N.C. lottery ticket sales slipping
Thursday, December 4th, 2008
By Staff
The Associated Press
RALEIGH — North Carolina lottery ticket sales growth is slowing down because of the bad economy, but the lottery’s chief executive said Wednesday the state enterprise will get its own kind of stimulus package soon in the form of new games.
The $400 million in ticket revenues from July through the end of November represent 34percent growth from the ticket totals for the same period a year ago. But November sales figures fell about 9 percent compared to October, lottery executive director Tom Shaheen said. That contrasts with 7 percent growth in lottery sales from October to November 2007, according to lottery data.
Shaheen said people aren’t spending as much on lottery tickets or willing to go inside convenience stores to play when they saw recent high gasoline prices. Scratch-off ticket sales saw the largest decline.
“You went from $4 a gallon gas (to) the holiday season,” Shaheen said during a break in meetings of the North Carolina Education Lottery Commission. “They’re still playing; I just don’t think they’re buying as often.”
Year-to-date revenues are much higher than last year because the legislature agreed in 2007 to allow the lottery to allocate a greater percentage of sales to prizes, making the tickets more attractive to players. Those changes didn’t take full effect until early this year. (more…)
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