The Connecticut Lottery wants to make playing the Lottery attractive to an increasingly important demographic group: Millennials.
The way to do that, say Lottery officials, is to expand the Lottery onto mobile platforms, something that age group often uses in place of money.
Chelsea Turner, vice president of the Lottery told the Middletown Press: “We’re becoming a cashless society. We have to be able to modernize like other businesses.” Turner said she is confident “we can create new players.”
The Lottery is an important part of the state budget. It sold $1.3 billion last year, of which 30 percent went into state coffers.
According to CT Lottery President and CEO Gregory Smith, who spoke to an editorial board from several Connecticut press outlets, “Our five-year projections total over $50 million in new General Fund revenue.”
Combating that trend is that according to Gallup, only a third of Americans aged 18-29 played the lottery last year, compared to 61 percent for the age group 51-64.
For that reason Lottery officials have asked the legislature to allow online lottery ticket sales. The result was Senate Bill 1015.
One possible sticking point is if the Mashantucket Pequots and the Mohegans object that online lottery sales in some way violates their state tribal gaming compacts. This is something that Mohegan Tribe spokesman Chuck Bunnell warned off in March.
The tribes and the state have been enmeshed in negotiations over possible casino expansions in Bridgeport as well as sports betting. The tribe claims exclusive rights to offer sports book, which is contested by companies such as Sportteach, as well as the CT Lottery.
The Lottery’s 2,900 brick and mortar retailers are also skittish about online sales since they feel this will draw potential customers away from their stores. The Lottery argues that online sales will only attract new customers and that existing customers will continue to purchase tickets the old fashioned way.
