As reported by paNOW, from April 1 lottery sales in Saskatchewan are up by roughly 4% overall compared to the same point last year, with the growth coming despite a forced shutdown being imposed on many retailers as a result of COVID-19.
A major driver of revenues in this period for Sask Lotteries was Zing [Scratch ‘N Win] sales, which saw a 44% increase when compared to last year, with sports gaming expectedly witnessing the biggest drop off due to the suspension of live sporting events.
In fact, this sporting shutdown saw Sask Lotteries witness a 96% decrease in Sport Select when compared to a year ago.
Despite the overall increase, another area which witnessed a decrease in sales was that of draw-based games including national Lotto Max and Lotto 6/49 as well as regional draw games.
Kevin van Egdom, Director of Communications for WCLC, stated: “The impact on draw-based games was more prevalent in April and early May, when more players were choosing to stay home, and we saw more closures of lottery retailers. However, we also saw a number of high jackpots during that time, which are a key driver of sales levels on jackpot games.”
While lottery sales kept up, casinos were forced to shut down during the COVID-period with the Saskatchewan Gaming Corporation [SGC], responsible for Casino Regina and Casino Moose Jaw, revealing losses of between $5.2 and $5.8m over the final two weeks of March in its annual report.
The shutdown period following April 1 did not fall within the 2019/20 fiscal period and as such the 2018-19 fiscal year saw SGC register total revenues of $118.6m.
The Saskatchewan Indian Gaming Authority [SIGA], responsible for the other seven casinos in the province, reported revenues of $262m in the same period.
