Mississippi Lottery officials anticipate rush of sales from West Alabama

Aug 1, 2019, 8:35 am (5 comments)

Mississippi Lottery

REFORM, Ala. — People living in West Alabama will soon be able to test their luck in the lottery. Scratch-off ticket sales were set to begin December 1st, 2019 in Mississippi.

The state's legislature passed a lottery bill in September, leaving Alabama as one of five states without a lottery.

The Mississippi Lottery Corporation could not say whether the corporation would market directly to West Alabamians.

"Our director of advertising will determine which markets we have a presence in," Spokeswoman Meg Annison said.

The lottery will fund infrastructure and education. Annison said accessibility was fueling excitement.

"It's coming close to home, they [lottery players] won't have to go as far," Annison said, "In Mississippi, depending on which retailers qualify, they can go around the corner."

Reform is one of Alabama's closest cities to the state line. People living there told ABC 33/40 they planned on playing Mississippi's lottery, even if they would not admit it publicly.

"A lot of people think that people will be taking money out of the mouths of their kids, because Alabama is a poor state," Business Owner Marilyn Steen said.

Steen said she would not make a special trip to play, but she does shop in Mississippi at least twice per month. However, the woman said she would rather Alabama adopt a lottery of its own to fund education.

"Every student in the state of Alabama that wants to go to college should have the opportunity to go, without thousands and thousands of dollars in student loans," Steen said.

The Mississippi Lottery Corporation said they were on track to begin ticket sales on or before December 1st, 2019.

In addition to scratch-off tickets, the corporation will phase in Powerball and Mega Millions games in Spring 2020.

WBMA

Comments

Bleudog101

Good for Mississippi.

 

Alabama asleep @ the wheel and it is not rocket science to figure out border residents will cross over to play.

Just think when (if) they join Powerball and or Mega millions.   Think they are wise to take it slow. 

music*'s avatarmusic*

Mississippi Lottery may sell tickets before December. Whether it is wise to go slow with PB and MM will depend upon the size of the jackpots before then.

 KISS  "Keep it slow and sweet".  No need to rush. There will be other jackpots in the future.

Lurking

Bleudog101

Just like CA lagged behind on PB sales and we the same with MM before both states went it for the two biggies.

cottoneyedjoe's avatarcottoneyedjoe

Too many Alabama politicians in the pocket of the Poarch Band of Creeks is good business for the Mississippi lottery. They'll probably have some clever ads targeting Alabama players and poking fun at Alabama lawmakers.

PrisonerSix

Quote: Originally posted by Bleudog101 on Aug 1, 2019

Good for Mississippi.

 

Alabama asleep @ the wheel and it is not rocket science to figure out border residents will cross over to play.

Just think when (if) they join Powerball and or Mega millions.   Think they are wise to take it slow. 

Mississippi will get players from Alabama I'm sure, but Louisiana will lose the players it gets from Mississippi. We frequently get winners from Mississippi. Even though we'll lose the business, it's good they have the choice to play now. I'm sure Georgia, Florida, and Tennessee get Alabama players hopping the border.

If I travel to another lottery state, I will get tickets there just for the fun of it. One weekend after a business trip, I was literally playing the lottery in 3 states. I bought tickets in Idaho where I went on my trip, picked up some more tickets in the Denver, Colorado airport, then played in the home state of Louisiana. Fun, but still didn't win.

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