The Massachusetts Lottery Commission has been spooked by the New Hampshire Lottery’s ability to take online transactions, so much so that state Treasurer Deborah Goldberg is talking about the Bay State’s lottery system being like “dead ducks” in comparison.
Last week’s meeting by the commission included a very short celebration of the fact that the person who won the most recent Powerball jackpot of $758.7 million was a resident of the state. Then the discussion rapidly turned the Granite State’s plans to begin selling tickets online after the New Year and its recent move legalizing Keno.
The Lottery’s Executive Director Michael Sweeney told his board, “New Hampshire being more aggressive and receiving more empowerment from the state Legislature will have an impact on us.”
New Hampshire will be able to use its lack of a state income tax to leverage its sales by pointing out that Keno players will be able to get 5.1 percent more in winnings than if they play in Massachusetts. Some players from New Hampshire cross into Massachusetts and thus are considered part of its market.
Sweeney remarked, “This is going to be another business pressure that negatively impacts our net sales and our revenue.”
Another member of the commission, Thomas Shack, who is also the state comptroller, said New Hampshire’s actions could have devastating effects on the lottery’s profitability. He used various military allusions to suggest that the lotteries are about to go to war.
“I don’t know how much clearer a message we need to send the Legislature relative to this issue. It’s become one of those things that we’ve said it ad nauseum at this point and now we’re starting to see, literally, the troops on the borders of Massachusetts,” said Shack.
Goldberg, and other lottery officials have been trying to pressure the legislature into authorizing online sales—so far without any success.
At a press conference Goldberg said, “Connecticut and New Hampshire are ahead of us, and now we will need to play catch-up when we get that authority from the Legislature.”
They are also apprehensive about the effects that the MGM Springfield and the Wynn Boston Harbor will have when they open in the fall of 2018 and June 2019 respectively. They even worry about the effects of daily fantasy sports on their bottom line.
They have discovered that it is hard to convince lawmakers that the Lottery is on the verge of catastrophe when it just realized its more profitable year ever.
Goldberg commented, “I think the thing they have to really look at is what drove the profit last year. Keno, for the last two years, we’ve beefed up sales, and it has helped carry the ball. To have New Hampshire be able to do a double hit — which is online and Keno — and we’re sitting here like dead ducks, I feel like.”
Shack concluded by saying, “I hope the legislature is listening.”
Meanwhile, the Granite State lottery will attempt to leverage the high interest in Super Bowl champion New England Patriots into more sales. The team’s owner Robert Kraft joined Governor Chris Sununu to unveil the new $5 scratchers last week.
Players could win a $100,000 grand prize and be entered to win Patriot tickets. This is the sixth year the Lottery has offered Patriot-themed scratchers.
Kraft declared, “We feel very close to the state of New Hampshire,” Kraft told a crowd of about 100 on hand for the launch, several wearing Patriots jerseys. “I love the people. All the people I meet here have that live free or die mentality. It’s about living free and being entrepreneurial and being good to your neighbors, which is so important.”
