In an interview with Lottery Daily at the recent SBC Summit Americas, held in Florida, the CEO of one of the US’ largest lottery courier apps, Lotto.com, shared some bold predictions about the future of the country’s lottery sector.
A multi-billion dollar industry which brings in huge returns to state coffers, the US lottery sector is also a highly politically charged one as well as one undergoing, like other segments of global gaming, a significant digital change.
Lottery couriers like Lotto.com are playing a key role in redefining how customers engage with lotteries at the digital level. Tom Metzger, the firm’s CEO, expects digital growth to revolutionise US lotteries, but notes the political intricacies and changing business dynamics that stakeholders need to navigate.
Lottery Daily: Hi Tom, thanks for joining us for this interview ahead of the Americas Summit. Why do you believe that the lottery is the gambling discipline most due for disruption?
Tom Metzger: We never use the word “disruptor” here at Lotto.com. Our mission is to bring incremental customers (over three million and counting) and revenue to the good causes that lotteries support in every state we operate. This is why we spend about 95% of our marketing budget in digital channels like Google and Facebook where state lotteries traditionally do not advertise.
Since we are advertising the exact same products that lotteries already sell at retail, the millions of dollars we spend in every state also bring much needed additional marketing dollars to the states. But to answer your initial question, the $120bn US Lottery Market is only about 5% digital which is crazy to even think about given that it’s 2025.
If you look at the UK as a comp, it is now almost 50% digital and all of that growth has come since 2009 with zero cannibalization of the retail channel. So we believe there is still about $100bn of digital growth ahead in the US lottery market!
LD: What factors are hindering innovation and growth in what has become a static and stagnant lottery market in many jurisdictions?
TM: I think the word stagnant is a bit extreme. Since the inception of the US lottery industry in 1964, there has almost never been a down year. I can’t think of an industry that can boast the same thing.
Could it grow faster? Absolutely. In the past, the fastest growth has come from innovation of scratch tickets: increasing price, payout percentage and product via number of games, licensed brands, etc.
Allowing couriers like Lotto.com to digitally deliver these paper scratch tickets as we are currently doing in seven states, is the fastest and easiest way to become less dependent on high jackpots and make scratch tickets more relevant and accessible to new players that are younger, wealthier, and of course, digitally native.
LD: We’ve seen lottery couriers gain traction in 2025, particularly in relation to North American lottery transactions. What kinds of engagement and services are they offering the public beyond standard lottery draws?
TM: In addition to scratch tickets, there are several important advantages that couriers provide in addition to convenience: reliable KYC/age verification (not having to rely on part time employees to check ID), responsible play (imposing spend limits), instantly paying out prizes under $600 (the IRS threshold and same as retail), and removing the possibility of ownership disputes as frequently happens with jackpot winning tickets to name a few.
LD: Has any lottery incumbent to date truly delivered an omnichannel offering for audiences?
TM: I guess it all depends on how you define “omni-channel”. I would make the argument that some iLottery platforms actually cannibalize retail by marketing to the players already signed up on the state’s retail loyalty rewards app.
They sell them spinning reel slot machine style games, don’t really bring in new customers, and don’t incentivize players to go back to retail. Lottery couriers on the other hand bring in new customers and charge a convenience fee.
The good news for regulators about our convenience fees is that we specifically target wealthier customers that can afford to play the lottery. Then the next time courier players are in a store that sells lottery, they purchase at retail to avoid the convenience fee!
LD: Under growing scrutiny, do you expect more U.S. states to review the regulations and rules governing lottery transactions and prize distribution? Could this not be a risk for the entire sector?
TM: Absolutely. We are in full support of regulations that prohibit so-called “bulk purchasing” as it is not in the spirit of any lottery game to allow someone to purchase all the number combinations ensuring a jackpot win.
Some very smart mathematicians figured out how to achieve an arbitrage windfall, and that loophole should absolutely be closed. We don’t view one instance as a risk for the entire sector.
LD: Where should lotteries focus in their next phase of evolution to attract and activate new, younger audiences?
TM: Personally I think lotteries need to stop relying on simply advertising jackpots. We have all seen the billboards on the highway or the jackpot signs hanging in store windows that just say the name of the Lottery and what the Mega Millions and Powerball jackpots are.
This is creating and reinforcing a syndrome that we in the industry call “jackpot fatigue.” I remember my days at Scientific Games when we had a sales boost and it was a newsworthy event when the jackpot went over $100m.
Now players have been trained by advertising to not get out of bed for less than $500m or for some players it is $1bn now. I believe that younger, wealthier players would play the lottery more regularly if they were more informed about the good causes the lottery supports.
Georgia is a great example where they market the HOPE college scholarships, so people view buying a $20 dollar scratch ticket the same way they view buying a raffle ticket for their kids school.
LD: As a speaker at the Americas Summit, what key message do you want audiences to take away from your panel?
TM: That lottery couriers are the easiest, fastest, most profitable and most responsible way for lotteries to grow their profits, and the vast majority of states don’t even need legislation to do so.