Illinois Senator Pushes For Online Lottery Ticket Sales

Illinois tried to close budget gaps through its state lottery. The state introduced video lottery terminals in an attempt to boost lottery ticket sales. Unfortunately a provision is state law allowed counties to ban the video terminals which most counties did putting a damper on the state's efforts to increase ticket sales. Now state budget problems may force Illinois to consider privatizing the Illinois lottery. The Illinois lottery was launched in 1985 and brings in about half a billion dollars annually. Proponents of privatization say that Illinois could receive an additional $1 billion dollars over the next ten years. Should privatization take place Illinois would retain a stake in lottery operations. Under the privatization plan a private manager would be hired and would be paid a percentage of the lottery's profits. Illinois lottery officials say that despite the recession lottery revenues remain steady. According to recent reports Illinois lottery players continue to spend about $55 million per day on Illinois lottery games.

Many industry experts say that privatization will increase marketing efforts and add new lottery games. Privatization is not the only idea Illinois is toying with. The Illinois lottery is considering the sale of online lottery tickets. Illinois Senator John Cullerton has been pushing for the sale of online lottery tickets since 2009. Cullerton says online lottery ticket sales could help to ease a projected $9 billion dollar deficit for the state of Illinois and could dramatically increase sales. Cullerton told reporters, "I would venture to say you could potentially even double it."(sales) Cullerton cited the convenience of online lottery tickets and stated, "When a jackpot gets up over eighty million, that's when people want to buy at least one ticket, because you can't win if you don't have a ticket. That's when you could buy them on the internet, The way people buy their plane tickets on the internet, or wedding gifts." Cullerton also says that online ticket sales would attract wealthier individuals who have not been targeting by past marketing campaigns.

The sale of online lottery tickets by the state of Illinois could run into legal problems because of present federal laws against online gambling. Federal law is vague when it comes to the sale of online lottery tickets. I. Nelson Rose, a professor at California's Whittier Law School, said that sales of online lottery tickets would be legal is sales were limited to Illinois residents. Rose stated, "It certainly would be successful, even if they limited it to Illinois. Most of the lotteries of the world sell a significant percentage of their tickets online." Once legal hurdles are cleared the sale of online lottery ticket sales would most likely be implemented immediately.