Those steering the lottery industry are continuously looking for new ways to pull in a younger demographic, mainly players in their 20s. Alice Garland, the director for North Carolina’s education lottery, said discussion on the issue is never-ending. She has three children around the age of 30 who simply aren’t excited when it comes to the playing the numbers, even when the Powerball jackpot was 0 million. She literally begs her children to buy tickets.
“I have to threaten them within an inch of their life to go buy a $2 ticket,” she said.
Historically, people start playing in their 30s, Public Gaming Institute CEO Paul Jason said. He said the “sweet spot” is age 30, however, today’s adults under 40 are pursuing other forms of entertainment because they were raised in the digital age.
They expect a different experience, Jason said.
In order to prevent the lottery from sinking like the horse-racing industry, Illinois Director Michael Jones said philanthropic causes need to be attached.
“Young adults really care about causes, they really want to help things they believe in and causes they believe in,” he said. The state has tied Breast Cancer, Multiple Sclerosis and the Special Olympics in with its lottery, boosting sales among the younger crowd.
Another draw for younger players is the social factor, Minnesota’s lottery planning director, Don Feeney said. The younger set is more attracted to something if it includes their friends.
“You’re talking about a generation of pack animals,” Feeney said. “They’re looking for games that they can play with their friends and by and large that’s not the lottery or the way the lottery is being portrayed.”
“We’ve got to think beyond instant tickets and terminal-based drawings and think about what technology and imagination can create,” Jones said. But, only 174,000 players out of nine million took advantage of the state’s lottery phone app, which has been available since January.
In North Carolina, where the lottery centers around education, final sales for the recent fiscal year totaled $1.8 billion, however, Garland said North Carolina is not as technologically innovative as other areas. Phone apps are not on the state’s radar. Instead, North Carolina’s lottery is tweaking the more traditional games.
In the United Kingdom, players as young as 16 years old are active in the lottery and regularly purchase tickets online. Soon, they may be able to play instant win games in a digital format. Laura Pearson of Camelot Business Solutions said the lottery is targeting lifestyles and shopping habits to draw younger players.
“We are trying to attract this demographic by offering players an enhanced and regularly refreshed range of games,” Pearson said.
