U.S. State Lotteries Considering Privatization
A bevy of U.S. states are considering privatizing their lotteries, and international companies--some with I-gaming offerings--are said to be among potential bidders.
Greek financial newspaper To Kerdos reports that Intralot, in partnership with unnamed major world banks, has expressed an interest in bidding for Indiana's state lottery, which recently went up for sale, and the Illinois' state lottery, which is expected to go up for sale soon. Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels says he is pleased with the interest from private companies--both foreign and domestic--but has declined to comment about a possible deal. The deadline for petition was Monday.
In Texas, meanwhile, Gov. Rick Perry on Tuesday proposed selling the state lottery for at least $14 billion to create an endowment for Texans without health insurance and a trust fund for cancer research. A total sale of the lottery would require a state constitutional amendment, but leasing the lottery to a private company for a large up-front payment would not. Perry is facing some opposition from lawmakers who believe the state shouldn't sell off assets to meet basic budget needs.
Michigan, New Jersey and Washington, D.C, are also said to be considering privatization.
Camelot's Final Push
U.K. National Lottery operator Camelot has made a strong case to retain its lottery license after announcing a 3 percent rise in ticket sales for the first three quarters of its financial year. Sales increased by £105.4 million ($207.7 million) to £3.71 billion ($7.3 billion) in the nine months to December. The figures, released just weeks before the Feb. 9 deadline for license applications, indicate that under Camelot, the National Lottery will complete a fourth year of growth. With Ladbrokes and Sir Richard Branson out of the running, Camelot faces competition from Sugal & Damani, the India-based state lotteries operator, and Greece-based operator Intralot.
Camelot has joined with U.K.-based mobile operator Orange to develop new lottery games for mobile users. If Camelot retains rights to the National Lottery, it will create lottery games--via the new deal--specifically designed for mobile phones, as well as a "lottery ticket shop" for broadband users, among other digital facilities.
Camelot will also join forces with worldwide ticket agent Ticketmaster if its bid to win the next license for the National Lottery is successful. Camelot is seeking the partnership in a bid to strengthen its license renewal application for the Lottery. The proposed deal would see up to 26,000 newsagents and retailers sell concert tickets for the first time through Camelot's lottery terminals. In addition, organizers of major events would use Camelot's network of lottery terminals to sell seats at concerts and sporting events. Camelot and Ticketmaster would also offer prizes through scratch-card games or one-off draw-based games based on specific sporting or entertainment events. They also plan to make lottery tickets available for sale through Ticketmaster's Web site.
Sugal & Damani Needs More Recognition
Indian lottery operator Sugal & Damani Lottery Agency Ltd. (SDLA) has reportedly made approaches to telecoms providers to aid its bid to win the third U.K. lottery license. According to the Sunday Telegraph, SDLA has approached Cable & Wireless, among others in an effort to bring brand awareness to the U.K. Lottery Commission. It is not clear whether any deals have been signed.
Profitable Weather
U.K.-based charity lottery The Weather Lottery launched this week. The company in December announced a partnership agreement with Jackpotjoy.com operator Profitable Play. According to the agreement, Profitable Play is providing a suite of games to its Web site and will receive 50 percent of net gaming revenue generated through the site.
Record Financials for Mifal Hapayis
Israel's national lottery, Mifal Hapayis, is celebrating the most lucrative year in its 55-year history. According to local media reports, the lottery in 2006 brought in NIS 3.6 billion ($848.6 million), NIS 300 million ($70.7 million) more than in 2005. Mifal Hapayis paid out NIS 3 billion ($707.1 million) last year, NIS 600 million ($141.3 million) more than the previous year. The company's most profitable product was Lotto, whose revenue grew by 7.3 percent to NIS 984 million ($231.9 million) in 2006. Shimon Katznelson, chairman of Mifal Hapayis, said profitability has increased 60 percent since 2003, but he acknowledged that the company is limited in further growth unless it receives permits to run newer and more attractive games.
Israel High Court Rules on Lottery Regulation
The Kerala High Court on Jan. 10 ruled that the state government cannot regulate or prohibit lotteries of other states, unless the state is a lottery-free zone. The promoters of Sikkim and Bhutan lotteries have been accused by the central government of violating Section 4 of the Lotteries Regulation Act, 1989, dealing with the conditions subject to which they may be organized under the Act.
Justice K Balakrishnan Nair quashed a motion to show cause issued by the state government to Sikkim lottery, saying that it was issued without jurisdiction, but permitted the state government to continue proceedings against Bhutan lottery because it was a foreign lottery. He directed state government officers to charge the Bhutan lottery a tax until their license came into force. Nair said the state government has a duty to investigate foreign run lotteries found in violation of the Lotteries Act.
Failing Charity Lottery Sold
U.K.-based interactive gaming operator NetPlay TV on Jan. 19 announced its acquisition of Chariot's "monday" lottery and 280,000 player database for a £140,500 ($277,582) cash sum.
Chariot announced just three days prior to the sale that it may be forced to close the "monday" lottery if the company does not quickly dispose of its assets. Chariot in December said it had ended all negotiations on a possible takeover offer for the company but was still considering proposals regarding the disposal of assets or investment in the company. It also warned that it might need to "wind down" its operations should it fail to dispose of any assets or find additional funding. Ticket sales for the charity lottery, which offered a purse of £100,000 ($196,960), have continued to fall below the required level to sustain the game.
Good Year for Chinese Lotteries
China's lottery sales in 2006 increased 10.54 billion yuan from the previous year to a record high of 81.93 billion yuan ($105.4 billion), the Chinese Ministry of Finance said in January. With the exception of eight days around the Spring Festival when lottery sales were suspended, every day about 229 million yuan ($29.5 million) of lottery tickets were sold in China in 2006.
Sales from China Welfare Lottery hit 49.5 billion yuan ($6.2 billion) in 2006, up 20 percent from the previous year; while the sales of the Sports Lottery increased 2.1 billion yuan to 32.3 billion yuan ($4.15 billion).
Last year the country raised 27.76 billion yuan ($3.57 billion dollars) in public welfare funds from lottery sales, according to the ministry. The fund was equally shared by the central government and the local governments, which will be mainly used for social welfare, such as the development of public sports facilities, education and health care for the handicapped. The ministry said a large part also went to the social security fund to fill its deficit.
WagerPhone Launches Lottery
Lottery solutions provider WagerPhone Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of New Wave Mobile Inc., on Feb. 2 launched its mobile lottery platform.
Not Your Average Hacker
A Romanian hacker attacked the Bulgarian State Lotto's Internet site on Jan. 4, cutting access to all the other sub-sites, according to local newspaper Novinite. The report said the hacker, calling himself Tufo-X, left his mark on the site by putting a picture of himself on the index page and changing its contents with a message. Tufo-X, believed to be around 17 years-old, did not change the already drawn lotto numbers and did not cause any damage to the site, according to the site administrator. The site was shut down for only a few hours on the day after the attack.