It’s not easy to create a new sensation in the lottery industry.
However, IGT has gotten itself on to something with Cash Pop.
A simple draw game that features only 15 numbers is growing at a decent pace around the US.
Starting with two states in 2019, it is now up to 14 states currently. That includes some states with online lotteries.
With each location running the daily game at different intervals, Cash Pop provides lotteries with the flexibility to maximize sales based on their respective customer needs.
As sales continue to climb, how long until Cash Pop becomes one of the popular daily draw games across the US?
What is Cash Pop?
Cash Pop is a game produced by IGT.
It first debuted with the New Jersey Lottery in September 2019.
The lottery draw game is comparable to a draw version of Keno. However, only a single number is drawn from a field of 1 to 15.
Players just have to pick their numbers and wager amount. They can also utilize an auto-pick feature, or play multiple numbers to increase their chances of winning.
Drawings take place repeatedly throughout the day. Each state has different time increments for its drawings.
Following New Jersey’s debut of the game, Georgia was next to get in the mix in December 2019, being able to offer the title through the Georgia online lottery.
Kentucky joined the group in January 2020, and also offered the product through its Kentucky online lottery.
The game held strong with three states for a while before new states were enticed to join in 2022.
Florida, Virginia, South Carolina, West Virginia, Missouri, and Mississippi all adopted Cash Pop that year.
In 2023, Indiana and Washington hopped on board.
This year, Michigan, Maryland, and Maine have added Cash Pop.
Maryland and Maine were the first two to add the game under a license agreement as they were not partnered with IGT. Scientific Games integrated Cash Pop into its gaming system in order for these states to utilize it.
The other states were already working with IGT for their lotteries.
Flexible drawing times create a buzz
Cash Pop has afforded state lotteries the flexibility to have the game as many times as they would like throughout the day.
Some states keep the total low, doing just 2-5 drawings daily.
However, some states are doing drawings every handful of minutes.
Kate Airey, Director of Product Development for the Maryland Lottery, told NASPL Insights that Cash Pop sets itself apart with its unique format and time slots:
“We like the way Cash Pop has expanded our draw game portfolio in a way that’s differentiated from the rest of our games.”
Michigan holds drawings every 14 minutes as a complement to Club Keno drawings, which are every 3.5 minutes.
However, the state plans to reduce the drawing time to seven minutes or possibly to the same interval as Club Keno.
Moving down drawing time is something that worked for Club Keno, which started with a five-minute interval before being worked down to 3.5 minutes.
Chris Pate, the Michigan Lottery’s Draw Games Product Manager, told NASPL Insights that the state planned out the change to help sales over time:
“We wanted to leave ourselves room for future growth. By doing nothing else to the game other than increasing the frequency of the drawings, it really makes an impact on the bottom line.”
According to Insights, Michigan is seeing nearly double the sales of Cash Pop compared to what it budgeted. Since launch, Michigan is at $28.6 million in sales. Projections at this point of the fiscal year, which ends Sept. 30 in Michigan, were $16.3 million.
How Cash Pop sales are growing
Below is a table showing the Cash Pop sales throughout the game’s history.
States are listed by when they launched the game:
| State | FY20 Sales | FY21 Sales | FY22 Sales | FY23 Sales | FY24 Sales |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| New Jersey | $19.6 million | $41.9 million | $46.2 million | $58.6 million | $61 million |
| Georgia | $31.6 million | $70.2 million | $62.7 million | $60.1 million | N/A |
| Kentucky | $3.4 million | $11.5 million | $11.5 million | $9.8 million | N/A |
| Florida | Not Available | Not Available | $54.9 million | $91.3 million | N/A |
| Virginia | Not Available | Not Available | $21.7 million | $48.8 million | N/A |
| South Carolina | Not Available | Not Available | $34.2 million | $72.6 million | $66.5 million |
| West Virginia | Not Available | Not Available | $1.8 million | $2.3 million | N/A |
| Missouri | Not Available | Not Available | $2.2 million | $14.0 million | N/A |
| Mississippi | Not Available | Not Available | Not Available | $13.3 million | N/A |
| Indiana | Not Available | Not Available | Not Available | $2 million | N/A |
| Washington | Not Available | Not Available | Not Available | Not Available | $13.2 million (9 months) |
| Michigan | Not Available | Not Available | Not Available | Not Available | $28.6 million (5 months) |
| Maryland | Not Available | Not Available | Not Available | Not Available | $5.3 million (2 months) |
| Maine | Not Available | Not Available | Not Available | Not Available | $419,359 (1 month) |
| Total | $54.6 million | $123.6 million | $235.2 million | $372.8 million | N/A |
Since it debuted, the game has garnered more sales each year. While FY24 sales data isn’t available in all states, that is likely to happen again.
Overall, from FY19 to FY23, Cash Pop is up 584% in sales.
Obviously, adding the game in more states will lead to more sales.
However, in FY23, sales increased by a wide margin for an established state in New Jersey. The $12.4 million jump was followed by another additional $2.4 million in sales for FY24.
While Florida, Virginia, and South Carolina each launched the game in FY22, its sales nearly doubled the following year.
Photo by the Maryland Lottery
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