Iowa Lottery May Offer Online Lottery Ticket Sales

Recently it was announced that the Illinois lottery is looking into the possibility of allowing players to purchase lottery tickets online. The Iowa lottery is considering a similar move. One of the chief roadblocks to online lottery ticket sales is current federal law. The law prohibits the processing of gambling related transactions by banks. To comply with the law some banks even prohibit customers from using bank issued credit and debit cards to buy lottery tickets. The anti gambling federal law is very unpopular with the public and a recent poll shows that 91% of Americans think internet gambling should be legal.

The Iowa lottery is exploring the possibility of online lottery ticket sales. Players could also buy lottery tickets from their cell phones or mobile devices. The head of the Iowa lottery told state legislators that purchasing lottery tickets online of via cell phones would be possible once the technology is in place to weed out illegal sales and the federal law is changed. Iowa Lottery Chief Executive Terry Rich told the Iowa legislature's Government Oversight Committee that the federal government may loosen interstate regulations and allow the use of credit cards for online gambling. Rich believes that online lottery ticket sales would create new opportunities for the Iowa lottery. Rich stated, "I think of all the things for the future, the electronic landscape is the key. It's not adding new games but doing it in a way people 21 to 35 are actually purchasing and doing things."

U.S. Rep. Barney Frank, D-Mass has sponsored a bill that would legalize online poker while New Jersey senator Bob Menendez, D wants many other kinds of internet gambling legalized. Should the federal laws change it would open the door for online lottery ticket sales in Iowa. The proposal has some opponents. Consumer Credit of Des Moines director Tom Coates said that expanding ticket sales to include online lottery ticket sales could lead to problems. Coates stated, "As you speed up the action, you will increase the revenue, but you will also increase the social costs. The people you're taking that money from are primarily the people who can't afford to buy them." Unfortunately for Coates almost every study done on the subject thoroughly debunks his statement.

Iowa lottery director Rich sees online lottery ticket sales as a great opportunity for the Iowa lottery to increase ticket sales and provides players with better customer service. Iowa lottery players may be able to purchase lottery tickets online or via cell phone in the very near future.