The heated discussions around lottery couriers in Texas have been taken to the courtrooms, with Lotto.com filing a petition against the Texas Lottery Commission (TLC).
Lotto,com is petitioning against what it labels as ‘politically motivated decisions’ at the TLC. The company has already been vocal in defending lottery couriers’ Texas interests against regulators and legislators as part of the Coalition of Texas Lottery Couriers (CTLC).
Lottery couriers have been facing the prospect of being banned in Texas amid mounting concerns among legislators and regulators about the industry’s perceived impact on lottery integrity.
A now-infamous April 2023 ticket buyout, in which $25m worth of tickets were purchased to win a $95m jackpot, and a $83.5m winning ticket purchased via Jackpocket.com from a retailer owned by the company, were the main impetus for the controversy.
This has prompted some extensive investigations of lottery couriers by the TLC as well as legislative scrutiny in the state Congress. Lotto.com is now mounting legal action against these invitations, with the petition filed by the company which operates its platform in Texas, LTC Texas LLC.
“Texas often boasts that it is the best state for business,” the petition filing read. “LTC took Texas at its word when it brought its business here in 2022.
“And LTC went above and beyond to ensure compliance with any applicable state law and the state regulatory scheme, relying on guidance from the Commission’s former and current leadership in the process.
“In return, the Commission changed rules on the fly and without due process; has made up other new “rules” illegally and unconstitutionally targeting LTC’s business; and has all but hounded LTC and other responsible lottery couriers out of business in the state.”
Texas courier drama heats up
Lottery couriers have become widespread across the US in recent years, finding a gap in the market in the absence of online lottery services in most states.
Out of the US’ 50 states and five territories, plus the District of Columbia, 45 have some form of state-backed lottery. However, out of these 45 only four offer online lottery ticket sales – Kansas, Massachusetts, Tennessee and West Virginia, while politicians in Louisiana are now moving to make the state the fifth to do so.
This has allowed lottery couriers to fill a gap in the market, providing a means for customers to purchase a ticket online. The ticket is subsequently purchased at a retailer on their behalf, and any subsequent winnings handed over after the draw. The largest companies in this sector are Lotto.com, Jackpot.com and Jackpocket, while The Lotter is a smaller but growing company.
Now facing the prospect of a ban in Texas, the US’ third largest state, couriers have been making their case before the TLC – and Lotto.com is now taking this a step further with legal action.
In its suit, the company has notably referenced the above-mentioned 2022 $95m buyout incident. Lotto.com asserts that its platform does not support bulk purchases of tickets and it instead pins the blame on the TLC itself.
A CTLC statement summarised Lotto.com’s outlook: “Details provided in the petition about Lotto.com warning the TLC about the potential of an international bulk purchase make it undeniably clear that couriers had no involvement in the scheme.
“The agency ignored the warning, bent the rules, and provided the terminals necessary for an international syndicate to game the system by processing 25.8 million tickets to win a $95m jackpot in April 2023.”
TLC regulatory remit questioned
Lottery couriers are currently active in 19 US states, with only two of these states regulating them – these being New York and New Jersey. Wisconsin, Virginia and Indiana have outright banned couriers (the latter pending the approval of Governor Mike Braun). The remaining 17 allow couriers to operate unregulated.
The TLC moved to join the three states which outright ban couriers in February 2025 after the aforementioned £83.5m ticket incident. However, Lotto.com argues that the TLC does not have the regulatory remit to do this.
Lotto.com’s suit asserts that the TLC has admitted on several occasions that it has no legal standing to regulate couriers. This is based on statements made by two of the TLC’s former Executive Directors, Ryan Mindell and Gary Grief.
Rule changes in 2015, 2020 and 2024 have also been referenced, including the introduction of a QR code on the TLC app. Lotto.com claims that TLC staff made clear that these rules were not intended to govern couriers or how lottery retailers interact with couriers.
The argument is essentially that if the TLC has admitted to having no regulatory remit over couriers, then it does not have a legal basis to ban them. This would leave the lawmakers of the Texas House of Representatives and Senate as the only ones able to do so.
This latter possibility can never be fully ruled out though. Amid the controversies around lottery integrity in Texas lawmakers have got involved, best seen in SB 1346, which supporters hope will clamp down on ‘gaming’ of the system.
Texas Lt Governor Dan Patrick has also previously called for an investigation into the relationship between the state lottery, retailers and couriers. Though not immediate, legislative change could one day appear on the horizon.