Massachusetts Lottery Director Wants Online Games and Ticket Sales
Executive Director of the Massachusetts Lottery Mark Bracken is requesting permission from state legislators to run online lottery games and sell tickets to those who are physically situated in the commonwealth and who are at least eighteen years old.
Leading and overseeing the state's lottery operations is Bracken, as head of the Massachusetts State Lottery Commission. Bracken believes the lottery is probably losing revenue to the growing industry of internet sports betting, which started in the Bay State in March 2023.
"We’re the last gambling hold out … to be able to go online,” Bracken said during the lottery commission’s meeting last week. “Someone who is able to sit [at home] and play sports betting — that’s a major concern for us. A lottery player is not able to do the same.”
At the moment, players can purchase tickets for well-known interstate lottery games like Mega Millions and Powerball in 11 states that have iLottery systems. These states are North Carolina, North Dakota, Pennsylvania, Virginia, Delaware, Georgia, Illinois, Kentucky, Maine, Maryland, and Michigan. Washington, DC lottery participants can also participate online.
When Bracken initially proposed last year that the state move the lottery's operations online, brick-and-mortar lottery stores in Massachusetts expressed their strong resistance to iLottery.
Benefits of Lotteries
Bracken is urging the legislature of Massachusetts, the General Court, to enact legislation allowing online lottery gaming. According to him, this kind of growth is essential to guaranteeing that the state keeps reaping the full benefits of the lottery, which mainly assist cities and municipalities through unlimited local aid.
The Massachusetts Lottery has raised almost $28 billion for charitable causes since it sold its first ticket in March 1972.
According to Bracken, some lottery players have chosen the state's seven online sportsbooks because they are convenient and allow them to wager whenever they want. Providing fast scratch-off games online could encourage those individuals to join the lottery again.
Even if the lottery's most recent annual result may have been impacted by sports betting, the 2023 fiscal year was still its best ever. The Massachusetts Lottery concluded its fiscal year on June 30, 2023, with a net profit of around $1.2 billion. However, there was no competition for online sports betting over the majority of the 2023 fiscal operating year.
The impact of online sports betting on the lottery will be better understood in the fiscal year 2024.
Fear of Jackpocketing
In February, Boston-based DraftKings and lottery courier Jackpocket reached an agreement to buy Jackpocket for $750 million in stock and cash. It is anticipated that the deal will close in 2024's second half.
With Jackpocket, lottery participants can send a messenger to make a wager on their behalf. A commission of 7% is assessed by Jackpocket on account deposits.
In jurisdictions where sports betting is legal and where the lottery courier app is available, like Massachusetts, DraftKings will employ Jackpocket to turn lottery participants into sports gamblers. DraftKings wants to convert Jackpocket players into online gamblers in locations where iGaming is legal.
"The proposed transaction will enable DraftKings to access and grow into the massive U.S. lottery industry, but more importantly strengthen its position in sportsbook and iGaming through higher customer lifetime value — based on demonstrated cross-sell capabilities — and an enhanced customer acquisition engine,” DraftKings said at the time of the announced acquisition.
Jackpocket is live in 16 states, plus Washington, DC, and Puerto Rico.
