Illinois is the first state in the US to offer online lottery sales and its causing a bit of a stir. It’s been interesting reading some of the comments online, concerns by retailers and the like … in the context of Australia having online lottery sales for quite a number of years. For example, 7-Eleven is calling for government protection, citing concerns at the prospect of loss of jobs as a result of online competition.
The petroleum marketers have weighed in on the issue too:
“They say that with the Internet lottery, you will see a reduction in foot traffic and a reduction in ancillary sales, and because of the income loss, it may mean a loss of tax revenues and there will be a significant loss of business revenue,” Bill Fleischli, executive vice president of IPMA & IACS, told the newspaper, adding, “If that happens, you would see a reduction in the workforce.”
My recollection is that here in Australia the key argument was for retailers like newsagents to try and tap into revenue from online sales. This worked only in a limited way.
Would be interesting to know what % of lotto in Australia is played online?
It’s just so much easier when you can play online! I just bought a ticket for the $476 Million Mega Millions jackpot using http://www.thelotter.com – def way cheaper than a plane ticket.
And here I thought lotto tickets cost the same as air travel.