Games people play Maine seeking to expand state’s lottery options

AUGUSTA – State lottery director Dan Gwadosky says the lottery is seeking to increase revenue and change its mix of games and is using studies and focus groups to figure out what games Mainers would play and why.

“Scratch tickets are very popular,” he said. “Most of our sales is the scratch tickets, not Megabucks or Powerball or the Pick 3 or Pick 4 games.”

Gwadosky said that a couple of times a year Scientific Games, through its contract to handle ticket design and production, conducts research trying to determine what tickets will sell. He said it is in Scientific Games’ interest to produce only tickets that sell because the Lottery Commission pays the printing costs only of tickets that are actually sold.

Eight groups of up to 11 members each, ranging from heavy players of the instant games to light players and retailers, met in November 2007 at locations across the state to review several prospective ticket designs for the lottery. The report, from Candler Communications of Lexington, Va., looked at 16 possible games from $2 to $20 a ticket.

“I think you will see some of these games in the months ahead,” Gwadosky said, “but certainly not all.”

He joked that when focus group members said they could not understand where to begin to scratch on the ticket, as in a ticket game named “Slingo,” it’s very unlikely that ticket will ever be sold in Maine.

“I think you may see the ‘Price is Right’ ticket, given it was very well-received,” he said. “People remember the TV game show and that helps, as it did with the ‘Deal or No Deal’ ticket that we had recently.”

Both tickets are designed to sell for $3 and have several possible prizes with $30,000 the maximum prize. While the research found the “Price is Right” ticket was well-received with its multiple prizes, the focus groups panned the “Slingo” ticket as “confusing” with “too many options.”

Gwadosky said that unlike most other state government agencies, the lottery is operated as a business with the goal to sell as many tickets as possible, with all sorts of marketing efforts by both the Lottery Commission and Scientific Games.

“And sometimes I don’t understand why one ticket sells and another one does not,” he said. “If you put a lobster on any ticket in Maine, it will sell well.”

For example, Gwadosky said, some of the best-selling scratch tickets have been “Lobster Roll” and “Claws for Cash.” Another holiday big seller was “Sandy Claws” that featured a caricature of a lobster wearing a Santa cap.

While the sale of the scratch tickets generates three-fifths of all the lottery revenue, they are not as profitable as the online games with the large jackpots. The Powerball game alone accounts for 20 percent of lottery revenues.

Gwadosky said that part of an effort to increase state revenues from lottery operations to $60 million from the current $50 million will be to bolster the percentage of online sales by getting the online machines into more retail outlets and promoting the games.

“We are looking at ways we can increase the sales of the online games,” he said, “but we will continue to have a strong effort to sell instant tickets. They are very important.”

He said that last year Maine had the 10th-highest per capita sale of scratch tickets in the country.

While members of the Legislature’s Legal and Veterans Affairs Committee, which has oversight responsibilities for the lottery, agree the lottery should be seeking to provide more revenue, some are concerned Gwadosky and the Lottery Commission operate too independently.

“We don’t have much to say about it,” said Sen. Debra Plowman, R-Hampden, a panel member. “I get phone calls from retail agents saying don’t cut my share. And that is not a vote by the Legislature – that is a vote by the Lottery Commission.”

She said committee members could ask about lottery operations and get answers, but have little role in setting lottery policy. She said the panel should have greater oversight.

“There have been instances where some decisions were made where I would like to have had the input as committee chair and as a committee member on whether it is in the best interests of the people of Maine,” said Rep. John Patrick, D-Rumford, co-chair of the panel.

He said that while he agreed with the proposal to reduce the commission paid to retailers, he found out about the plan from a news report.

“I think there needs to be better communication,” he said.

The Price is Right is among several games being presented to focus groups to help the Maine State Lottery choose new games to add to its scratch ticket offerings.