The online gambling industry in the United States is still in an expansion phase.
While a lot of attention is put on sports betting and online casinos, where does iLottery fit in the plans?
Recently, Greentube USA CEO Benjamin Sutherland discussed that topic. He appeared on The Huddle video podcast and provided his take on where iLottery stands:
“From a point of view of revenue already coming through us, (iLottery) is not large compared to the rest of our iGaming reaches. But it is a sector that we expect to grow.”
Greentube has a vast portfolio of products and services for the retail and online casino industry worldwide. It has recently put added focus on US online lottery sites, especially in online instant win games.
Innovation driving iLottery growth
Each sector of online gambling has its own characteristics. One that can help iLottery see continued growth is its ability to be innovative.
While online casinos don’t vary much from state to state and operator to operator, online lottery has the ability to be more unique.
During the interview, Sutherland said Greentube is focusing on bringing original titles to iLottery that it hopes can translate to online casinos:
“There’s something that’s very exciting in the iLottery side. They want to differentiate themselves so much from iGaming and casinos, they tend to really thirst for innovation. Whereas a lot of the operators within iGaming are, first and foremost, looking for titles that they know already resonate with the user base. So, from the innovation side, (iLottery is) very exciting. Actually, some of our more innovative titles, we release (to online lottery) first, and then hopefully, they propagate over to the iGaming side. That’s as opposed to always bringing from iGaming over to iLottery.”
Online instant games also behind growth prospects
The iLottery gaming spectrum also allows for different forms of games that companies like Greentube can work with.
Instant win games in a digital and mobile form are seeing some success right now.
North Carolina just reported over $50 million in revenue through four months of its Digital Instants being available to the state. It is adding progressive jackpot games to the mix beginning in April.
Differentiating content is a reason why Sutherland believes iLottery can grow outside of online casinos:
“There is a lot of game types within lottery. Specifically, there’s the eInstants or iInstants style gameplay, which is most like the iCasino stuff. So, there are a lot of opportunities, especially in the bigger states for that eInstant category. But, then also there’s these separate products, draw games and other types of game types that are popular in iLottery, but not popular in iGaming. So, there’s growth opportunity there as well.”
Sutherland sees iLottery expansion being consistent
What game-makers will be watching now is the addition of other states to the US iLottery market.
We have seen potential legislation across the United States in recent months, and discussion surrounding iLottery — either from stakeholders or lawmakers — has recently happened in places like Ohio (stakeholders want it), New Jersey (some lawmakers don’t want it), and Maryland (lawmakers let a bill die).
However, timelines for expansion are at the mercy of the state’s legislative sessions, which can lead to a lot of waiting.
Despite that, Sutherland is still pleased with the potential for new states to add iLottery in the years to come:
“Every election cycle, there is a chance something else will come along and there’s steps in the right directions continuously at every level. That’s true on the iLottery side, where you just see an expansion of game types and different states coming on board. So, it’s all very exciting, and all going in the right direction. Yes, it’d be great if there was more already out there, but it’s still looking promising.”
Image by PlayiLottery
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