Oklahoma Lottery worried about prospect of Arkansas lottery
Already falling short, Oklahoma Lottery sales could suffer even more from Arkansas competition
A proposed lottery in Arkansas would devote more sales revenue to prizes, giving it a critical advantage over Oklahoma's game, Oklahoma's lottery director says.
Oklahoma law requires 35 percent of sales revenue to go to the state, reducing the size of jackpots, making the game less attractive, hurting sales and ultimately resulting in less money for the state, lottery director Jim Scroggins told ...
Sep 19, 2008, 12:15 pm - - Lottery News forum
Sweet dreams in hard times add to lottery sales
When gasoline prices shot up this year, Peggy Seemann thought about saving the $10 she spends weekly on lottery tickets.
But the prospect that the $10 could become $100 million or more was too appealing. So rather than stop buying Mega Millions tickets, Ms. Seemann, 50, who lives in suburban Chicago and works in advertising sales for a financial Web site, saved money instead by packing her lunch a few days a week, keeping alive her dreams of hitting a jackpot and retiring as a multimillionair ...
Sep 14, 2008, 9:49 pm - - Lottery News forum
Ohio Lottery's new Keno does $7.2M in business the first month
Keno attracting players, but sales below projections
Mike Winiasz of Lorain watches his neighbor pick numbers in the Ohio Lottery's new game, Keno, but he does not indulge.
The last time I was in a lottery, I was picked No. 1 in the draft, he said. I figured I used up my lottery luck.
Keno, the Ohio Lottery's newest game, finished up its first month of operation this week. As of Sunday, Keno brought in $7.2 million and awarded $4.6 million in prizes, Ohio Lottery officials said.
Th ...
Sep 6, 2008, 9:50 am - - Lottery News forum
Some may say times are tough, but lottery spending doesn't show it
Illinoisans apparently haven't lost an appetite for lottery tickets, even though some say they are pinching pennies elsewhere in their personal budgets.
Sales figures for the Illinois Lottery were up nearly 3 percent to about $2.08 billion in the fiscal year that ended in June.
In the year before, the lottery hit $2 billion in sales for the first time. Both increases come with a steady increase in the popularity of the lottery's instant games.
Illinois Lottery Superintendent Jodie Win ...
Aug 1, 2008, 9:45 pm - - Lottery News forum
Connecticut Lottery sets sales record
The Connecticut Lottery Corp. says it set a record during the last fiscal year with $998.5 million in sales.
The state received $283 million of that for its General fund, about $4.5 million more than expected.
The Lottery says sales were up by 4.3 percent or $41.5 million over the 2007 fiscal year, and contributions to the state rose by 1.4 percent, or $4 million.
Scratch ticket sales showed the largest gain, up $24 million from fiscal 2007.
Jul 15, 2008, 10:11 pm - - Lottery News forum
Maryland lottery sales exceed $1.6 billion
The Maryland Lottery said it has achieved its 11th straight year of record sales, topping $1.673 billion and surpassing state estimates for the fiscal year.
The lottery also exceeded its revenue target, raising $529 million in total revenue for the State of Maryland for Fiscal Year 2008. Records were set in every major category, including total sales, prizes paid to players, commissions earned by lottery retailers and revenues returned to the state to help support vital state-funded programs ...
Jul 15, 2008, 8:24 pm - - Lottery News forum
Georgia Lottery had record sales
A struggling economy hasn't kept Georgians from buying lottery tickets.
The Georgia Lottery announced Tuesday that sales for fiscal 2008, which ended June 30, were just under $3.52 billion, a record in the 15-year history of the games.
That's more than $97.6 million ahead of last year's record sales.
The Georgia Lottery transferred $858 million of that to the state for education programs, surpassing last year's record transfer by more than $4.8 million.
Lottery proceeds pay for t ...
Jul 15, 2008, 7:48 pm - - Lottery News forum
Tough economy? Some cut back on lottery tickets, wagering
As gas pump prices and grocery store bills rise, customer service representative Rita Herron has been paying attention to where her money goes, and that means decreasing from 10 to two lottery tickets a week.
I pay more for gas, and so I have less money left for tickets, Herron said. Everything is going up.
Throughout the country, 20 lotteries, including California, have reported flat or declining sales, according to data from La Fleur's Magazine, a lottery trade publication, and state l ...
Jun 15, 2008, 1:39 pm - - Lottery News forum
California Lottery revenues dip
California Lottery officials on Tuesday lowered revenue estimates for the year by $275 million, just as Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger suggested the state could double sales in a decade.
Citing a declining economy and poor brand image for the games, officials said the lottery's declining performance would reduce contributions to public education by $94 million, about 8 percent less than expected in the fiscal year that ends June 30.
It makes it more difficult for the lottery to meet the goals ...
May 20, 2008, 10:30 pm - - Lottery News forum
Mass. lottery store is success story
From the outside, it's just another Mobil station on Route 28: a brick building squatting on asphalt with a quartet of gasoline islands out front.
Inside is another story. Where shelves of chips and candy bars might have been, customers lean against narrow granite counters, holding scratch tickets by the handful, or lounge at one of the high-topped round tables, filling out blank Keno slips. There is no music, just the unceasing patter of five Lottery machines printing Mass Cash and MegaBucks ...
Apr 23, 2008, 1:50 pm - - Lottery News forum
