{"id":8043,"date":"2018-06-11T17:56:32","date_gmt":"2018-06-11T17:56:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.pokerscout.com\/?p=8043"},"modified":"2018-06-11T21:04:44","modified_gmt":"2018-06-11T21:04:44","slug":"with-sports-betting-on-its-way-is-it-time-to-talk-about-the-nj-online-lottery","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.pokerscout.com\/with-sports-betting-on-its-way-is-it-time-to-talk-about-the-nj-online-lottery\/","title":{"rendered":"With Sports Betting On Its Way, Is It Time To Talk About The NJ Online Lottery?"},"content":{"rendered":"
Until 2017, the New Jersey Lottery<\/strong> was on a huge winning streak.<\/p>\n In its 2016 fiscal year, the New Jersey Lottery set sales records for the seventh year in a row. Lottery revenues of $3.29 billion helped the organization make $987 million in contributions to various state programs and institutions that benefit millions of New<\/strong> Jersey<\/strong> residents.<\/p>\n The state\u2019s Departments of Agriculture<\/strong>, Education<\/strong>, Human<\/strong> Services<\/strong>, Military<\/strong> and Veterans Affairs<\/strong>, and Higher Education Services<\/strong> all received pieces of the pie. Just like sales numbers, the contributions in 2016 represented a new record.<\/p>\n The New Jersey Lottery has been successful for decades, and the state has benefited greatly. In fact, the lottery has contributed more than $24.8 billion to various state programs and institutions since ticket sales started in 1970.<\/p>\n Lottery players and the retailers that sell the tickets have benefited greatly as well. The New Jersey Lottery paid out a record $2 billion in prize money<\/strong> in FY 2016.\u00a0Plus, the more than 7,600 licensed lottery retailers across the state received $186 million in commissions and bonuses, up from $170 million the year prior.<\/p>\n Unfortunately, that winning streak came to an abrupt halt last year.<\/p>\n New Jersey Lottery ticket sales numbers dropped<\/strong> for the first time in seven years in 2017. The $3.187 billion in 2017 ticket sales was down about $100 million.<\/p>\n It still managed to set a new record<\/strong> of $994 million in contributions<\/strong> to state programs, up from $987 million the previous year, mostly because it paid out $75 million less in prizes, making up most of the difference.<\/p>\n However, New Jersey Lottery officials and state lawmakers had to be left wondering why it failed<\/strong> to set sales records for the eighth straight year.<\/p>\n According to the New Jersey Lottery\u2019s annual report, a sharp decline in ticket sales for the multi-state lottery Powerball<\/strong> was a big part of why overall sales numbers decreased.<\/p>\n Powerball sales dropped over $70 million from 2016 to $213.5 million total in 2017. Sales numbers for several other draw games, including Pick 3<\/strong>, Pick 4<\/strong>, Cash 4 Life<\/strong>, and the multi-state lottery Mega Millions<\/strong> also dropped.<\/p>\n In fact, only instant Scratch-Off<\/strong> tickets and Jersey Cash 5<\/strong> tickets saw sales increases in 2016.<\/p>\n Since New Jersey Lottery contributions to state programs still managed to set a new record last year, the state likely isn\u2019t in a hurry to address potential problems.<\/p>\n However, if sales figures continue to drop for FY 2018 and beyond, some action<\/strong> will be taken, and it\u2019s a good bet it will be taken online.<\/p>\n After launching a successful pilot program in the summer of 2014, the similarly sized state of Michigan<\/strong>\u00a0launched online lottery sales that fall.<\/p>\n It started with just Instant<\/strong> Keno<\/strong> and a variety of electronic scratch-offs. However, in January 2016, the Michigan<\/strong> Lottery<\/strong> started offering tickets for its most popular draw games online. This includes Powerball, Mega Millions, Fantasy<\/strong> 5<\/strong>, and Lotto 47<\/strong>.<\/p>\n According to a December 2016 report from lottery consultant Digital Gaming Group<\/strong>, Michigan\u2019s online lottery sales hit $8 million a week in March 2016. Plus, they\u2019ve had little to no effect<\/strong> on traditional lottery retail sales.<\/p>\n The Michigan Lottery posted sales of $3.3471 billion for the fiscal year ending Sept. 30, 2017. That number was up 7.4 percent from the $3.1181 billion posted a year earlier.<\/p>\n In 2015-16, online lottery products generated $48 million in revenue. That represented less than two percent of the Michigan Lottery\u2019s total. However, the numbers climbed more than 100 percent in 2016-2017, with revenues increasing to $97 million. Online lottery sales were suddenly three percent of Michigan Lottery\u2019s total.<\/p>\n The growth in online lottery sales is obviously helping<\/strong>. In fact, the Michigan Lottery contributed a record $924 million to the state\u2019s public education system in 2017. What\u2019s more, it\u2019s broken that record every year since the online lottery sales program started.<\/p>\n Play At Golden Nugget Online With A Free Bonus<\/p>\n<\/div>\nRecord prize money and retailer commissions<\/span><\/h2>\n
Blame Powerball<\/span><\/h2>\n
Michigan\u2019s online success story<\/span><\/h2>\n
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