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# Taoti Creative Tells WBJ It Won $70 Million D.C. Lottery Contract “Fair and Square”
- URL: https://capitolcommunicator.com/taoti-creative-says-it-won-70-million-d-c-lottery-contract-fair-and-square/
- Published: 2021-12-08T18:13:12.000Z
- Updated: 2021-12-08T19:19:00.000Z
- Author: Capitol Communicator
- Tags: Agency, B to G, #wp-top-center-sponsored, #Import 2026-10-08 18:51

**The winning bidder for a** [**nearly $70 million D.C. Lottery contract**](https://www.bizjournals.com/washington/news/2021/11/16/dc-lottery-advertising-contract-battle.html?ref=capitolcommunicator.com) **is breaking its silence** as scrutiny of the award intensifies, arguing that it won the business “fair and square” despite accusations of impropriety from its chief rival, reports [**Washington Business Journal**](https://www.bizjournals.com/washington/news/2021/12/07/taoti-dc-lottery-contract-mdb-communications.html?ref=capitolcommunicator.com).

**Brent Lightner, founder and CEO of Taoti Creative**, told the Washington Business Journal that the allegations against his D.C. company are “blatantly unsupported and false,” forcefully refuting any insinuation that his firm gamed District contracting rules to win the five-year advertising and marketing contract. Those complaints have come primarily from **MDB Communications**, the lottery’s longtime vendor, which has spent months fighting to overturn the agency’s decision to award the deal to Taoti.

Lightner said the contracting team he assembled — including Massachusetts-based **Fuseideas** and D.C.’s **Seaberry Design and Communications** — initially declined to address MDB’s allegations publicly, opting to stay silent until they’d officially won the business. But Lightner said he decided to reverse course once the D.C. Council opted to delay its approval of the deal to review MDB’s accusations more closely.

He believes **MDB’s CEO, Cary Hatch**, is “meddling in the process in a way that’s hurting us and hurting the taxpayers” by disparaging Taoti’s qualifications. He said he feels she’s exploiting previous allegations of wrongdoing in the D.C. Lottery’s controversial award of its sole-source sports betting contract to Greek company Intralot to cast aspersions on this advertising deal, adding that the circumstances are different.

According to WBJ, “Hatch’s firm has spent the better part of the last year arguing that Taoti is trying to use its position as a D.C.-based business to strengthen its bid for such a large contract, but that the out-of-town subcontractor, Fuseideas, will perform most of the work. MDB claims that Taoti doesn’t have the requisite experience to perform these advertising services for the lottery’s products, pointing to its past as a web design firm as evidence that Fuseideas is better equipped to execute the contract.”

The final decision on the award now lies with the D.C. Council, which has until mid-January to decide whether to cast an up or down vote on the contract or simply let it become law without taking action.

More [here](https://www.bizjournals.com/washington/news/2021/12/07/taoti-dc-lottery-contract-mdb-communications.html?ref=capitolcommunicator.com).