WASHINGTON, Sept. 9 (UPI) -- More games, more players and bigger ticket sales are all part of the D.C. Lottery's new business plan, which so far seems to be working -- officials recently announced record-setting profits of just over $237 million dollars for fiscal year 2003.
Creating the plan was one of the first things Jeanette Michael did on becoming the executive director of the new D.C. Lottery and Charitable Games Control Board's last May in an attempt to "professionalize" the lottery, board spokesman Robert Hainey told United Press International.
The Keno game is only one of the new games the board plans to introduce to draw new customers as part of the plan, he said.
Besides Keno, the district already offers several daily games -- Lucky Numbers, DC-4, Quick Cash, and Hot Five -- and "an ever-changing array" of 30-40 instant games, according to the District's Web site. But like any other brand, lotteries need to introduce new products to retain and attract customers, David Gale, executive director of the North American State and Provincial Lotteries told United Press International.
"With the expansion of the casino industry, everyone's within a three-hour car ride of a casino," he said. Nationally, lottery revenues for fiscal year 2003 are projected to hit 47 billion dollars, Gale said.
Also, nextdoor to the district, Maryland and Virginia also have lotteries, and gambling interests are lobbying to bring slot machines and casinos to Maryland. Delaware's Dover Downs Slots draw busloads of gamblers.
It's important that the district's own lottery thrives. With fixed prize amounts, it is a more stable source of funds than Powerball, Hainey said.
On the daily numbers front, Jerome Bush, assistant manager of Press Liquors, sees some customers who play numbers so often that they are "like family," Bush told United Press International. He added that many Powerball players only play when jackpots climb into the multi-millions.
To get agents to sell more tickets, the city will offer them more cash incentives, Hainey said. Account managers already work with agents to try and help them boost their sales.
Some of them might need the extra encouragement. Thirty-six of the District's agents average more than $1 million dollars in annual lottery sales, but some others said it's been slow. "People don't buy [lottery tickets] like they used to," Woodward Liquors owner Verinder Kumar Dutt told UPI.
To move tickets, agents need to "step up to the counter and ask for the sale," Hainey said. "Just because you put up a sign [advertising lottery] doesn't mean the money is going to start falling out of the sky," he said.
A few also said they'd like a bigger cut of the take. The district, like some states, caps bigger commissions. Jackpots over $600 are capped. Selling the coveted Powerball first prize winner earns agents a flat fee of $100,000.
After operating costs are deducted, District agents only make 3-5 percent commission on most transactions, depending on whether they are selling or cashing tickets, and whether they are dealing with terminal-generated or instant tickets. However, this is close to the national average of around 5.5 percent, David Gale of NASPL said.
The city doesn't allow just anyone to sell lottery either. For a lottery license, agents must submit to a credit check, criminal background check and pay a yearly $250 bond fee, Jeff Anderson, the board's licensing manager, said. Their stores must pass muster. There are also sales quotas to be met.
In spite of licensing requirements, quotas and the rest, most agents said they like having lottery because it brings them good profits and extra business.
But one agent claimed that selling lottery actually lowered his profits. Walt Keel described how the "lottery crowd" overwhelmed his store, Imperial Liquors. "We did such a great job marketing lottery that you couldn't even get in the store to buy a Coca-Cola," he said ruefully. He said he wouldn't even offer lottery anymore if his regular customers didn't like him to have it.
Keel, who co-owns the store with his brother Wade, even tracked the purchases of approximately 2000 customers who came in to buy lottery tickets - and found that less than 4 percent bought anything but lottery. He said the few pennies return on lottery tickets is only a fraction of what he makes on alcohol and other purchases.
"If you were going to make $60 on a bottle of wine or sell a lottery ticket, which would you rather do?" he said. He also had to pay someone to run the lottery machine, which further reduced his profits. Now he runs the machine himself.
Some other agents called lottery a "double-edged sword," like Domingo Alvarado, owner of Metro Square News, who said the lottery is good for business but can sometimes push out other customers. "Still, overall it's good business," he said.
The city isn't the only one who reaps big benefits from legalized gambling either - churches, PTAs, and other nonprofits hold charitable gaming events like bingo. The board held a workshop Sept. 25 to educate organizations on how to hold successful gaming events.
Though the board wants to bring in more money, it doesn't want players to get in over their heads. "This should be a fun investment, not a financial investment," Hainey said. A 1-800 hotline for problem gamblers will eventually be added to some tickets and posted at ticket outlets.
So besides Keno, what other games will the district unveil in the next few months?
"I'm not going to tell you that," Hainey, laughing, said.
