Conn. revenues from lottery beat casino payments
August 12, 2013 9:31 AM by Staff & Wire Reports
Maybe its because lottery’s have become more attractive with the addition of such big ticket
sellers like Powerball or maybe it’s because casino competition has been growing with more states licensing gambling houses, but for the first time in 15 years Connecticut is collecting more revenue from the lottery than from the slot machines at the two tribal casinos.
According to information provided by the Department of Consumer Protection’s gaming division, the Connecticut Lottery transferred $312.1 million to the state for fiscal year 2013 while the two casinos paid the state $296.4 million during that period.
Nationally-known gaming expert, I. Nelson Rose, a professor at Whittier Law School in California, said the change, “unthinkable 10 years ago,” could have come about because of increasing casino competition or the attraction of a multi-million dollar payoff through multi-state lottery offerings.
“We have reached a stage,” said Rose in a quote from the AP’s Susan Haigh, “where casinos have to be very careful because wherever they open up, there’s competition.”
When Foxwoods casino, initially confined to table games only, sought state approval for slot machines, the tribe offered 25 percent of its slots revenue on condition it receive the exclusive rights to slot machine activity.
Since that time, Foxwoods, and later Mohegan Sun, became major contributors to the state coffers. In 2007, the record year, the two casinos contributed $430.5 million to the state. With the recession, contributions have declined.
“By going multi-state,” explained Rose, “the (Connecticut Lottery) created these attention getting, life-changing prizes, which the casino industry simply can’t compete with.” He also credited the lotteries management with creating better marketing systems to generate more business.
http://www.gamingtoday.com/industry/article/42668-Conn_revenues_from_lottery_beat_casino_payments
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