On August 15th, 2008, the Massachusetts State Lottery's first online ventures appears to have hit the big time. Keno sales are on the rebound-which is up by 5.4% for this fiscal year which began on July 1st, 2008-thanks to the new Keno-to-Go games launched in March 2008. The Keno-to-Go games allows lottery enthusiasts to check the results on the Internet. Dan Rosenfeld, the Lottery's spokesperson said that this is their first foray into the World Wide Web.
The game also expanded the number of locations keno wager may be made, giving player the option to place wagers at thousands of convenience stores all over the county. Previously, keno players needed to go to bars and restaurants in order to play the game. The change could not have been made sooner, with the emerginng trend of few night outs because of cash strapped players.
The improvement in sales comes after a five percent drop last fiscal year, compared to the 2007 fiscal year when keno revenues drop by more than $35 million to $735 million. The improvement in keno sales is just a small part on the overall improvement in Lottery sales, which has come even with the weak economy.
Lottery sales broke records in 2008, reaching an all time high of $4.7 billion. That was a $237 million improvement helped by the 8.3% increase in scratch ticket sales, which totaled $3.3 billion. The lottery's new $20 instant ticket game, the Billion Dollar Blockbuster, was the single best selling scratch ticket, raking in a revenue of $600 million. The Daily Race Game was also a big hit, with sales of $12 million.
[04-09]
John Sullivan
