Online lottery sales in Michigan, which quietly rolled out less than a year ago, and was intended to fly under the radar, has already hit unprecedented heights, with no end in sight. At first, the sales were only visible on a tab on the Michigan Lottery website. From the get go, the online lottery has been wildly successful.
There have been over 133,000 accounts created by Michigan iLottery players, who purchase over 300,000 instant tickets every day. Michigan Lottery Director Scott Bowen, in April, estimated each day $500,000 in sales are generated. The Michigan Lottery has projected over $480 million will be generated from the first eight years of the online games.
Even more surprising, is that the sales are not cannibalizing retail sales of tickets. There is no indication that the online games are affecting sales at our 11,000 retailers,” said Jeff Holyfield, Director of Public Relations for the Michigan Lottery. However, what it discovered, is that players are being drawn away from unregulated online casinos instead.
The Michigan iLottery currently spreads 18 games, of which 17 are instant games, or scratch-offs. The other game offered is keno. Michigan iLottery has grown astronomically in popularity due to the lowered variance of the game. A player breaks even when they hit three numbers out of ten, as opposed to four or five in most video versions.
The sales of instant games at lottery retailers increased 10 percent in 2014, and accounted for 36.3 percent of total lottery sales for the year. Club Keno accounts for 21.1 percent of sales. Michigan iLottery sales are responsible for 10 percent of total sales, and are proving to be a complimentary facet of the industry.
