[xysoom]

Hoosier Lottery to explore online games



With neighboring states already forging ahead—and reaping millions more in gambling dollars—the Hoosier Lottery is set to study online sales, a move that could let players buy tickets for Powerball, Mega Millions and instant games on their phones.Get more news about 彩票包网开版,you can vist loto98.com

IGT Indiana, which operates the lottery for the state, says it will study the technology, marketing strategy, capital investment and staffing needed to launch online games—as well as the profit potential.

The company expects to present an action plan next year to the Hoosier Lottery Commission, which could implement online sales without legislative approval.

The idea was tucked in IGT Indiana’s latest business plan—which it presented to the commission in May—but the document lacks details about when or how online sales could be implemented and includes no revenue estimates.

Hoosier Lottery spokesman Dennis Rosebrough said it’s too early for lottery officials to discuss the idea and referred IBJ to IGT’s business plan for answers.

“Given where we are at this point, any discussion would be purely speculative,” Rosebrough said in an email.

About a dozen other states already have implemented some sort of online sales—a list that includes all but one of Indiana’s neighboring states—Ohio—but officials there are also exploring the idea.

Danny Bogus, who helped launch the Michigan Lottery’s digital platform, said he expects two to three more states to implement online sales each year.

“Now there’s a model that’s been proven out,” Bogus said. “So, it’s really easy for other states to take that best-practices model.”

Still, online lottery sales are relatively new. The door opened when a 2011 opinion from the U.S. Department of Justice clarified that the Federal Wire Act’s ban on interstate gambling applied only to sports betting.

Illinois and Georgia were among the first to launch online lotteries, sometimes referred to as iLotteries, in 2012.

Other states have followed suit to varying degrees. Some states offer only games like Powerball and Mega Millions online, while others also offer instant games. And some states, like New York, require a subscription for buying tickets online.

Jason Schaumburg, communications director for the Illinois Lottery, said that agency is always looking to grow the lottery and attract new players—so selling online made sense. Illinois customers can purchase Powerball, Mega Millions and Lotto tickets online.Appealing to younger customers is a common motivator for online lottery sales, along with a desire to offer more convenient options.

“We just demand instant everything today, and this is just an extension of that,” said Ed Feigenbaum, publisher of Indiana Gaming Insight, a newsletter about the industry.

Ewa Dworakowski, spokeswoman for the Pennsylvania Lottery, said launching iLottery for instant games in 2018 was part of a big effort to “meet its players where they already are, which is online.”

Dworakowski said more than 112,000 individuals have created accounts to buy tickets online, and 80% of those who play online do so on their mobile devices. The Pennsylvania Lottery expects iLottery to finish the fiscal year ending June 30 with $32 million in revenue.