

It has a footprint that stretches the length of an American football field, and it’s set to help lottery customers compete, grow, and engage new players with compelling instant games. It’s the Innovator Press manufactured by Tresu − the most recent addition to Brightstar Lottery’s instants printing facility in Lakeland, Florida. Internally known as the T2, the new press is the second Tresu among three presses in service at Lakeland. It will increase Brightstar’s overall printing capacity by 40% while delivering efficiencies and greater technical capabilities.

Yet the T2 is only the most visible part of the company’s extensive program of investments at Lakeland. 

Beyond the Press

To match the increased output of the new press, state-of-the-art automation technology is being integrated throughout Lakeland’s packaging and finishing areas. This investment is aimed at increasing speed and eliminating some of the repetitive human tasks that can introduce errors, thereby ensuring consistent quality at scale. It is supported by new quality-inspection technology that is also being implemented at the plant.

“Rather than upgrade legacy equipment, we pushed for a more ambitious path. The aim is to give customers flexibility, capacity, and future-proof standards,” says Matt Whalen, who leads the company’s global printing operations. “With many of these substantial investments newly in place after years of planning, we’re heavily engaged in tuning processes and staff to the new state.”

Another change is the company’s decision to make high-definition monochromatic printing a standard offering, rather than an add-on. “We are establishing a new industry baseline that provides lotteries with that enhanced visual appeal for players and without the additional cost pressure,” notes Brightstar’s Keith Cash, who leads global instant ticket sales and account services.

Reimagining Games & Security

Even the reliably popular instant-game segment itself must keep evolving to compete with other entertainments. With the addition of the T2, Lakeland’s expanded equipment profile will provide more flexibility and capacity to serve demand for products such as Brightstar’s Infinity Instants™ games, which have evolved from an industry-first innovation in 2021 into a mature and widely deployed product line. With high-definition color printing capability both above and beneath the scratch-off coating, Brightstar’s patented Infinity technology enables all-new play styles and mechanics, adaptable to a wide range of game themes and price points. Infinity technology can also be used to refresh core categories like crossword, Lotería, seasonal families, and licensed properties, enabling lotteries to offer new options to players and refresh their perception of the lottery brand.

Along with making instant games look and play better, Brightstar has also invested in making them more secure. The company undertook a from-the-ground-up effort in recent years to develop a revolutionary and now-patented instants security system. Known as NextGen, it provides the highest levels of security in the industry and unprecedented transparency throughout the instant ticket development and manufacturing process. A blockchain associated with each instant game’s unique database protects not only the game development process but also the reconstruction process. NextGen is now used to generate secure instant games for Brightstar customers worldwide.

More Than Printing Capacity

The ongoing, comprehensive modernization program centered on Lakeland is a facet of Brightstar’s commitment to lottery customers and the category. “These investments are all targeted at improving lottery customers’ experience through higher quality, security, service, and innovation, and that goal is the driver for every dollar we’ve spent,” says Cash.

Many among the Lakeland staff have worked with customers for decades through multiple contracts and possess both technical expertise and extensive knowledge of customers’ day-to-day operations. The changes at the plant will support these professionals as they work to deliver much more than printing capacity.