Numbers good for state lottery

LINCOLN — The economy may be yucky, but some Nebraskans still feel lucky.

Despite slumps in the housing and stock markets and the rise in unemployment, the Nebraska Lottery is poised to establish a sales record for the 2008-09 fiscal year, which ended at midnight.

It would put Nebraska in a bright spot among the 43 states with state lotteries, which are expected to show mixed results this year.

Officials said the good news in the land of the “Good Life” probably reflects two things: The economic downturn is not as bad in Nebraska, and new, fresher games are paying off.

“Some states that are suffering have seen their lotteries take quite a big hit,” said Brian Rockey, marketing and communications director for the Nebraska Lottery. “The stories we've seen over the last year or so indicate that in the Midwest, the impact isn't quite as severe.”

Rockey projected that year-end lottery sales in Nebraska will be about $123.4 million, or about $1.5 million more than in 2007-08.

It would mark the eighth straight year that Nebraska Lottery sales have risen. Since 2000-01, the sales have risen 86 percent.

In Iowa, meanwhile, lottery sales were projected to drop slightly in 2008-09, according to Joe Hrdlicka, vice president of marketing for the Iowa Lottery.

Hrdlicka blamed last summer's high gas prices and floods that plagued eastern Iowa last year for the drop, which he expects will be about 1 percent.

“Playing the lottery was a litle less of a priority as far as Iowans were concerned,” he said.

Overall, officials said, it's hard to gauge the economy's exact impact on lottery sales, though all agree sales would have been better had the economy been better.

A spokesman for the North American Association of State and Provincial Lotteries said he'd be pleased if the industry did as well this year as in 2007-08, when 32 of the 42 state lotteries then in operation showed increases in sales.

Nebraska's increase probably won't be “par for the course in today's tough economy,” said David Gale, the association's executive director.

“I'd say they've made some good, tough decisions,” he said.

The increase in Nebraska Lottery sales means one thing: a good payoff for state grant programs that benefit environmental and education projects and subsidize the state fair and compulsive gambler programs.

Since 1993, the state lottery has sent about $350 million to those causes, Rockey said. This year's payment will be about $30.2 million.

By contrast, overall charitable gaming in Nebraska has been on a decline. Through March, sales for keno, bingo and pickle cards were all down, with bingo down about 10 percent and keno down about .5 percent, according to state revenue figures.

Overall nationally, spending on all forms of gambling is down about 5 percent this year, said David G. Schwartz, director of the Center for Gaming Research at the University of Nevada-Las Vegas.

“The problem is that people don't have as much money as they did,” he said.

Las Vegas casinos are still getting visitors, Schwartz said, but they're opting for the $70 hotel rooms instead of the $200 suites, and they're betting less than before.

By contrast, a $1 or $2 lottery ticket seems to weather economic storms better because it's cheap entertainment, both Schwartz and Rockey said.

That seemed to be the case this week for Louis Hunt during a visit to Kabredlo's convenience shop in the near South neighborhood of Lincoln.

Hunt, 42, said he has cut back on driving and on unhealthy foods, but not on his Powerball tickets.

“It's the possibility of one day winning millions of dollars. Then I can live the dream that we all dream about,” Hunt said.

Kabredlo's manager Chantel Gehlsen said most die-hard lottery players are buying as many tickets as ever, though she does see indecision among some occasional players.

Powerball purchases are driven by the size of the jackpot, Gehlsen said. With a $20 million jackpot, sales are slow. When it surges to $200 million, “that's all we do all night, sell Powerball tickets.”

Gehlsen has her own Powerball story — she attended high school in Mission, S.D., with Neal Wanless, a rancher who recently claimed a $232 million Powerball jackpot.

That helped convince Hunt to take a chance on Powerball. As he left Kabredlo's, he promised to share the jackpot with Gehlsen if he wins.

“We'll go to Jamaica and have some fun,” he said, chuckling.

Overall, Powerball sales in Nebraska were down slightly last year, however: $37.9 million in 2008-09, compared with $41.5 million in 2007-08, state figures indicated.

Rockey said that was probably the result of smaller jackpots during the last 12 months for the multistate game — only one exceeded $200 million.

He said other, Nebraska-based lottery games — a new game called “My Day” and “Pick 5,” a local version of Powerball — showed healthy sales increases during the past fiscal year.

Rockey and Schwartz, the gambling authority, said one key to strong lottery sales is to keep the games “fresh.”

Schwartz called it the “Taco Bell effect” — dishes might have the same ingredients, but they're presented in a slightly different way — crispier, softer, thicker, thinner — to keep them new.

Contact the writer:

402-473-9584, paul.hammel@owh.com

« Metro/Region

Share