The Hartford Business Journal recently conducted an interview of the Connecticut Lottery CEO.
Q: The lottery has a rich history in our country, dating back to the Revolutionary War when it was used to finance armaments. A legislator floated the idea of a super lottery for deficit reduction. Is there a lottery game out there that could generate $1 billion for the state in profit?
Currently, our revenues to the state exceed a quarter-billion dollars annually. It is unlikely that there exists one particular game that could generate $1 billion annually for Connecticut. However, we are prepared to implement new options for gaming if requested to do so by the legislature in order to help close the budget deficit.
Q: The top beneficiary of the lottery's $283 million profit last year was Medicaid at $61.4 million. Are people surprised to find out six cents of every lottery dollar wagered goes to Medicaid? Do people still think the lottery supports only education?
Clearly, people believe the lottery was intended to have education as its sole beneficiary. When first presented, a number of options were publicly discussed, including the return of all proceeds to education. When legislation was finally passed in 1971, the result was to "share the wealth" of lottery profits by disbursing revenues to a variety of programs and services included in the general fund. Health is important; Medicaid is an essential program that benefits from lottery proceeds. Last year, more than $64 million from lottery proceeds was returned to education in the state, as well as public health, conservation, mental health, and more.
Q: Your annual report states that 2008 saw an increase of $41.1 million in sales. How is 2009 shaping up? The annual report says it's difficult to demonstrate a relationship between economic indicators and sales, but how does the lottery play get affected in Connecticut by a bad economy?
It has long been believed that the lottery industry is recession-proof. However, for the first time, the lottery industry is experiencing a contraction. Consumers have less discretionary income with which to purchase many items, lottery tickets included.
Sales of tickets for jackpot driven games, like Powerball, have a significant revenue impact; large jackpots spur sales activity. Powerball has not experienced the jackpot level this fiscal year that we had hoped for, which has negatively affected revenue streams.
Q: What are some of the upcoming trends in lotteries in Connecticut? Computer games have been shot down in the past. Will they see resurgence in Connecticut?
Technology is constantly evolving, and there are a wealth of options that can produce incremental growth for lotteries through new games and distribution systems. Gambling via the internet is a complicated issue, and it is one that the CT Lottery will not consider until federal and state laws are secure, and we have been asked to review such action.
Q: What's the biggest misconception folks have about the lottery?
We often hear that "no one wins" or that prizes aren't big enough. Just using last year's figures, the CT Lottery awarded more than $608 million in prizes to ticket holders. Since 1972, more than $10.5 billion in prizes has been awarded, so people are obviously winning.
Anne M. Noble, President/CEO, Connecticut Lottery Corp.
Here in MI, I know that we have alot of winners, but they also say that
a percentage goes to education. Somebody is mishandling the funds.
They r closing 23 schools in Detroit, and the other neighboring counties
r having simular problems. MI unemployment rate is up there with CA
Too many people double dippin in the cookie jar. This recession is the result
of too many GREEDY people. And the average JOE, is taking the beating.
"Is there a lottery game out there that could generate $1 billion for the state in profit?"
Is called West Virginia Cash25...Bussiness dealing should tell you that the more easy you make a game, the more players will want to play...And i am no bussiness mogul...
Look at the state of Virginia? Is the second easiest lottery with cash5 and they can give themselves the luxury of giving 2 million dollars as aggreggate money, what other state does that....
the 4 games that will generate the most money are: West Virginia Cash25, Virginia's Cash5, Weekly Grand & Massachussetts "the Number Game" and Powerball/MegaMillions because of the high jackpot....
But 1 game will not make the State raise its revenue to 1 billion dollars, is the right combination of games...The wrong combination of games and it causes people to lose interest....But it has to be done on a good economy because on a bad economy of course people will think twice before betting and sales may dip, but even on bad economies if the game is easy people will play....This people dont think, because who in a bad economy will want to go after a game with impossible odds if they know they can't win, they might spend 1 dollar on that game but that's it.....
another game that MIGHT, AGAIN IT MIGHT the generate the most money is Pennsylvania Mix & Match...
Also this people are slow because they raise assumptions right in their little area of work, instead of creating the lottery games configurations ONLINE and offering them a few dollars to people and use it as surveys to see which game will people like the most all this before releasing a lottery game to the public....Again they are very slow....This will not work if they go to othe streets and ask people which game they like for most people don't play lottery...
But if they offer such game online before releasing them, as a survey and let's say they offer people to place maximum of 5 tickets or 10 tickets per day and let the games be played every week and then at the end of the month or before every drawing they ask people which game they will like their State to offer...
And they will get to 1 billion dollars maybe 2 billion dollars if they were to charge 2 dollars per ticket...
The new game "Lucky4Life" was their answer to increase revenue in these tight times in CT.They could give the 1billion profit a run for it's money if they made the stakes even higher...charging $2 per ticket is a load of s*it for the way they have it now....they should've upped the ante and made the jp a rolling one...start it out at 2grand a week for life ...and progress it another thousand or so till someone hits...THAT would have mouths foaming and surrounding states jumping at the chance thus generating some serious cash.
Connecticut current population : APPX 3,504,809
Chance of winning Lucky4Life appx 1 in 3,207,789
That is a great idea, johnybegood, is a wonderful idea....thanks for mentioning it...