The Virginia Lottery has its head in the clouds, and it’s totally fine with it.
This week, the lottery became the first in the United States to offer customers an entirely cloud-based iLottery program. The breakthrough is the result of a partnership between the Virginia Lottery, NeoPollard Interactive (NPI), and NeoGames.
Kelly T. Gee, the lottery’s executive director, said the move to a cloud-based allows the lottery to scale its offerings. Gee said in a statement:
“The Virginia Lottery is committed to providing a best-in-class experience to our players. Enhancing the scalability of our iLottery platform through the use of cloud technology demonstrates to our players that we place a priority on a seamless and reliable iLottery experience, all of which ultimately supports our mission to raise revenue for our public schools.”
New cloud-based online lottery will have a seamless user experience
Officials from NPI said the Virginia Lottery’s choice to move to the cloud is about one thing: efficiency.
Say a jackpot for an interstate lottery game surpasses $1 billion. Millions of Virginians rush to the state’s online lottery app to buy tickets. That huge influx of traffic can slow down an app that runs off a land-based system.
The lottery wants those customers to have a pristine experience in such times. Faster service means the lottery has a better shot at keeping its existing customers and gaining new ones.
If all goes as planned, the Virginia Lottery’s cloud-based platform will allow it to increase its users. And offer more online lottery options to customers. NPI Co-CEO Moti Malul said:
“Record-breaking jackpots over the last few years have generated significant traffic online, underscoring the need for iLottery programs to effectively respond to player purchase demand. By harnessing the enhanced capabilities that only cloud hosting provides, we can better support the growth of our lottery clients as they strive to meet and exceed player expectations.”
Cloud-based scaling could take Virginia Lottery to next level
At the end of 2022, Virignia’s lottery revenue was middle-of-the-pack. According to data from US News and World Report, the Virginia Lottery brought in around $243 per capita, which is what you get when you divide the state’s lottery revenue by the number of people living in the state.
By contrast, Massachusetts brings in $746 per capita, more than triple what the Virginia Lottery produces. And, in general, the top states for per-capita lottery revenue bring in at least $300 per person.
For example, two Virginia neighbors have lotteries that generate more than $300 per capita: West Virginia and Maryland.
Virginia serves as a sort of baseline for per-capita lottery revenue along the East Coast. States to the south and north (to New Hampshire) all managed to bring in at least $250 per person in 2022. Virginia is the only state that didn’t.
Its adoption of cloud-based iLottery gaming may give it the boost it needs to surge past $250 per person in 2023. And, hopefully, eclipse the $300 per-capita mark.
