Massachusetts official warns lottery could become "irrelevant"

Comment #9

Tucker Black — Fri, 15 Jun 2018 06:28:07 GMT

I have no idea why there is an Oklahoma state lottery. There are casinos almost everywhere. People buy lottery tickets anyway.

Massachusetts has nothing to worry about. Massachusetts is one of those liberal big spender states that thinks less than a billion dollars a year is not enough .

Comment #8

Bleudog101 — Thu, 14 Jun 2018 22:46:58 GMT

One day I'll contact IGT again to see how the modernization of lottery machines is going in Massachusetts. Remember seeing the one that the lady who won the largest ever lottery? That's what I'm talking about, old, noisy dot matrix. Can barely read my Season Tickets.

BTW IGT got awarded the contract to handle sports betting @ the Borgata Casino and Resort. I'm partial of course to IGT and Borgata flew 22 of us from Cincinnati there for free flight/hotel room. That is one fine casino, we loved... [ More ]

Comment #7

noise-gate — Thu, 14 Jun 2018 20:56:14 GMT

The minute you quote companies that are going the way of the dodo bird in your campaign, for re election, you have the inside track to winning the whole enchilada. Goldberg is one smart cookie. Politics aside, Debbie quoting Toys R Us, as a casualty of being to little to late to the prom, may just work in her favor.She could have thrown Sears into the mix as well, and come out on the otherside unscathed.

Comment #6

Soledad — Thu, 14 Jun 2018 16:02:46 GMT

What was the figure? Isn t it 70% of all lottery sales comes from 20% of players. Meaning income levels, 20% of players in a certain income per year class. People with money are less likely to play the lottery as much. So, all this talk about helping communities, and aiding people s everyday lives , well, it s a little misleading . We ve heard this before. This is deceptive advertising. The lottery uses more money for advertising than it does for schools. For the simple reason that it is their f... [ More ]

Comment #5

rcbbuckeye — Thu, 14 Jun 2018 13:14:30 GMT

I would like to see online play in Texas, but I doubt it will ever happen. Not so much because of the lottery commission, but because there are several legislators in Austin that hate the lottery and would love to get rid of it. They almost did a few years ago until they realized they would have to find the money they would lose through taxes. They still won't even allow casinos in Texas, and know that people go to Oklahoma and Louisiana.

Politicians telling people how to live.

Comment #4

Bleudog101 — Thu, 14 Jun 2018 10:00:50 GMT

My home state can be stuck in its Puritan roots sometimes. I fear that the Legislature can't/won't see the forest for the trees and miss a goldmine there.

To keep retailers happy here, which is a concern in MA, KY does not allow pick 3 or Pick 4 to be played on-line. One day that may change; surprisingly Keno was added not too long ago. Also the instant tickets are different than those offered in the stores.

At the one casino, Plainfield, Mass, there is a lottery machine tucked in waiting... [ More ]

Comment #3

KY Floyd — Thu, 14 Jun 2018 05:28:59 GMT

There's a chance things could change, but state lotteries have a huge advantage that Toys R Us didn't have. That's the lack of competition from other states or from Amazon.

With tickets available at most gas stations and convenience stores I don't see how lack of online sales matters much. Either people play the lottery or they spend their money elsewhere.

Comment #2

dannyct — Thu, 14 Jun 2018 05:06:09 GMT

I agree. US State Lotteries really need to embrace technology, or they will get left behind. The UK is a perfect example, of how to use technology to adapt to today's society. The British National Lottery has 9 million online subscribers. It raises billions of pounds for community projects across the UK. Every State Governor, should have a look at the UK National Lottery, which is the most successful lottery in the world.

Comment #1

Stack47 — Thu, 14 Jun 2018 02:51:41 GMT

Sports betting is a concern, Goldberg said. If you have sports betting, and casinos, and fantasy sports, and the Lottery does not go online, it will shortly become irrelevant. It's very straightforward.

Online horse racing betting has been around for around 20 years and currently legal in Massachusetts so Online lottery betting should be no problem there. As other states will get into sports betting and Online poker, lotteries as we know them could become irrelevant.

I play Online in KY a... [ More ]

Massachusetts official warns lottery could become "irrelevant"

Lottery Post — Thu, 14 Jun 2018 02:01:06 GMT

With time running out again on a bill that would authorize the Massachusetts Lottery to move online, Treasurer Deborah Goldberg offered a message to business leaders Wednesday morning: We don't want to go the way of Toys R Us.

The massive toy store chain announced plans to shut down its operations on March 15 and is now running liquidation sales across its more than 800 locations.

Goldberg, whose office oversees the Lottery, said Toys R Us was very late to the game to beginning to sell the... [ More ]