US lottery couriers have been having a hard time lately, but developments in Illinois and Missouri have provided some respite.
Illinois in particular has some promise for courier apps, which are digital services that purchase lottery tickets at a retailer on behalf of a customer in exchange for a fee. A bill to permit couriers in the state, albeit with certain regulations, is making progress.
Senate Bill 2035 was proposed by Celina Villanueva of the Democratic Party in February, and is currently under review by the Senate’s Illinois Senate Gaming, Wagering, and Racing Committee.
The bill was first reviewed by this Committee in March after clearing its first reading the month prior. Still subject to review, the bill is awaiting its second reading but couriers may glean some hope that it has not been shot down despite long-running drama in Texas drawing negative publicity around the courier business model.
A summary of SB 2035 states that the intention of the bill is to amend the Illinois Lottery Law to allow licensed lottery sales agents to sign deals with third parties and subsequently process ticket sales via said third party – these third parties being lottery couriers.
These agents would be required to provide a copy of their agreement to the Illinois Lottery Control Board within five business days. Other requirements are that tickets cannot be sold via courier to non-Illinois residents and user data cannot be shared with unrelated entities.
Passage and signing of the bill would make Illinois one of only three states to regulate lottery couriers, the others being New Jersey and New York. Louisiana and Arizona are also looking at the possibility of doing the same.
This marks some positive news for couriers after negative headlines in Texas. The purchase of an $83.5m jackpot winning ticket at a Jackpocket-owned store via the courier’s app back in February prompted significant concern about lottery integrity.
These concerns piled on top of previous ones about the integrity of the Texas lottery system stemming from a 2023 incident in which $25m was spent to purchase 99% of winning lottery combinations and claim a $95m jackpot win.
Following the February incident, the Texas Lottery Commission (TLC) moved to ban couriers, something it eventually settled upon doing earlier this month – though couriers have been lobbying heavily against it, including pointing out inconsistencies in the TLC”s regulatory approach, while the TLC itself has not escaped criticism and is now facing the possibility of being disbanded itself.
This controversy has not gone unnoticed in other states, with some like Indiana also moving to ban couriers, while Wisconsin and Virginia have done so for years.
In contrast, Illinois represents a breath of fresh air for the industry, while further south in Missouri some amendments were recently added to the state budget which would allow online lottery ticket sales and couriers, in a bid to boost state revenues for charitable causes.