Lottery Ticket Sales Up Despite Recession

Recently National Public Radio reported that the sale of lottery tickets the sale of lottery tickets has increased despite the ongoing recession. Another report by Bloomberg MSNBC says the opposite. The NPR report is more comprehensive while the MSNBC report only mentions lottery tickets briefly and focuses mostly on the sale of metal detectors. Both reports point out that the lure of easy money has increased during the current recession. All lottery players purchase tickets with that big win in mind and there is even a .lottery subculture with its own language and superstitions. People are coping with the economic downturn by cutting back on unnecessary expenses such as eating out, using credit cards less and taking vacations close to home.

One expense lottery players refuse to cut back on is the purchase of lottery tickets. Last year in the US the sale of lottery tickets increased about $1 billion dollars. In addition to tickets for mega jackpot lotteries like Powerball and Mega Millions people are also buying more scratch off lottery tickets. Although some players say they only buy lottery tickets occasionally many buy lotto tickets every day. When jackpots are high ticket sales increase dramatically. The goal of striking it rich is what motivates most players. Arkansas, which just launched a state lottery, has seen ticket sales exceed projections. Arkansas had estimated that ticket sales would amount to about a half a million dollars a day and recent ticket sales have been twice that. Julie Baldridge, spokesperson for the Arkansas lottery stated, "We estimate that conservatively about $100 million in Arkansas money was already going out of state to lotteries. So that money, we believe, has come home."

Most states now sell tickets for Powerball and Mega Millions and thanks to this arrangement ticket sales have increased across the United States. David Gale of the North American Association of State and Provincial Lotteries says that people are still playing despite the recession and economic conditions. Gale stated, "The jackpot games are extremely popular , and that's the lotto games. They probably have less discretionary dollars left over at the end of their budget so they're probably looking for cheaper forms of entertainment. Lottery tickets typically cost a dollar. The other reason is because it's such an inexpensive product that it's probably not one of the first things that's cut from their regular monthly budget."

Some lotteries are not doing well. The West Virginia Lottery reported that total lottery generated revenues was down 10%. Lottery officials blame casino gambling for the losses and expect the decline in ticket sales to continue. Overall ticket sales are up nationally and players still flock to lottery retailers in hopes of that one big win.