The Maryland Lottery and Gaming Commission announced a new Chair on Thursday.
Everett Browning was unanimously voted into the position. He will replace Randy Marriner, who has been serving in the role since 2017.
Marriner won’t be going far, as he was voted in as Vice Chair at the request of Browning.
When it comes to performance, Maryland saw its lottery sales in May slightly outperform last year. That’s all thanks to adding to its library of lottery draw games.
Marriner passes Maryland Lottery leadership to Browning
Marriner was in his second stint as Chair of the commission board.
As he noted, the Chair is chosen by the commission, but tends to follow the suggestion of the governor. Wes Moore was elected governor in 2023 and requested Browning take over the position. Marriner obliged and spoke on the matter during Thursday’s commission meeting:
“We all commissioners serve at the pleasure of the governor, and I have the good fortune now working with my fourth governor. Even though the governor appoints, the commission elects the Chair. However, we have a history of honoring the governor’s wishes. Governor Moore made it abundantly clear that Everett was his guy to take the seat. So, I happily will nominate Everett Browning to be our next Chair of this lottery commission.”
Browning accepted the position, but was quick to praise Marriner for his guidance and the example he has set. He then nominated Marriner to be his Vice Chair, which was accepted unanimously:
“Randy, since day one your mentorship has been amazing. Your leadership, not only you, but this agency, is one of the shining stars of our government.”
Browning now takes up the Chair position of the Maryland Lottery and Gaming Commission, which oversees not just the lottery, but also retail casinos as well as retail and mobile sports betting. It also handles subscriptions as part of the Maryland online lottery. He said:
“I’m excited for the opportunity to partner with (the commission) as we move forward. I, in advance, thank you for your grace as I try to catch up, because I don’t want you guys to slow for me. It’s my job to catch up with you as we do what’s best for Maryland and the citizens of Maryland.”
Cash Pop carries Maryland to YOY sales improvement
Maryland’s reported lottery sales in May were just under $231 million. That was up 0.4% from the $230.1 million it produced in May 2023.
The difference comes down to the state adding Cash Pop. Maryland signed on to be the latest to add the draw game that’s grown in popularity around the US. It did just under $2.9 million in sales in its first month of availability.
With one month remaining in fiscal year 2024, the state still finds itself behind last year’s sales pace.
Through 11 months, Maryland has $2.52 billion in lottery purchases. That’s 1.2% lower than it was a year ago at this time.
Despite that, Maryland is almost certain to hit its FY24 projections. It has accumulated 93.9% of its estimate ($2.69 billion), with a month of sales still to come.
Here’s how each game stacked up for Maryland in May and how it fared compared to a year ago:
- Scratch-offs: $95.3 million, up 0.9%
- Racetrax: $29.2 million, up 3.7%
- Pick 4: $25.1 million, down 9.3%
- Keno: $21.8 million, down 6.4%
- Pick 3: $20.2 million, down 8.2%
- Mega Millions: $9.3 million, up 51.5%
- Powerball: $7.5 million, down 12.2%
- Fast Play: $7.4 million, up 4.6%
- Pick 5: $5.9 million, up 5.4%
- Cash Pop: $2.9 million
- Cash4Life: $1.7 million, down 1.5%
- Instant Ticket Lottery Machines: $1.5 million, up 9.9%
- Multi-Match: $1.3 million, down 1.5%
- Bonus Match 5: $1.3 million, down 7%
Photo by Mehaniq via Shutterstock
Graphic from the Maryland Lottery
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