AOL Germany to Offer Online Lottery
Fluxx.com AG said in mid-May that it has an agreement with AOL Germany for an online lottery.
Fluxx, which is based in Kiel, Germany, will be providing AOL Germany with a platform for lottery and online betting products called the "any-bet Gaming Platform." The two parties are going to partner on the sales and marketing of the games. The service will be promoted as "AOL Lottery Service powered by fluxx.com."
AOL Germany is part of AOL Time Warner Inc., which is one of the largest Internet providers in Germany. It has 2.6 million users. WEB.de and freenet.de already use the fluxx.com gaming platform.
Representatives from fluxx.com did not respond to Interactive Gaming News' request for more information.
Camelot Pitches in for London Olympics
Camelot said on May 19 that it will develop a lottery draw, costing 1 pence per ticket, to help fund the London Olympics in 2012, the Guardian reported.
The low-cost lottery could provide the Olympics £750 million of the overall £1.5 billion that Camelot plans to raise. The game costing 1 pence will be advertised under the theme that tickets can be purchased with pocket change.
Camelot is also developing a weekly drawing with a gold, silver and bronze drawing as well as Olympics scratchcards, a television show and prizes such as Olympics holiday packages.
Lottery Association Gets I-Gaming Update
Representatives from the North American Association of State and Provincial Lotteries met in Cleveland last week for their spring conference. The group includes directors of 35 lotteries from the United States, Canada, Mexico, Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands.
According to the Cleveland Plain Dealer, one of the topics at the conference was the impact of the Internet on the lottery business. Last year, lotteries in the United States did $42.9 billion worth of sales, and while the sales of the Internet gambling industry were just a fraction of that, lottery executives are keeping an eye out for ways in which Internet lotteries could affect their programs.
Mark Zamarripa, president of the trade organization and director of the Colorado lottery, said no U.S. state currently offers online lottery sales and that during the conference the group got an update on what federal legislation could potentially affect online gambling.
He said NASPL's basic belief is that individual states should be able to regulate their lotteries as opposed to the federal government.