Arkansas Lottery moots September start for new $2 draw lotto game

Arkansas Lottery
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The Arkansas Lottery expects to begin selling its new draw game Arkansas Lotto later this year, nearly a decade after its last addition to the roster.

As reported by Arkansas Online, the lottery’s new $2 game is ‘tentatively scheduled’ for release in September, though it remains in testing and could be pushed back further.

It would mark the lottery’s first draw game release since October 2012, when the $1 Natural State Jackpot was launched.

“We believe the new lotto game fills a gap in the ASL Game Portfolio,” said Scott Hardin, a Spokesman for the state Department of Finance and Administration, under which the lottery operates.

According to Hardin, the maximum prize for the Arkansas Lotto game will be $250,000 on the initial roll, and a pari-mutuel feature, like Powerball and Mega Millions, will drive the top jackpot through sales.

The new game is set to roll twice a week while the Natural State Jackpot rolls every day with an initial roll of $50,000.

“Draw games provide anticipation of the roll; instant tickets provide immediate gratification,” Hagler added.

Hagler further explained that draw games provide superior profit margins ranging from 45% to 50% compared with instant tickets with profit margins ranging from 8% to 12%, while most of the lottery’s ticket sales are scratch-off tickets.    

Looking forward, the lottery is forecasting $9m in Arkansas Lotto ticket revenue from $4.5m in $2 ticket sales during the initial eight-and-a-half month run in the next fiscal year, starting in July.

In FY2023, the lottery has projected $535.9m in total revenue and $91.4m raised for scholarships.

Meanwhile, Hagler said he expects the lottery to raise around $100m for college scholarships in FY2022.