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After more than six months of Massachusetts sportsbooks operating in the state, their impact on the Massachusetts Lottery seems different than what some people expected.
When sports betting launched, the Massachusetts Lottery feared operators would take away much of the lottery’s revenue.
There’s a push to take the Mass Lottery online to compete more fairly with sports betting. However, the lottery said it had seen no decrease in its business. Instead, the state lottery announced it had set a record revenue.
Record-breaking jackpots drive the Massachusetts Lottery’s profitability
In a recent interview for Spectrum News 1, Massachusetts Lottery’s Executive Director Mark William Bracken explains how they’ve been able to stay successful while coexisting with sports gambling:
“I want to point to two things. One, we had three record-breaking jackpots that drove up our profitability.
We also issued the billion-dollar extravaganza, which was our first ever $50 ticket. And we strategically held out on that ticket. Once we knew we’ve been holding out for years on issuing a $50 ticket, but then once we knew sports betting was coming, we knew we had to be able to offer a product to counter that.
And we strategically held out in place that ticket in the marketplace in February, the same time sports betting was launching.”
Bracken also said they still have to take on college and professional football season and likely won’t have a counter that proves as effective as the $50 ticket. According to Spectrum News 1, the Massachusetts Lottery also works on several ways to increase player engagement.
The state’s two largest lottery prizes won in 2023 were $33 million and $31 million Mega Millions jackpot prizes.
Massachusetts online lottery is still not available
The Massachusetts Senate has long been skeptical of online lottery measures. Therefore, the state senate voted in May to reject Sen. Paul Feeney’s budget measure that would have authorized online sales of lottery tickets.
But the debate on whether to roll an “iLottery” system into their budget may not be over yet. The Senate’s public rejection of the proposal will lead to House and Senate negotiators. The representatives from the two chambers will eventually meet to discuss the differences between the two budget proposals.
Once the final draft is sent to Gov. Mauram Healey, her approval will be necessary to finalize any bill from the legislature. Healey has previously backed the legalization of online lottery sales in the state to compete with sports betting.
Even if the budget doesn’t include this gaming expansion amendment at this point due to the lack of discussion, Feeney could still file a separate bill to legalize online lottery sales.
Jackpocket online lottery app launched in Massachusetts
Although the legislature rejected an attempt to allow the Mass Lottery to sell its products online, that still doesn’t mean players can’t purchase online lottery tickets. As a player in Massachusetts, you can buy a lottery ticket online using a third-party app, Jackpocket.
Less than a month ago, Jackpocket launched its app in Massachusetts as part of a US expansion. The company launched the lottery app by partnering with convenience store operator Circle K.
After it went live on July 25, Massachusetts became Jackpocket’s 17th US state.
