In its 50th year of operation, the Maine Lottery set a new sales record.
The state celebrated a milestone anniversary with $430.2 million in sales, a nearly 5% jump from the previous year. That was thanks to improved sales from both lottery draw games and scratch tickets.
The question now turns to what’s next.
Mickey Boardman, Director of Lottery Operations for the Maine Bureau of Alcoholic Beverages & Lottery, recently addressed that with the North American Association of State & Provincial Lotteries:
“Lottery is no different than other products. Different people want different things, so we try to provide them with plenty to choose from so they can find what they are looking for…We ask ourselves every day what else we can offer besides giant jackpots? It’s a tough question, but not one without answers.”
Maine’s scratch sales buck national trend
Maine was one of the few lotteries in the US that saw its scratch and instant game sales grow in FY24.
The state had $326.4 million in purchases of that product, up 2.7% from a year ago.
As it looks to continue that trend in FY25, Maine will be using its historic birthday to try and provide a sales boost.
To commemorate the 50th anniversary of the Maine Lottery, the state has released a series of instant games with the very title.
“Maine Lottery 50th Anniversary!” features games at the $1, $2, and $5 price points. The cheapest ticket includes a large amount of $50 top prizes, while the $2 ticket has a $10,000 top option, and the $5 ticket highlights a $100,000 jackpot.
Beyond that, a fast play game called “50th Anniversary Bash!” is a $10 option that loads up on $50 and $500 prizes.
Changes lead to lottery draw game sales increase
Maine’s draw games were up over 11% in the year, climbing to $87.6 million.
Powerball was a big reason for that, garnering $33.9 million in sales. That was a 23% increase from last year.
Along with the growth in Powerball, Maine’s Tri-State Megabucks multistate game was a big revenue driver in FY24.
The title was the first multistate lottery game in the US when it started in 1985. Maine paired with New Hampshire and Vermont for the innovative venture.
This past year, sales of the game were up 64.5% as it added a third weekly drawing.
Maine also brought in a new draw game just before the end of FY24. Cash POP made its debut in the state on June 2, offering five daily drawings.
Over its lone month of existence in Maine, it supplied over $419,000 in sales. With a full year of availability, it should provide a solid addition to Maine’s FY25 sales.
Cash POP is licensed to IGT and has been growing throughout the US over the last year. However, the Maine Lottery has an exclusive vendor partnership with Scientific Games. In order to get Cash POP operational, SG had to do the programming.
This wasn’t the first time a situation like this happened, as the Maryland Lottery had to do the same to launch Cash POP. Maryland provided the template for Maine, according to Boardman:
“We learned from Maryland’s experience and it really helped our implementation go extremely well.”
Digital expansions could spark growth in FY25
If Maine hopes to set another sales record in FY25, it may do so through digital aids.
One area the Maine Lottery hopes to build on is getting players to use its mobile app.
The lottery app features ticket checking, mobile payslips, and access to RewardMe features.
According to Boardman, only about 60% of players are entering their tickets into the loyalty program on the app:
“It really should be higher than that.”
Card readers have also given the Maine Lottery a boost.
Self-service machines now have the ability to accept cashless payments, making the ability to purchase retail tickets more efficient for residents.
Maine also has a policy that prizes up to $5,000 can be paid instantly once the paperwork is filed for the payout. The state lottery is using Elavon for the payment system, which has received a lot of positive feedback from players.
Maine Lottery funding support reaches $90 million
As the Maine Lottery hits new sales records, it has also led to bigger value for in-state programs.
For FY24, transfers to state funds were $90 million, another record for the state. That was a 23% improvement on FY23’s transfer. It marks the 10th consecutive year the Maine Lottery has set a new record for its contribution to the state.
Since its debut in 1974, the Maine Lottery has contributed nearly $1.8 billion to the General Fund, which helps support education, conservation, emergency services, health care, and other programs.
The Maine Lottery has also set aside select scratch tickets to raise revenue for the Maine Outdoor Heritage Fund.
In recent years, the games have gone from $1 tickets to $3, while doing a better job of promoting the prizes associated with them.
In FY24, Maine saw sales of $5.7 million for these tickets, with $1.4 million going toward the fund.
Could iLottery be coming to Maine?
Boardman has some optimism that iLottery could eventually be a thing in Maine.
With the state already legalizing mobile sports betting, it’s not a dramatic shift for Maine to become part of the states with online lotteries.
Legislation has not been in the works on the matter in Maine. However, Boardman hopes to continue to educate legislators about iLottery and the benefits it could provide the state.
Maine is one of 17 states, along with Washington D.C. and Puerto Rico, that allows lottery courier Jackpocket to operate within its borders.
Jackpocket is the largest courier service in the US, both in terms of access and sales. The third-party company provides online sales of retail lottery draw game tickets in Maine and other states it operates in.
Photo by the Maine Lottery
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