Having registered the most commercially successful ilottery online/mobile launch in North America, the Pennsylvania Lottery has since been congratulated by Scientific Games as total sales for its digital lottery games hit $1bn.
Just short of the program’s two-year anniversary, it has significantly surpassed all previous North American ilottery launches in history, with the program that was both launched and managed by Scientific Games now on track to bring in over $1bn in annual sales.
Drew Svitko, Executive Director of the Pennsylvania Lottery, stated: “Our goal in offering our players the option for online/mobile play in May 2018 was simply to meet players where they are, which is online, and it has been exceptionally well-received.
“During this unprecedented time, we are reminding Lottery players that they have the option to take advantage of playing PA Lottery online games at pailottery.com. This is the only place where PA Lottery players can buy their Powerball and Mega Millions tickets without having to leave their homes. This is also another way people can support older Pennsylvanians during this challenging time.”
The Pennsylvania ilottery program is powered by Scientific Games’ content aggregation platform OGS and OpenPlatform, a player account management suite that includes responsible gaming tools, and an innovative affiliate program that benefits the Lottery’s retailers.
As per this affiliate program, the Lottery currently has benefitted from partnerships with roughly 500 of its 9,800 retailers that encourage players to sign up for online/mobile play.
The Pennsylvania Lottery, which already had the highest performing combined retail and digital instant lottery program in North America, continues to break records with an 80% jump in ilottery revenues (current weeks vs. pre-COVID weeks) and a 200% uptick in first time players. The state’s ilottery sales have also recently hit a record $4.2m in online/mobile sales in a single day and are currently averaging over $3m per day.
Pat McHugh, Group Chief Executive, Lottery for Scientific Games, added: “What’s encouraging to states looking to launch online/mobile lottery sales is that when the COVID crisis happened, Pennsylvania had a partnership and program in place to protect vital funding—including effective management of the combined retail and digital game portfolio, an ilottery platform and services to attract and retain players, integrated to support retailers while continuing the strategic management of traditional lottery products sold in stores.”
In addition to retail and digital game portfolio management, Scientific Games provides the Pennsylvania Lottery with consumer research, player acquisition and retention programs, and an omni-channel ilottery platform.
McHugh concluded: “Many states will look to Pennsylvania’s program to modernize lottery products online and at retail. Pennsylvania has effectively managed high-performing retail and digital instant games creating benefits for players, retailers and the Commonwealth’s programs supporting older Pennsylvanians.”