Lottery games in Pennsylvania have been growing at a heady pace. Financial results in recent years have been most reassuring with the 2015-2016 fiscal year seeing a significant uptick in revenue, up to $4.13 billion. This record was topped a year later, in the 2017-2018 financial year, with the numbers hitting the impressive $4.2 billion.
Amid this rapid growth of profit Lottery officials are perfectly aware that they need to keep their games updated and expanding. Lottery Executive Director Drew Svitko spoke about the changes to the PA gambling climate, explaining that casino expansion wouldn’t affect sales:
We have determined that having land-based casinos in Pennsylvania didn’t have much of an effect on our sales. Nor do we have an effect(sic) on theirs. One is a destination business. And people who are playing the lottery, by and large, we see as an impulse item sold at retail.
In light of the rapid growth, the lottery has been rapidly topping off its games in an attempt to keep its products entertaining.
iLotteries in Pennsylvania
The latest addition to the Lottery’s range of products is the iLottery, which Mr. Svitko himself has called revolutionary. He further explained the motivation behind the new product, commenting that “It’s an attempt for us to be convenient for a new generation of lottery players, and relevant at delivering a different kind of entertainment experience. You can access this through our website, our mobile app.”
Mr. Svitko said that the lottery is focusing on diversifying its portfolio so that it can cater to customers of all backgrounds. Should the Lottery establish that something is missing from its product list, though, the organization hurries up to fill the gap.
One of the focuses of the Lottery are jackpot games. According to Mr. Svitko, jackpots generate higher sales and profits for the lottery as well. Even though the jackpot can also be a source of some losses (the revenue can be sent to another state where a winner is based), jackpots have been a river of strong financial gains for lotteries.
Back to the iLottery solutions. Mr. Svitko is convinced that the adoption of new tech solutions, such as iLottery and mobile apps helps bolster the overall profitability of the segment.
Not only that, but iLotteries come with better player protections by offering real-time trackers of how much time a gamer has spent. PA’s lottery has been one of the most active bodies to promote gambling awareness and responsible gambling practices.
The latest tech additions are an opportunity to improve both on the profitability and reliability of the Lottery, Mr. Svitko believes.