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Skyrocketing scratch-off sales indicate lotto players are resilientNews Story
By Kate Northrop While ticket sales and jackpots are down for draw games like Powerball and Mega Millions, Americans have no problem finding entertainment in other lottery alternatives. Vendors have been selling tickets for multi-state games during stay-at-home orders, but customers are understandably reluctant to take the time to pick out numbers and hand cash to attendants while making essential shopping trips. Instead, quick buys like scratch-off tickets make great substitutions for the
May 14, 2020, 2:08 pm - Lottery News

North Carolina healthcare delivery driver almost faints after winning $150,000 lottery jackpotNews Story
N.C. Lottery shifts toward new prize claim safety measures By Kate Northrop James Joyce works as a healthcare driver, delivering medicine to hospitals and clinics. Every day after work, he routinely picks up a Cash 5 ticket with EZ Match on his way home. In the morning following the April 21 draw, he checked his numbers and discovered that he was the winner of the $149,814 Carolina Cash 5 jackpot. I almost fainted, Joyce remarked. He purchased the winning ticket at the Crossroads Ex
May 12, 2020, 9:11 am - Lottery News

Louisiana public education takes a toll from decreased lottery proceedsNews Story
LA Lottery planning for a post-COVID-19 world By Kate Northrop With lower game participation levels amidst the nationwide COVID-19 stay-at-home orders, it is no surprise that state lottery revenues have taken a hit. Yesterday, Louisiana lottery officials announced that this would affect the proceeds used to help pay for K-12 public education. Louisiana law requires that at least 35% of lottery proceeds be transferred to the state treasury and contribute to public education. About 53% of
May 5, 2020, 3:06 pm - Lottery News

Virginia Lottery March profits took a big hitNews Story
The Virginia Lottery is still running during the COVID-19 pandemic, but its March profits dropped 28 percent, according to a new agency report. The Lottery took in $48 million in profits for March, down more than a quarter compared to the same month last year. Though Gov. Ralph Northam has shut down virtually all types of indoor entertainment including the Rosie's gambling facilities operated by Colonial Downs he has not ordered the Lottery, a state agency, to stop selling tickets. Most Lo
Apr 22, 2020, 6:45 pm - Lottery News

Mississippi lottery revenue dips in March amid pandemicNews Story
State revenue from the Mississippi Lottery decreased in March as people began facing restrictions because of the coronavirus pandemic. The Mississippi Lottery Corporation said it deposited $9.9 million into the state treasury the net proceeds from lottery games played during March. Mississippi has collected more than $37.5 million from the lottery since it started operating in November. The state collected $11.6 million from lottery games played in February, $8.4 million during January
Apr 21, 2020, 7:41 am - Lottery News

Coronavirus impacting North Carolina lottery salesNews Story
The North Carolina Education Lottery has increased sales which climbed to $2.6 billion in 2018, according to the North American Association of State and Provincial Lotteries every year since it was established in 2005. A global health crisis could change that. As the number of coronavirus cases continues to climb across North Carolina and Gov. Roy Cooper weighs extending a statewide stay-at-home order, the lottery is experiencing a marked decrease in players. That's in part by design, o
Apr 17, 2020, 12:06 pm - Lottery News

SC Lottery offers refunds for some multi-draw ticketsNews Story
The South Carolina Education Lottery is offering to refund the cost of some multi-draw Powerball and Mega Millions tickets purchased prior to game changes announced last week. Going forward, the starting jackpot amounts will no longer begin at $40 million. Instead, the amounts will be announced after each jackpot is won. Increases will be based on game sales and interest rates. Powerball players who purchased a multi-draw ticket on or before April 2 are eligible for a refund for drawings h
Apr 11, 2020, 12:32 pm - Lottery News

Lottery bill is likely dead in Alabama legislatureNews Story
It appears the latest attempt to create an Alabama state lottery will die, killed this time not by special interests but, instead, coronavirus. The Alabama legislature still has about half of its 30 allotment of meeting days remaining, but also faces a mid-May deadline to end the session that began in early February. All meeting days must take place within a 105 day span. COVID-19, and the restrictions it has caused, will probably kill most most of them. It's not only Representative Ste
Mar 25, 2020, 8:10 am - Lottery News

China's lottery now operating at 2/3 capacity of pre-virus shutdownNews Story
China's state-run lottery operations are now working at about two-thirds of their capacity before they were shut down due to the COVID-19 pandemic. On Thursday, China's National Sports Lottery Center issued an update on the progress made since March 11, when the authorities gave the okay to resume operations following the unprecedented 49-day shutdown prompted by the coronavirus crisis. The notice said that over 110k sports lottery terminals had resumed operations as of March 17, represent
Mar 20, 2020, 8:00 am - Lottery News

Missouri Lottery sales drop amid coronavirus responseNews Story
With Missouri already losing tax revenue from the shutdown of the state's casinos, sales of lottery tickets have taken a nosedive as people stay home amid a pandemic. According to a weekly sales update obtained by the Post-Dispatch, overall sales dropped by 11% this week compared to a similar period last week. Scratch off ticket sales have dropped 9% and lottery draw games are down 11%. For the lottery, that amounts to a total sales drop of more than $1.7 million. The decline in sales i
Mar 20, 2020, 7:25 am - Lottery News