The North Carolina Education Lottery will introduce a new game, Carolina Keno, on October 29. Typically played on screens in bars and restaurants, the game will pull 20 numbers, from 1 through 80, every five minutes. The more numbers a player picks, the more chances he or she will have to win. Lottery officials said the new game could generate 5.4 million annually in additional revenue by fiscal year 2018-2019, with .9 million more going to schools.
N.C. Education Lottery Executive Director Alice Garland said, “Carolina Keno will offer a fun, new lottery experience for many North Carolinians and along the way, help raise additional money for education, the good cause the lottery serves.” She added, “I’m hoping we’ll get a few millennials with this game,” she said.
Eighteen other states, including Tennessee and Georgia, offer a version of Keno.
Garland also said the lottery also may soon offer “digital instant” games, in which players purchase tickets online immediately find out if they’ve won a prize. Garland said the games could raise revenue by $130 million over the first five years.
Meanwhile, the Joint Legislative Oversight Committee on the North Carolina State Lottery recently voted to raise the cap on lottery advertising spending from 1 percent to 2 percent of annual revenue. Administrative expenses still would be limited to 8 percent of revenue.
State Senator Jerry Tillman, Oversight Committee chairman, introduced the bill minutes before it was voted upon. He defended that action by noting the bill was one page with one provision. “There’s nothing hidden in that bill whatsoever. That’s an easy way to get lottery revenues boosted and get more money for the schools. I think this is something that we will have bipartisan support on,” Tillman said. No further action on the bill is expected until the 2018 session. If the measure passes, lottery officials estimate sales would increase by $308 million, raising an additional $63.4 million in education funding.
