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JULY/AUGUST 2021
www.PublicGaming.com
See you
IN PERSON
in Nashville!
Soaring into the
Golden Era of Lottery
(And Lessons from the Year
that Changed the World)
Consumer Excitement
for Lottery Gaming
Continues to Grow
© 2021 IGT. The trademarks used herein are either trademarks or registered trademarks of IGT, its affiliates or its licensors.
Future Forward
Results Driven
With 55 features, IGT’s market-leading mobile lottery app
offers more than any other to deliver the experiences players
desire and put lotteries on the leading edge of the in-store
digital revolution.
• Biometrics for intuitive face and fingerprint sign-in
• Check and store winning numbers
• Redeem prizes
• Enter second-chance drawings and more
The IGT mobile lottery app drove a 127% uplift
in mobile monthly sessions and a 107% increase in
monthly active U.S. users last year.
Learn why more U.S. lotteries choose the IGT mobile
app over any other. Visit IGT.com/FutureForward.
CONTENTS
J U LY / A U G U S T 2 0 2 1
Publisher &
Chief Executive Officer
F E A T U R E D I N T E R V I E W S Paul Jason
pjason@publicgaming.com
10 18
President
Susan Jason
sjason@publicgaming.com
Brand and Design
Dan Eggers Design
Consultant
14 Jim Acton
22
Honored Founders
Doris & Duane Burke
Contact Information
T: +425.449.3000
F: +206.374.2600
For email address changes,
subscription requests and
10 The Big Picture Future of the World requests to be placed on
Industry Leaders Tackle the Past, Present, Future our e-Newsletter distribution
Rebecca Hargrove, President and CEO, Tennessee Education Lottery Association; President, list, contact:
World Lottery Association; and Chair, Women’s Initiative in Lottery Leadership (WILL) sjason@publicgaming.com
Stéphane PALLEZ, Chair & Chief Executive Officer, La Française des Jeux (FDJ) PGRI, Inc.
Doug Pollard, Co-CEO, Pollard Banknote and NeoPollard Interactive 218 Main Street, #203
Paul Riley, Vice President Retail Innovation & Partnerships, IGT Kirkland, WA 98033
Drew Svitko, Executive Director, Pennsylvania Lottery PublicGaming.com
Sam Wakasugi, Vice President Strategic Business Management, Scientific Games
14 Player Retention as well as New Player Acquisition
Subscriptions
Drew Svitko, Executive Director, Pennsylvania Lottery Annual Public Gaming
Shannon DeHaven, Vice President of Digital Engagement, Pollard Banknote International magazine
Stephanie DuVal, Digital Engagement Manager, Virginia Lottery subscription rates:
Jessica Fritz, Digital Marketing Manager, Michigan Lottery United States: $145 USD
Merv Huber-Calvo, Sr. Director, Growth Marketing, Scientific Games Canada & Mexico: $160 USD
Karri Paavilainen, Senior Director, PlayLottery Content, Operations and Connected Play, IGT All other countries: $225 USD
Jessica Powell, Director of Ignite Player Marketing, NeoPollard Interactive
Peter Sullivan, Chief Executive Officer, Jackpocket Public Gaming
International Magazine
18 Digital Engagement for ALL Lottery operators Published six times a year and
Gregg Edgar, Executive Director of the Arizona Lottery
distributed to readers all around
Sina Aiello, Vice President, Loyalty, Pollard Banknote
the world. Electronic version is
Kelley-Jaye Cleland, Chief Product & Program Officer, New Hampshire Lottery
Jay Finks, Executive Director, Oklahoma Lottery e-mailed and is also available on
Ryan Mindell, Lottery Operations Director, Texas Lottery our news website:
Amy Warner, Director, Digital Engagement, Scientific Games PublicGaming.com
22 Portfolio Management in the Digital World May/June 2021
Kevin Hall, Executive Director, Virginia Lottery Volume 48, Issue 4
Richard Bateson, Chief Commercial Officer, JUMBO Interactive ©2021 all rights reserved.
J.B. Landroche, Senior Vice President Corporate Affairs, Georgia Lottery Public Gaming Research Institute
Derek Levesque, Senior Manager, U.S. Digital Business Development, IGT cISSN: 1042-1912
Stephanie Weyant, Deputy Executive Director, Marketing & Products, Pennsylvania Lottery
4 PUBLIC GAMING INTERNATIONAL • JULY/AUGUST 2021
Scientific Games is dedicated to creating products and
services that can be enjoyed responsibly by players
around the world. We have developed a number of tools
and resources to help our lottery partners promote
Healthy Play™ in the communities they serve.
We encourage healthy play of all game
entertainment across our portfolio.
© 2021 Scientific Games Corporation. All Rights Reserved.
F E ATU R E D A R TI C LE S C O NT.
Visit Our Family
24 Embracing the New World of Omni-
Gaming
24 Of Websites
And applying the singularly vital “Best
Practice”: Data-Analytics
Moti Malul, Chief Executive Officer,
NeoGames PublicGaming.com
industry news & information
30 Lessons from the Year that Changed
the World PGRITalks.com
What trends are here to stay, and how videos of conference presentations
can lotteries apply lessons learned?
PublicGaming.org
Scientific Games 26 PGRI conference information
34 iLottery Beat
Jim Acton, Lottery Industry Consultant PGRIDigitalLibrary.com
45 magazine archive of past issues
36 Playing Favorites: When Branded
Content Offers a Competitive Edge PGRIDirectory.com
IGT listing of lotteries and vendors
39
39 How a Second Lottery Development PGRIAwards.com
Calendar Leads to Greater Results Showcase of industry honorees
Brad Cummings, CEO & Founder, EQL recognized by the
Games Lottery Industry Hall of Fame
PGRI Lifetime Achievement Award
40 European Lotteries (EL) General
Assembly 2021 Highlights and Sharp Award for Good Causes
Outcomes; 50 Lottery Industry Statesman
EL elects new Executive Committee 42 and Stateswoman Award
42 Michigan Lottery’s instants Rebecca Hargrove Mentorship Award
business firing on all cylinders, Collaboration Award
40
moving from 22 to 7th place in
instant sales
IGT
49 Sports Betting News Subscribe To Our
Free Digital Newsletters
Receive our daily newsletters at no
charge, published 5 times a week
to bring you the latest breaking
D E P A R T M E N T S news in the global lottery industry.
Send an e-mail to:
8 From the Publisher 22 sjason@PublicGaming.com
Paul Jason with “add to Daily Digest list”
in the subject line.
27 A New Day to Play, A New Way to
Win! A NEW DAY TO PLAY A NEW WAY TO WIN
POWERBALL® picks up the pace of
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46 Pulse of the Industry
WEDNESDAY SATURDAY START PLAYING AUGUST 23!
Synopsis of Recent Gaming Industry
News
6 PUBLIC GAMING INTERNATIONAL • JULY/AUGUST 2021
From the
Publisher
T
he theme of our upcoming transformational impact of the direct Welcome to the post-pandemic Golden
in-person conference in and residual effects of the pandemic, Era of Lottery: Moving away from
Nashville, as well as this issue of impacts that go far beyond the hastening Multi-channel, Omni-channel and
the magazine, is that the lottery of existing trends. For more insights into "channels" altogether. Enter the
industry is entering a golden how post-pandemic trends are reshaping Metaverse of "New Retail" where the
era. None of us has a crystal ball and so consumer behaviour and how that affects focus is on the consumer experience,
it may be a little impetuous to make such the lottery industry, check out the article presence is ubiquitous, and content
a prediction. But the stars are aligning in “Lessons from the year that changed the matters more than ever.
some very interesting ways for the gaming world” on page 30. We want to thank …
industry and for lottery in particular. For The whole question of states’ rights to
one thing, people may not be travelling • Rebecca Paul Hargrove and the
determine regulatory policy in the world Tennessee Education Lottery
to casinos or social venues as much as of gambling and lottery appears to have
before, but everyone can go into their Corporation for co-hosting Lottery
been settled once and for all. Over the Expo Nashville. One highlight of
local convenience store and play the past decade, there has been confusion
lottery. For another, lottery is expanding the conference will be when Rebecca
about whether the Wire Act of 1961 again leads her famous CEO/Industry
its land-based retail footprint to include applies only to sports betting or to all
more multi-state national chain stores, Leaders Roundtable Discussion.
forms of gambling and lottery. Now, the
and adding more ways to play including First U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has
in-lane and self-serve purchase options • And Gretchen Corbin, CEO of
ruled, and the U.S. Department of Justice the Georgia Lottery and president
that are super-streamlined for the modern has decided not to contest the ruling,
consumer. It may be hard to predict just of NASPL, for being the keynote
that the 1961 Wire Act does not apply to speaker.
how the retail and online industries will non-sports betting or wagering activity
re-engineer and re-position for the post- over the Internet. Before this ruling, • Lottery directors, their team members,
COVID19 world, but we can observe the states were afraid of the possibility that and their commercial technology
competition for market-share intensifying they would be sued by the U.S. DoJ if partners who have so effectively
which means that having the products the they implemented online lottery. Now led this industry through the most
consumer wants is more important than there is clarity, now they know they have disrupted period in what seems like
ever. And since the consumer wants to jurisdictional authority over regulatory forever.
play the lottery, retailers need to not only policy as it applies to gambling and
have lottery in their stores but also need lottery, including online gambling and • Industry leaders who are sponsoring
to streamline the purchasing experience. lottery. With that, many U.S. states are Lottery Expo Nashville.
I think we can go a step further and moving ahead post haste with iLottery
say that the pandemic experience of the action-plans. And the states that have • Everyone who will make the WILL
last 18 months has only reinforced the implemented iLottery programs have (Women In Lottery Leadership)
fact that consumers love lottery. been achieving outstanding success on session the tremendous success that it
While we envision a golden era for all fronts, most spectacularly on the always is.
lottery, it won’t happen without studying land-based retail channel. As has been
And a big thanks to all of you for your
the way business, commerce, consumer proven again and again all over the
friendship!
behaviour, retailing, and everything world, iLottery brings in new consumer
else has been profoundly affected by groups who are incented to play lottery For complete information and conference
the pandemic; and planning for a world at retail as well as online. Everyone updates, please visit us at PublicGaming.
transformed by the events of the last wins – retailers, lottery, and players. And com. See you in Nashville in October!
18 months. The presentations and as Gregg Edgar’s “Digital Engagement”
Roundtable discussions of PGRI’s last Roundtable panelists attest, digital
two eConferences are a good place to lottery is not just about online sales. It’s
start. The panelists and moderators about connecting with the consumer
have synopsized (and Jim Acton edited) on all media and channels to forge the
those sessions into articles that tell interactive relationship key to sustainable
an important story. Last year, for growth in a world dominated by omni- Paul Jason, Publisher
instance, a common theme was that the channel operators like Amazon. Public Gaming International Magazine
pandemic was accelerating the rate that I can’t tell you how excited we are at the
already-existing trends were achieving prospect of to seeing you again at PGRI
mass-market adoption. This year, Lottery Expo Nashville! The theme of
industry leaders are talking about the this year’s Lottery Expo:
8 PUBLIC GAMING INTERNATIONAL • JULY/AUGUST 2021
Embrace innovation Don’t get left behind Abacus is doing just that. By integrating into the cash register we are embracing the way retailers sell today through in-lane, self-service and self-checkout, scan and go, digital and BOPIS. Control the lottery category Increase sales abacus: bridging the gap between lottery and retail w: www.lotteryeverywhere.com e: info@abacuslottery.com
UN
D TA B
THE BIG PICTURE
FUTURE OF THE WORLD
RO
LE
ON
Industry Leaders Tackle the Past,
DI
S
CUSSI
Present, Future
F
or seasoned lottery veterans, the Stéphane PALLEZ, Chair & Chief Executive Officer,
well-used phrase “now I’ve seen La Française des Jeux (FDJ)
everything” certainly rings true Doug Pollard, Co-CEO, Pollard Banknote and
The following after the past 15 months. But when NeoPollard Interactive
article is based industry followers look back on Paul Riley, Vice President Retail Innovation &
on a Roundtable this unique period of history, these Partnerships, IGT
Discussion leaders will be remembered not only for how they Drew Svitko, Executive Director, Pennsylvania
conducted at PGRI handled the turbulent times but for how their Lottery
organizations thrived. Sam Wakasugi, Vice President Strategic Business
Retail Modernization
eConference on Six of those leaders took center stage at the Retail Management, Scientific Games
Modernization eConference recently. Between Any discussion of the “future of the world” has
April 13.
them, they have traveled the world, overseen to begin with a look back at the past 15 months.
successful lotteries, launched industry-leading “Let’s start with ‘necessity is often the mother
iLottery programs, held office for numerous trade of invention’ and can be the catalyst for some
organizations, and created products which have positive and productive change,” said Rebecca to
earned billions of dollars for good causes. Their the panelists. “Has anything good happened to
words carry weight, to say the least. you in the last year – something that caused you
LEADING THE PANEL – titled The Big Picture to change in a positive way and that you think will
Future of the World – was continue into the future?”
Rebecca Paul Hargrove, President and CEO, Kicking off the discussion was Stéphane who has
Tennessee Education Lottery Association; President, run France’s FDJ since 2014. Her company faced
World Lottery Association; and Chair, Women’s the same issues as lotteries across the world –
Initiative in Lottery Leadership (WILL). Rebecca was customers locked down in their homes, employees
joined on the panel by worried about their jobs and safety, beneficiaries
10 PUBLIC GAMING INTERNATIONAL • JULY/AUGUST 2021ILLUMINATING
YOUR PATH
TO GREATNESS
LETTER FROM THE CEO
To all our clients and partners around the world,
The pandemic has been difficult for all of us in the gaming, lottery, and hospitality industries, compelling
us to reinvent our businesses overnight, while dealing with the loss of loved ones and battling the
emotional hardships that will leave a lasting impact on us and our families.
Though 2020 was one of the most challenging times for our industry and the world, I’m excited that
we have been able to take the steps necessary to return to a more normal life. Personally, I’ve taken
this time to reflect on our business, ensuring that our global team of 1,200+ advisers, testing personnel
and security team members continue to serve you and your shifting needs. Since our founding in 1989,
GLI has always focused on helping our clients thrive, no matter the circumstances. Working with you to
solve difficult problems and create growth and success is what drives us; it’s in our DNA.
During the pandemic, we recognized that clients needed not only a trusted testing lab, but a strategic
adviser to help them evaluate and capitalize on new opportunities across the globe. We were quietly
ready to help. We helped clients transition to cashless technologies and pivot into new global iGaming
and digital markets at an accelerated pace. As global cybersecurity threats reached an epic level,
Bulletproof, a GLI company, worked tirelessly to provide security services to clients including security
and penetration testing, security audits, end-to-end network security, and 24/7/365 monitoring. As an
industry, we’ve learned a lot and should be proud of our collective agility.
As we emerge from the pandemic and shutdowns, we are ready to expertly help our 480+ regulatory
and lottery clients, as well as operators and suppliers to understand new legislation, regulations and
cybersecurity requirements. We’ve reinvigorated our end-to-end compliance and testing road map to
better accommodate all your needs, from the earliest quality assurance tests and user acceptance
testing, straight through to final compliance certification. We’ve also reshaped our leadership team for
the GLI of tomorrow with an even greater focus on client partnership, world-class service delivery, and
team member growth and engagement.
Our global team of advisers and testing personnel has been hard at work preparing for what’s next.
We can leverage decades of experience to help you achieve your goals—no matter how big or small,
or how unique the challenge. At GLI, this has always been our core mission, and as we look toward the
future, it will remain our ongoing promise to you.
Simply put, we’re ready whenever you’re ready.
I cannot thank our clients and partners enough for your continued collaboration and trust as our
industry returns stronger than ever.
Sincerely,
James Maida
gaminglabs.comR O U N D TA B L E D I S C U S S I O N
concerned about lottery revenue. In the end, entertainment products aren’t available, to move quickly to respond to the changing
FDJ learned a lot about their operations and lottery becomes even more important.” marketplace.
how to best serve its players. He continued, “Along with the appeal “And the results from the collaboration
“We have known that digital is growing of the lottery games themselves goes the and hard work have been incredible. Fast
but it was amazing to see how quickly our availability of the product and that is why forward to today and we’re trending up
players adopted the technology during omni-channel is here to stay. We’ve seen its about $62 billion in instant sales, a 19%
the first half of last year,” she said. “Our value. Certainly, at NeoPollard Interactive, increase year-over-year, and that is a result of
business has been transformed, not in we witnessed firsthand the explosion of new hard work at lotteries that were dealing with
ways we didn’t expect but in a much more activity in the iLottery states that we service. their own internal pressures, retailers and
accelerated way. We also learned that our iLottery is an area where we can really vendor partners. During the pandemic, our
consumers like both worlds. They like explore new and innovative ways to deliver industry learned a lot of new and improved
digital, but they also remain committed to lottery products in entertaining ways. That’s business practices and innovative ways to do
their local points of sale. They have told us how we will keep people engaged in our business that I think are here to stay.”
they want both, confirming the relevance of products.” Paul said that IGT has been focused on
omni-channel distribution. These were some technological innovations while
great learnings for us.
“
simultaneously ensuring that
“Another interesting thing I in-person retail has the tools
learned during this challenging needed to succeed. “There has been
year is that consumers are very substantial growth in self-service
attached to the values of brands, during the past year as retailers
the values of companies, and they
want evidence of those values
We have always have been focused on customer
and employee safety,” he said. “The
in our business, in our actions,”
she said. “Consumers think
known that people expansion of self service within
retail is an on-going trend we’ve
that a good company for them
is a company that has a positive
buy our products all been aware of, and it dovetailed
with the COVID-induced desire
impact on society and is able to
demonstrate and prove they are
to win money, but for consumers to minimize their
contact with others. So, on one
a part of the solution to societal
and environmental problems. It
it really reinforced hand, lotteries benefited by their
ability to support player self-service,
tells me that we must continuously
show our players that we share
for me the notion however we also know that nothing
compares with the traditional
their values, we care about society,
and are acting on those convictions
that people buy lottery sales model of interaction
with a clerk.
and values.” During the pandemic,
FDJ contributed to several national
lottery products for “We forget sometimes that our
entertainment as well.
product can be intimidating. It’s
initiatives, through its Corporate important that we recognize this
Foundation, but also by providing as we try to bring on new players.
material support for its retailers Players have traditionally been
with sanitary protections, and guided through the process of
financial help for the most vulnerable. FDJ For Sam at Scientific Games, one interesting learning how to play by lottery retailers, but
employees also contributed to support health development was the increased communica- that option may not be as readily available to
workers by donating leave days. tion between vendors and retailers. Strong us as self-service proliferates and we start to
Doug Pollard, Pollard Banknote, observed retail relationships have historically been see the adoption of clerkless and checkout-
that the players’ affinity for lottery, noted directly with the lotteries. But during the free retail locations. Increasing online
by Stephane, evolved and played out in challenges of the pandemic, retailers were engagement will be better for everyone,
different ways. At the beginning of the asking vendors for help to distribute lottery including retailers, as that will make it less
pandemic, sales dropped and there was products. “One of the industry’s biggest intimidating and easier for players to play at
widespread concern about the future. retailers located in 34 states implemented retail.
That worry didn’t last long. “What the curbside pickup and home delivery, but
asked Scientific Games for ideas on how best For Drew, the past year has seen growth
past year has shown us is the resilience of on several fronts, with an explosion of
the product,” he said. “We have always to get lottery products to their customers,”
said Sam. “Because we have been working iLottery activity as well as increases at
known that people buy our products to retail. “We’re one of the fortunate lotteries
win money, but it really reinforced for me on alternative delivery avenues for many
years, we were able to quickly respond and that can sell online,” he said,” and we saw
the notion that people buy lottery products tremendous growth in our online platform.
for entertainment as well. And when other work with this company. Everyone needed
Continued on page 28
12 PUBLIC GAMING INTERNATIONAL • JULY/AUGUST 2021UN
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PLAYER RETENTION
AS WELL AS NEW PLAYER
RO
LE
ON
ACQUISITION
DI
S
CUSSI
I
n the scope of lottery industry history, Marketing, NeoPollard Interactive
iLottery spans just a short period of time. Peter Sullivan, Chief Executive Officer,
So you will pardon the iLottery states if Jackpocket
this new-ish brand of game has kept them
The following juggling many balls, acting like ducks on For those lotteries featuring digital sales options for
water (calm on top, flurry of activity under their players, the workday is filled with discussions
article is based
water), busy as beavers. Pick your “really and activities centered on how to attract new
on a Roundtable players to the site and, once they have taken the
busy” idiom and it fits.
Discussion steps to sign on, how to keep them active in the
conducted at PGRI
Some of the frontline workers on iLottery were digital world. Drew kicked off the discussion by
featured on a panel titled Player Retention/New posing a vexing question: How would you describe
Digital Lottery
Player Acquisition. The panel, moderated by Drew the tradeoff between, or the relative importance of,
eConference on Svitko, Executive Director, Pennsylvania Lottery, new player acquisition versus player retention?
June 17. included:
The predominant answer? Don’t make me choose.
Shannon DeHaven, Vice President of Digital
Engagement, Pollard Banknote “I see this as two independent but crucially
important work streams that actually deliver
Stephanie DuVal, Digital Engagement Manager, better results when they’re working together,” said
Virginia Lottery Merv Huber-Calvo of Scientific Games. “When
Jessica Fritz, Digital Marketing Manager, budgeting, you’ll spend more as your program
Michigan Lottery grows and matures. Player acquisition costs are a
Merv Huber-Calvo, Senior Director, Growth bit more fixed as you’re making ROI calculations
Marketing, Scientific Games based on your cost-per-acquisition versus what
is the lifetime value of the players you’re actually
Karri Paavilainen, Senior Director, PlayLottery bringing in. You then apply the calculations across
Content, Operations and Connected Play, IGT all of your campaigns and digital channels. The
Jessica Powell, Director of Ignite Player retention of players is a bit more complicated
14 PUBLIC GAMING INTERNATIONAL • JULY/AUGUST 2021R O U N D TA B L E D I S C U S S I O N
because you have to apply a different ROI spend and a higher propensity to continue connect your investment with the end result.
analysis to the different player types. For to play. The payback period is when you The learnings are post campaign while
instance, you’ll spend more on your higher understand how long it took for the cost of digital is ongoing.”
value players. The amount you spend over the acquisition to get paid back and for you to As stated by others on the panel, another
time is going to grow as your program grows. become profitable with that customer. Once important component of acquisition is
But making this investment is what will keep you’ve cleared that hurdle, other business affiliate marketing. Under this model, a
your program successful.” decisions fall into place more readily.” lottery compensates a person or company
This particular discussion highlighted a key With that set-up, Drew pulled apart the for generating traffic to its iLottery site
issue that lotteries are facing today because different components of the discussion. which results in an actual player spending
an animated discussion ensued, next from “Let’s focus on the player journey chrono- money. The entity that brings the players
Jessica Powell of NeoPollard. “I think one of logically and start with player acquisition,” to the iLottery site receives a commission
the biggest challenges of our industry is the he said. “iLottery player acquisition is based on the new players level of spend.
divide between acquisition and retention and different from the traditional side where we In Michigan, Jessica Fritz said this model
considering them as two different depart- are retailer focused. Let’s drill down into has worked well. “Affiliates have proven to
ments,” she said. “It’s time we forgot about those differences.” be successful for us since we went live
above the line and below the line and
“
with the program in December 2017,”
focus on the most important thing she said. “So far, this acquisition route
– the bottom line. There has to be has accounted for 34,000 registra-
an overarching marketing strategy to tions and more than 15,000 first-time
connect with players, get them into the deposits. But that’s a total net return
The major difference
funnel, and then retain and maintain from affiliates of $6.8 million since
relationships with them.” the launch. It’s important to us as
Recently departed from the Michigan
Lottery (where she served as deputy from retail is that it’s a channel through which we can
reach players who wouldn’t normally
director digital operations for the last
five years), Pollard’s Shannon DeHaven we’re able to see the rest of our advertising, blogs
and web sites surrounding iGaming
agreed with Jessica and Merv about the
need to concentrate on both acquisi- measure the results and other ways that we capture
player interest. Some of our more
tion and retention. “But your approach
to budget allocation can’t be a ‘set it from our efforts in high-value players have come through
the affiliate channel, especially
and forget it,’” she said. “You have to
constantly reevaluate where your spend almost real-time and during the past year when some of
those players were looking to reroute
needs to be allocated. As Jessica said,
there is a funnel but it’s not necessarily make optimizations their entertainment dollars from
other forms of gaming that weren’t
a clear line and it should be regularly
reviewed to determine where the most on the fly.” available. Next we hope to expand the
affiliate program to retailers to allow
revenue is generating from. Is it the them to be rewarded from acquiring
retention efforts or the acquisition iLottery players.”
efforts? Lotteries have limited marketing IGT’s Karri Paavilainen outlined four of Switching to what messages attract iLottery
budgets so it’s important to carefully spend in the most prominent differences. “First is players, and representing the industry’s
the most appropriate way.” the media selection for promoting products newest iLottery program - Virginia,
Speaking as the CEO of an iLottery company which in traditional lottery is heavily mass Stephanie said that some of the same
that operates across a number of states, Peter broadcast media such as TV, radio, Out-of- things that work at retail also work in the
Sullivan of Jackpocket said determining the Home and digital, while iLottery is almost digital world. “Just as at retail, our biggest
payback on your spend will help guide your all digital and more accurately targeted,” he acquisition driver for iLottery has been
budget allocation. “Even outside of the lottery said. “Next, the lottery’s tactical digital ad- large jackpots that push players to the site
industry, there are three components to how vertising is almost all offer-based marketing and gets them interested,” she said. “We’ve
businesses determine budget spend – what while retail tends to target lifestyle also attracted players who are looking for
is our cost of acquisition, what is the weekly/ messaging and promoting winners. Another branded products like Powerball and Mega
monthly spend on a given segment, and what retail tactic is to advertise the jackpot spikes Millions or our Virginia Lottery in-state
is the cost of retention,” he said. “And one of and then go silent. With digital, its 24/7/365 games. And just like at retail, merchandising
the most important KPIs, along with ROI, of continuous ongoing visibility. The final big wins will always get players interested.
is the payback period. Different segments of difference is that digital allows you to The major difference from retail is that we’re
your audience have different acquisition costs measure and understand the effects of your able to measure the results from our efforts
and you’re willing to spend a higher acquisi- investment. You know immediately if you in almost real-time and make optimizations
tion cost for a player that has a higher average are successful. Traditional is a bit harder to on the fly.”
Continued on page 35
16 PUBLIC GAMING INTERNATIONAL • JULY/AUGUST 2021UN
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DIGITAL ENGAGEMENT
FOR ALL LOTTERY
RO
LE
ON
OPERATORS
DI
S
CUSSI
I
n 2021, mention digital advancements in Ryan Mindell, Lottery Operations Director, Texas
the lottery industry and many people will Lottery
assume you’re talking about iLottery and Amy Warner, Director, Digital Engagement,
the sales of lottery products through apps Scientific Games.
The following and web sites. And why not? After the
pandemic, the logical assumption was that a “It’s important for us to talk about what is available
article is based
progressively growing list of lotteries would for ALL lotteries because not all of us have
on a Roundtable iLottery, not all of us have the ‘joys’ of being a fully
be looking to launch ilottery programs
Discussion digital gaming entity,” Gregg said. “In Arizona we
conducted at PGRI
But give a quick look at the list of lotteries and just got locked out of digital gaming for the next
their digital offerings and you’ll see more Arizonas 20 years through new tribal gaming compacts, but
Digital Lottery
– which is legislatively prohibited from selling that doesn’t mean there isn’t a wealth of things we
eConference on online – than New Hampshires – which offers all can do in the online space. Whether it’s iLottery, a
June 16. products online. And even lotteries where iLottery player’s club, a loyalty program or just social media
is legislatively allowed are not rushing to add platforms, the digital experience is an increasing
platforms. But are these directors without iLottery part of our lottery ecosystem. How we use these
crying in their beers? Not! tools to optimize our relationship with our players
Gregg Edgar, Executive Director of the Arizona is at the heart of the conversation with this panel.”
Lottery, who moderated industry experts on a With those opening words, Gregg asked the panel
panel titled “Digital Engagement for ALL Lottery about “engagement” and how their organizations
Operators.” Gregg was joined by panelists: define the word.
Sina Aiello, Vice President, Loyalty, Pollard Kelley-Jaye, who heads up New Hampshire’s
Banknote successful iLottery program, said, “Engagement
Kelley-Jaye Cleland, Chief Product & Program to me is about creating a relationship through
Officer, New Hampshire Lottery knowing and understanding what the other party
Jay Finks, Executive Director, Oklahoma Lottery wants, likes, needs, and enjoys. Engagement is not
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one-sided – it involves two or more parties. those interactions. Your app, whether or not informs absolutely everything we do. The
For example, if we send an offer to someone you’re selling on it, provides meaningful campaigns we undertake, the customization
and they don’t open it or they do and then interaction that promotes positive brand of content relative to a specific player – the
don’t act on it, the offer didn’t resonate with associations that help reinforce and build whole design process must be informed
them, and that could be for various reasons. your relationships going forward.” by information about the players and
If the offer is received and acted upon, that Jay was the long-time marketing director what works and what does not work, it’s
starts the engagement process. We now in Oklahoma before being named director, all driven by the data. For example, if we
know at least one thing about this player – so he is intimately familiar with techniques know a player enjoys our crossword games, a
that they liked the offer they acted on. Thus for reaching players. “The key to successful banner will come up on their carousel with
begins a process of interaction and learning engagement is offering multiple touchpoints crossword messaging. And their rewards
more about what the player likes and does for players,” he said. “Loyalty is the perfect might be crossword coupons versus just a
not like. That’s one example. Engagement platform as there is so much you can do generic buy one-get one type of coupon.
can happen though social media sites, survey with one ticket. The player can enter one Data is what enables us to deliver the
responses, feedback on our site, or other ticket or a group of tickets, and can then messaging and promos that are relevant to
player communication channels.” decide which promotions she wants to the player’s preferences. The data might
Sina from Pollard continued with this line participate in. And then there might be show us that we have a really engaged
of thought. “Any interaction with players smaller prizes and drawings for a large prize instant player so why not introduce them
will result in engagement, whether that’s that will attract players. Along the way we to draw-based games with an offer for
through an email, the website, an app or in can customize offers to the players. There are double the points for entering draw game
a loyalty program,” she said. “We know that so many levels of engagement available that tickets into their account. In this way, data
our players are in the digital space now so do not include iLottery.” is helping us enrich the player’s individual
experience.”
“
that is where we have to be. If it’s
not through an iLottery program, Amy said that when Scientific
then we need to provide entertain- Games digital specialists talk with
ment value through the extension lotteries about enhancing their digital
of a retail ticket or utility through programs, they often start with data.
an app.”
Amy said that engagement takes
Given the “We know who plays instant or draw
games and how often they play,” she
restrictions many
many different forms. At Scientific said. “We also use the data to power
Games she works to ensure lotteries’ our couponing programs. Couponing
lotteries face, we
digital programs are engaging as has been huge, and data shows that
many players as possible to extend players play a lot of different games
and are more willing to try new things
the entertainment experience.
“Given the restrictions many need to focus on if they have a coupon in their cart.
Data is empowering CRM (Customer
what they can do
lotteries face, we need to focus on
what they can do to drive digital Relationship Management) with more
engagement and loyalty,” she said. sophisticated capabilities. The data
“I’m very passionate about loyalty
programs because they offer a lot
to drive digital provides us with the information we
need to shape and enhance the whole
of benefits for lotteries. When all
tickets are eligible all the time, you
engagement and player experience.”
Gregg steered the conversation
are engaging all your players. Then
you mix in second chance promo- loyalty towards results. Digital platforms cost
money and to justify that expense,
tions for even greater reach. So lotteries have to show that their
lotteries can be very strategic with initiatives will bring in players who
a new product line that they want to feature While players clearly enjoy many benefits will buy products. “But when you’re looking
and really help drive game performance.” from digital interaction (from quick at player engagement, it is something that is
For lotteries without advanced digital information access to prizes), lotteries are hard to quantify,” said Gregg. “We’re very
offerings, engagement can be as simple as the recipients of a very valuable commodity metric driven in Arizona and we use metrics
an email. In Texas, which does not have – data. And player data is worth all the hard to define how we can improve what we’re
iLottery, the lottery looks to the “blocking work it takes to launch and maintain digital doing. But how do you define and measure
and tackling” of player outreach. “A simple programs. ROI and impact?”
email or digital signage in a store can be Sina said the data collected from Pollard’s Kelley-Jaye described how New Hampshire
meaningful interaction with our brand,” various platforms helps direct their outreach quantifies its digital programs, with the
said Ryan. “But your web site provides a link to players. “Data is the crown jewel of key being achievement of their identified
to your players that enables you to build on our platforms,” she said, “because it really goals. “Initially, the results you want include
20 PUBLIC GAMING INTERNATIONAL • JULY/AUGUST 2021R O U N D TA B L E D I S C U S S I O N
more impressions, clicks, likes and other our app usage is now significantly up year competition and figuring out how we can
responses,” she said, “but ultimately the ROI over year. Our player-base now expects a excite people to engage with lottery.”
is judged by the deposit amount. How much robust digital offering so we are locked in toAn offshoot of that thinking, according to
money was brought in from a campaign providing it for them.” Sina, is upping the fun of lottery. That is
minus the investment cost. But we can still One question that lotteries face is identify- one of the goals of Pollard and NeoPollard.
dig deeper into the ROI per campaign to ing their target audiences. Gregg said, “We have a great opportunity to amplify the
look at things like average deposit per user. “When you look at a lottery’s digital fun and entertainment value of the lottery
If the goal is to bring in more women, we strategy, are you trying to convert existing brand,” she said. “That’s how we see the
want to measure against that goal, i.e. did lottery players, core players, into a digital future of the platforms and programs offered
we bring in more women? Is the goal to category? Are you trying to find digital game by lotteries. Even if a lottery can’t sell online,
bring in more men of a certain age? Did that players, folks who congregate or operate in most can offer free games through their
happen? We’ve been working closely with the digital space, and bring them into the digital platforms. To me, that’s a gateway to
NeoPollard on the ROI of our bonusing en- lottery world? We had a fear that our older the digital world because it puts the product
gagement so that we can further identify our demographic would get lost but my mother in front of the player, teaches them about the
goals and make sure we can achieve them. is in her 70s and she’s playing Candy Crush lottery and its products, and lets them have
While we are ultimately judged on the all the time. She’s in that space. So how do a little fun. At Pollard, we call these Express
revenue we bring in, there is so much more we definite our digital targets? Games, and they have high engagement and
that goes into a successful program really capture the players’ attention.
“
that will ultimately result in increased There are many tactics to attract
playership and revenue.” players, keep them engaged and keep
In Oklahoma, Jay has found that en- them coming back.”
gagement and participation are always Gregg wrapped the panel discus-
Data is the crown
followed by increased sales. That sion by returning to a point that
simple observation leads to a “build is important to all lotteries – how
it and they will come” approach.
jewel of our
to maintain a balance between the
“Our ROI for digital is based more expansion into the digital world and
on participation and getting people
platforms,” she
boosting their retailer community.
on board,” he said. “Are we engaging For lotteries like Arizona and Texas
more people and increasing our that don’t sell tickets on online, this
numbers so that our participation
levels go up? I’d love to see the tools said, “because is a critical balance and one that has
a great impact on revenue.
to measure performance and clarify
impacts with more precision. Many it really informs “One question is, ‘are we talking
with new players or are we talking
absolutely
of us have had an explosion of sales
but how do we keep that going in with established players?’” said
Ryan. “Because a new player can be
everything we do.
the future? We won’t have 30 and 40
percent increases in the future but attracted with the types of digital
smaller, ongoing increases are fine. We offerings they see in other areas
know that our core players have been of commerce. We’re creating an
engaged but do we know if our light environment that’s going to be more
For Amy, there is no question that people welcoming to those new players. And when
or lapsed players have come back? Are our are already deep into the digital world and
digital programs translating into increasing these players are at retail, we have QR codes
lotteries need to keep pace. “There’s a lot in our app that provide coupons for retail
our player base? I want to figure out how of competition out there for consumers’
we get the 21-year-old and that’s where this sales. So they come to us through our digital
attention, discretionary spend and brand offerings and then they can use digital to
evolution to digital is the key.” loyalty,” she said. “The average American inform their at-retail buying decisions. And
Texas is doing all it can to build a digital belongs to 14 loyalty clubs. The digital world these programs are also good for our core
ecosystem that will attract players even has exploded. If a player gives you their players because they are also receiving offers
without online play. So far so good, says dollar in today’s environment, they expect they can use at retail. In the end, we have
Ryan. “The trend-lines are straight up for something extra because all sorts of other a wealth of data that will again drive our
us,” he said. “I think this is common across entertainment options are also vying for decisions for all players.”
the industry but it’s good to see a growth that same dollar. If we can streamline the
environment right now. And we certainly process by making players comfortable with Jay said that in Oklahoma, they continue
had room to grow in the digital areas. Our using a digital wallet, we can compete with to roll out initiatives that operate within
participation numbers are at rates I haven’t casinos and other gaming entities—and we their mandated restrictions but provide
seen before and we have a lot of momentum. can responsibly grow lotteries’ player base. options for their players. “While we don’t
We added digital coupons to our app and So a big focus for me is looking at the digital offer iLottery, there’s much we provide to
Continued on page 41
PUBLIC GAMING INTERNATIONAL • JULY/AUGUST 2021 21UN
D TA B
PORTFOLIO
MANAGEMENT IN THE
RO
LE
ON
DIGITAL WORLD
DI
S
CUSSI
T
he numbers on online shopping are Richard Bateson, Chief Commercial Officer at
eye-popping. According to Digital JUMBO Interactive
Commerce 360, a leading retail J.B. Landroche, Senior Vice President Corporate
research organization, online sales Affairs, Georgia Lottery
The following were up 32 percent in 2020 over the
article is based prior year for a total of $792 billion. Derek Levesque, Senior Manager, U.S. Digital
on a Roundtable For the first quarter of 2021, sales Business Development, IGT
Discussion were up 30 percent over Q1 2020, nearly triple the Stephanie Weyant, Deputy Executive Director,
increase of all quarters in 2020. Marketing & Products, Pennsylvania Lottery.
conducted at PGRI
Digital Lottery For the lottery industry, where at-retail sales have Stephanie said that one result of the increased
eConference on
broken records in nearly in every jurisdiction, the focus on online shopping is that lotteries will now
increase in the use of the digital sales channels hit be held to the same high standards as businesses
June 17.
a bit differently. While only around a dozen states such as Walmart, Target and Amazon. “We see
are selling products online, most lotteries have a that the online players skew slightly younger
digital presence which only grew in importance than traditional lottery players and many of them
over the past year-plus. shop online,” she said. “So they expect the same
With all eyes on how digital sales will progress, experience as Amazon and Netflix, with more
this panel – titled “Portfolio Management in the game content and frequent updates to the site.
Digital World” and consisting of iLottery veterans They want more winning experiences. To them,
– offered a look at how lotteries can balance their it’s not so much a single purchase but a session, a
online and retail products. longer-duration experience. And just like online
shoppers, our digital players expect our platforms
Kevin Hall, Executive Director of the Virginia to be mobile friendly, intuitive, and frictionless. So
Lottery which just celebrated its one-year anniver- overall I would say that the online player expects
sary of digital sales, served as moderator for the a different experience than our traditional player.
panel which featured:
22 PUBLIC GAMING INTERNATIONAL • JULY/AUGUST 2021R O U N D TA B L E D I S C U S S I O N
In the end, however, online and retail work chance to dream. We want to translate internal product team manages our entire
together to attract players and drive revenue that to online players who might want an product portfolio – scratch games, Fast Play,
and we have to work equally on both instant reveal or want a story to be told. So monitor games, draw games,” she said. “One
offerings.” we need to balance everyone’s needs and team handles all of these games. We added
In Georgia, J.B. said that their digital expectations. We also must keep in mind one dedicated iLottery product manager
program has allowed the lottery flexibility other competing opportunities that exist in to help with the increased workload. Some
and differences from what is offered at retail. so many states, such as casinos and online of the pros to having an integrated team is
“We do have slightly higher price points sports gambling. This competition impacts that they bring over a knowledge of all the
and top prizes currently offered at retail as both retail and online and we need to stay traditional games and that sets up some
compared to online. However, the interac- ahead of this discussion.” really great cross product line opportunities.
tive format allows us to offer a wider variety Since they’re managing all products, they
“
of play styles and the flexibility to attract
players with bonus levels and interactive
game mechanics. We are able to mimic the
instant gratification that players receive
from scratch tickets sold at retail.”
Derek said that from his work with IGT’s With world class sites like Facebook,
clients and observing the industry, he sees
some common approaches that lotteries
Amazon and Google leading the way, players
are applying to preserve a balance between
digital and retail. “There are definitely
expect the same quality from lotteries
nuances to each lottery, whether it’s a game and their vendor partners. There are
preference, payout or just a particular player
demographic that influences decisions,” many non-lottery options for gaming and
he said. “Building an online portfolio that
engages players is very important. This is
entertainment dollars, so it is imperative
where data plays a key role. We use it to that the products and experiences we offer
understand the player and the games they
play repeatedly so we can apply the insights are relevant, fun and engaging.
and continue to build on the success of
those games to engage more players, whether can tie these games and promotions together.
it’s through the theme or the mechanics. The rise in popularity of online sales does not
mean lotteries are taking their feet off the So with the one group managing the entire
For digital, we can use the data to inform portfolio, they have a wide view of products
decisions and make changes quickly. For the retail gas pedal. If anything, it has resulted
in enhanced communication between the and are better able to tee up some great
retail product, those changes are made over marketing opportunities.”
a longer timeframe.” traditional and retail sides of the house. The
key word is portfolio management. “While “Of course, online products present different
The Virginia Lottery is the new kid on our digital platform is managed separately, opportunities to the group and the approach
the iLottery block and the oldest program there is collaboration from the entire lottery is in fact different from retail,” she said. “You
(Michigan) is still less than 10 years old. team including those focused on the tradi- don’t have a limit on the number of games
But in Europe and other parts of the world, tional product and retail channels,” said J.B. you can sell online like you do at retail. You
digital lottery is old hat, just another part of of his Georgia Lottery colleagues. “And we can test and learn in real time in the online
the channel mix and product arsenal. And work closely with vendor partners, especially environment. We might launch an online
there are certainly lessons to be learned from the interactive team at IGT, to manage the game with a theme that maybe we would be a
those with experience all over the world. portfolio of games. Our product develop- little hesitant to do at retail.”
Cue Richard, who in a previous job oversaw ment team’s knowledge of our traditional
the digital program for the UK lottery and Running one of the nation’s largest lotteries,
scratcher games in the retail space provides Kevin has seen a lot in his time at the
now works for JUMBO which works with invaluable expertise as we evaluate and refine
lotteries across the world. helm of the Virginia Lottery. iLottery was
our digital prize structure, price points and different: “One of my biggest surprises as a
“If you look at player expectations, lottery is game themes to appeal to both existing and new iLottery state was the frequency with
not in isolation from other digital platforms, new players. And when possible, we try to which we have to launch new products in
with players wanting greater interactivity,” align releases for promotions and marketing the digital space to meet customer expecta-
Richard said. “We want greater engage- purposes between the two groups. It is truly tions,” he said. “It’s a challenge and an
ment with our players and our games need a collaborative effort.” opportunity.” The panel certainly agreed.
to show that as well. Retail scratch ticket In Pennsylvania, Stephanie’s product group
players want instant gratification and the In Pennsylvania, Stephanie said, “On the
has a slightly different structure. “Our same iLottery side, we’re launching one new
Continued on page 48
PUBLIC GAMING INTERNATIONAL • JULY/AUGUST 2021 23PGRI INTERVIEWS
EMBRACING THE
NEW WORLD OF
OMNI-GAMING
SPORTS-BETTING, TRADITIONAL
LOTTERY AT RETAIL, ONLINE
GAMING, AND ILOTTERY ALL
GROWING TOGETHER
Moti Malul, Chief Executive Officer, Neogames
The U.S. games-of-chance market is undergoing a seismic shift from
fragmented sets of product “verticals” that vary from state-to-state to
an omni-gaming model in which more and more game categories are
available across more and more channels of distribution. Legislators
are recognizing that prohibition does not prevent people from playing,
that it instead just drives the activity under-ground so that players are Paul Jason: Let’s start with a basic
forced to resort to illegal, unregulated criminal operations that do not question. Why are U.S. states rushing to
pay taxes. The antidote to this is to regulate the games-of-chance regulate sports betting more than they
have ever done for iLottery? Does sports
industry. Enlightened lawmakers everywhere are implementing
betting generate more financial benefit for
regulatory frameworks to protect players and channel economic society (funding for “good causes” or in
benefit back to society. 2021 is becoming the year in which iLottery the form of tax receipts) than iLottery?
programs are more widely brought into the world of legally regulated Moti Malul: Sport Betting is definitely the
forms of gaming. hottest topic in gaming regulation across
the US, and the simple evidence of that is
Neogames is applying its fifteen years of global iLottery experience to the fact that within less than 3 years since
its mission to serve clients with the omni-channel platform, innovative PASPA was repealed, more than 30 states
interactive games, and full suite of business and technology services have authorized sport betting in various
shapes and forms. It is interesting, and in
to generate outperforming growth. Riding on the waves of a
some ways unfortunate, that it has over-
successful NASDAQ IPO, Neogames CEO Moti Malul enjoins his shadowed the efforts of allowing lotteries
colleagues all around the world to work together to make the coming to go live with iLottery programs. I believe
few years represent the iLottery era of Digital Transformation. the power of voice created by the sport
gaming giants and the excitement that
people in the US have for finally being able
MAKING THE CASE FOR ILOTTERY to bet on sports, which has been common
n Significantly higher financial return to the state and to good causes around the world for many years, provides
than sports betting for that slightly imbalanced prioritization
and attention. This imbalanced view is
n More benign form of “gambling” than sports betting – less
even more glaring when you consider the
problem gambling, lower social costs significant difference in contribution to state
n Operates well right along-side all other forms of gaming including good causes and budgets by the verticals.
sports betting, iGaming and traditional lottery-at-retail Let’s take for example a simple case and
compare $100m in GGR (Wagers minus
n Provides the platform necessary for the Interactive relationship Wins) in Sport Betting vs the same in
with the players that is key to a sustainable future for lotteries iLottery. On average, according to most tax
n Drives high synergies with digitization of lotteries at retail through structures in states that have regulated sport
omni strategies betting, at best the state will receive 10-15%
of that, and this is even before adding to the
24 PUBLIC GAMING INTERNATIONAL • JULY/AUGUST 2021You can also read
