The North Carolina Education Lottery Commission recently approved the implementation of “digital instant” games, which would allow people to play the lottery online. Commissioners also launched a search for a program director and authorized drafting a business plan for online games including staffing needs, sales projections and a timeline for starting the games. The commission still would have to vote again to allow the games to begin, which most likely would be next year.
“The North Carolina Education Lottery has already been tasked by the legislature to study a number of additional gaming options for the state, and so we consider some of this work, quite frankly, right in line with that,” said Lottery Commission Chairwoman Courtney Crowder. She recently was named chairman by Governor Roy Cooper following the resignation of Tony Rand, apparently for health reasons.
Crowder said the online games could generate an estimated $80 million for the state each year.
Retail groups oppose online scratch-offs because players who go to brick-and-mortar outlets to buy lottery tickets often pick up other items too. But Elizabeth Robinson, senior director of government relations for the North Carolina Retail Merchants Association, said, “We’ve seen over the last probably 20 years a big change in the retail marketplace with everything moving to online sales and what kind of impact that’s had on a lot of our local businesses.” The online tickets also would offer larger payouts than the paper scratch-offs sold in stores.
Lottery officials noted online instant games already are offered in Georgia, Kentucky, Michigan, New Hampshire and Pennsylvania. In each of those states, retail sales of lottery tickets continued to increase after online sales started.
