Massachusetts lottery profits are on a record-setting pace this year, but officials are retooling the sagging Keno operation and launching new games to maintain the growth of state-sanctioned gambling revenues.
"Last year, our net return to the state was $912 million, which was our best return ever," Joseph Sullivan, director of the Massachusetts State Lottery told the Herald.
"We're on pace to beat that. Our first quarter, from July through Oct. 2, we're 5.4 percent higher in terms of our net profits," Sullivan said. If that trend holds, the Lottery could net $961 million this fiscal year.
Part of the reason for the Lottery's climbing sales, Sullivan said, is that the Legislature and Gov. Mitt Romney [related, bio] doubled the advertising budget, from $5 million in 2003 to $10 million this year.
But keeping the menu of Lottery offerings fresh and novel also drives sales up and can even entice new customers to play, the Lottery chief said.
For instance, last summer the Lottery rolled out Harley-Davidson scratch tickets, with payouts of both cash and wheels. "That game attracted a different kind of player. We were able to grow the player pool," Sullivan said. Look for a similar themed game next summer, he said.
Two new Christmas-themed instant scratch tickets - Bah Humbucks and Winning Holiday - were just put on sale this week and will be promoted, using some of that $10 million ad budget, as stocking stuffers, the Lottery chief said.
"We really are the national leader in ticket sales," said Sullivan. "This year, we've introduced a new jackpot game, Cash Winfall. Sales on that game have been very strong."
Proceeds from the Lottery are distributed to city and town budgets, although during the budget crisis of the last couple years, some funds were diverted to state coffers.
Not everything is rosy at the Lottery, Sullivan said.
"Keno is 10 years old, and candidly it's a little tired," he said. Keno is the only segment of the Lottery's business that has shown a drop in sales, which he attributed to indoor smoking bans.
Revamping Keno is a priority, Sullivan said. The rules won't change but the look of the screen is being re-tooled, expected to debut in about two months. In addition, a second game will be appearing on Keno screens next spring, he said.
"I want people to see that we offer a lot of value to people and the cities and towns of Massachusetts," said Sullivan.
Despite the $2 ticket price, Ca$h WinFall is arguably the best US lottery jackpot game.