In an attempt by the Massachusetts treasurer, Deborah Goldberg, to bring the state lottery into the modern day, the lottery will begin replacing the blue machines that have vended tickets for 20 years.
Only one other country uses these machines: Colombia.
The state plans to replace 8,500 machines. Currently patrons place about $5 billion in bets each year or about $736 per capita. The goal is retain most of those customers as the state’s three casino resorts and one slots machine come online.
According to Lottery Director Beth Bresnahan, quoted by Lottery Post, “Nobody is still using their personal computer from 18 years ago, or even five years ago—except us.” He added, “The fact that we’ve been able to stretch the life of these machines for so long is, frankly, amazing.”
Besides being quite obsolete, it’s also increasingly difficult to find parts for the machines.
Goldberg commented last week: “We’ve managed to do very well with these machines, but it’s no longer economically viable to maintain them. With casinos coming in, we cannot be complacent.”
The new machines will allow the lottery to monitor how certain games do compared to others, and to see if the casinos affect sales nearby. It will also allow a loyalty program to be implemented. It may eventually allow Smartphones to be used to purchase lotto tickets.
