程阳：State Lotteries Remain Steady Despite Recession
      
Casino Gambling Down, But Lottery Spending Remains Strong
CINCINNATI -- Unlike declining gambling revenue at race tracks and casinos, many state lotteries are enjoying steady sales amid the U.S. recession.

In Ohio, lottery officials say a new game and tie-ins with gas stations are probably helping to prop up sales. Lottery tickets are often impulse buys, and motorists are more likely to drop a few dollars on tickets as long as gasoline prices remain low.

"Gas prices affect everything a station sells – Cokes, snacks and lottery tickets," said David Gale, executive director of the North American Association of State and Provincial Lotteries, headquartered in Geneva, Ohio. "I would say it's definitely affecting lottery sales, but to what extent I don't know."

The average price of unleaded regular on Wednesday was $1.88 a gallon in Ohio, according to AAA, the Oil Price Information Service and Wright Express. It was twice that in September, and the price hit $4 in July.

State-run lotteries, for the most part, are not suffering the kind of downturn as other forms of gambling.

Wagering at race tracks nationwide was down 1.6 percent in January after falling 7.2 percent in 2008, mostly in the second half of the year as the economy worsened, according to Equibase Company, which tracks the industry.

Profits at three Indiana riverboat casinos near Cincinnati were down 15 percent in December from a year ago as discretionary spending nose-dived, the Indiana Gaming Commission said.

Lottery sales nationwide were generally healthy, although the industry's roundup for fiscal 2008 doesn't include the second half of the calendar year, when the economy retracted sharply.

Pennsylvania Lottery Director Ed Trees said sales so far this year are about 1 percent ahead of 2008.

"We would have expected to be 4 to 5 percent ahead, but the economy is affecting our business," Trees said.

Ohio Lottery sales were up slightly in 2008, helped by the addition of a bingo-style Keno game, which added about $13 million in profits in its first six months, said spokeswoman Jeannie Roberts.

"Because of the addition of Keno, we're holding our own," Roberts said. "The economy is killing everybody.

"In any given year, we would be experiencing some growth," she said. "We're staying about even. We have a core of players who play every day, and a group we call dreamers who only play when the jackpot gets really high."

There is a third group, Roberts said, called nurturers. "We appeal to them to play because it (the profit) helps the schools," she said.

The lottery returns 60 percent of ticket revenue to winners, with 30 percent dedicated to funding public schools. The other 10 percent is for operating costs.
Keno is aimed at a younger demographic – young, single males who stop off for a beer with friends after work.
"It's the social nature of the game," Roberts said. "We have Keno parties in certain bars. We are hopeful for the game."

Source: WLWT5, Cincinnati, Associated Press, February 11, 2009