CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa — The 25-year-old Iowa Lottery is an "offline business in an online world," but Director Terry Rich is out to change that.
Later this month, the Lottery will take bids on a new computer system that will allow players to check their tickets at automated kiosks in retail stores as July 1, 2011, Rich said Tuesday (Aug. 3).
He also expects the Lottery to attract younger, tech-savvy players by delivering games electronically, including games played on smart phones.
There are security issues preventing that now, but Rich expects technology soon will be available to allay those concerns. The games would require technology to verify players are at least 21 and a GPS feature to verify they are in Iowa.
"Millennials need more interactive games, games with more play action," Rich said, referring to the so-called Millennial Generation of people born in the 1980s to the 1990s.
Iowa law precludes using credit cards to play Lottery games, but it's possible players could set up debit card accounts with retailers to enable them to play. PayPal accounts would be another option.
Games delivered electronically also would be greener, Rich said. because they wouldn't involve paper tickets. The Lottery sold $256 million tickets last year. Not all were $1 plays, so the Lottery estimates it used as much as 150 million pieces of paper.
"That's a huge amount of paper," Lottery spokeswoman Mary Neubauer said.
I'm glad Iowa is doing this, though I believe interstate online lottery play is already a fait accompli just jumping through the final required legal hoops and assuaging the fears and moral concerns of those who always seem to have them. The bottom line though is money and that will rule the day.
I look forward to the states competing for lottery dollars. Competition always benefits everybody in the long haul.
I agree: 43 states competiting with each other -- should such a thing be allowed -- will make the lottery industry fascinating to watch!
Of course, the best place to discuss all those fascinating details will be LP...
LOL Well said Todd....well said
If the lotteries would listen to all of us on LP... which they won't ie... Tennessee, they could make more money... take Georgia Lottery they have made a record profit for 12 years running. becuase they listen to players and they listen to retailers. i work on computers and i do not like electronic games... too many ways to loose, hack, or errors... but if you purchase a QP or a Scrach Off you have in a round about way used a computer/electronic game. back to my original statement... lotteries need to listen to players not just guess because we use technology.
People will play if they think they will win. not just because it is on the internet or on a smart phone... and the green thing is getting old, i would like my lottery ticket on a peice of paper, not some data on some server where i can not touch it or keep it in a safe place.