Idaho Lottery

The Idaho Lottery, begun on July 19, 1989, is run by the government of Idaho. It is a member of the Multi-State Lottery Association (MUSL). Fifty percent of all net funds are given to public schools while the remainder is pledged to the Permanent Building Fund which is used as a financial resource for Idaho's colleges and universities.

History

The citizens of Idaho created the Lottery during a constitutional amendment vote in November 1988. A mere 200 days later, a Lottery industry record, the Idaho Lottery began on July 19, 1989. Since beginning operations, the Idaho Lottery has sold more than $1.7 billion in tickets and returned $402.25 million to Idaho public schools and buildings.

The Idaho Lottery is operated by the state government of Idaho, which is a member of the Multi-State Lottery Association (MUSL). The Idaho Lottery operates as a traditional-style lottery offering a mix of lottery products, instant ScratchTM games, and pulltabs. The Idaho Lottery also oversees charitable gaming, like bingo halls and raffles, in Idaho.

In Fiscal Year 2008, the Idaho Lottery set new records for sales grossing nearly $137 million. It also set a new dividend record by returning a profit of $34.75 million to the people of Idaho – the fifth consecutive year for returning a record dividend. Players received a record $81.5 million in prizes, and retailers received a record $8.2 in commissions. [cite web
title = Where the money goes
publisher = Idaho Lottery
date = 2008
url = http://idaholottery.com/wherechart.asp
accessdate = 2008-09-19]

Games

The Idaho Lottery offers traditional numbers games Powerball, Hot Lotto, Wild Card 2, and one daily game, Idaho Pick 3. Drawings for Idaho Pick 3 are seven days a week with the other three games being drawn on Wednesday and Saturday evenings. Prices for each game remain unchanged after 19 years of operation at $1 per play (Powerball with the PowerPlay option, or Hot Lotto with Sizzler, each cost $2.) Minimum age to play any Lottery game is 18.

In 2007, the Idaho Lottery introduced its first statewide raffle style game, the Idaho $1,000,000 Raffle, which sold all 250,000 tickets for $10 each in just 36 days.

The Idaho Lottery also offers approximately 52 instant ScratchTM games each year. Prices on these tickets range from $1 to $15. The Idaho Lottery also offers pulltabs in social settings like restaurants, bars, and bowling alleys. Prices on these games range from $0.25 to $1.00.

Fiscal Year 2008 sales by product for the Idaho Lottery are as follows:

§ Idaho joined the multi-state Hot Lotto game on October 1, 2007, after the fiscal year began.

In the 1990s, Idaho had a pick-5 game called "Hot Lotto", which was a single-state game, unrelated to the MUSL game, which Idaho joined in 2007.

Revenue distribution

The largest share of Idaho Lottery revenue is returned to the players in the form of prizes. This amount in Fiscal Year 2008 equaled 60%. The next largest share of revenue is the annual dividend, which by statute is split equally between Idaho’s public schools and the state’s buildings, including college campuses. Approximately 25% of all Idaho Lottery revenue was returned to the People of Idaho in Fiscal Year 2008. Idaho Lottery retailers, approximately 900, received 6% of all revenues. Administrative expenses, divided between gaming operations and support (5%) and Administrative costs (4%), were the two smallest portions.

Technology

The Idaho Lottery changed on-line games providers to INTRALOT, USA in February 2007. This required the installation of new satellites and terminals across Idaho. The new terminals and software capabilities allow the Lottery to perform specialized and unique game promotions.

The Idaho Lottery also changed its instant ticket vendor to Scientific Games, Inc. in July 2007. The combination of companies as allowed the Idaho Lottery to offer unique game promotions where players have the opportunity to enter second-chance draws through either the internet or via tele-entry using a regular touch-tone telephone.

In July 2007, the Idaho Lottery debuted a North American industry first when they offered their VIP Club members the opportunity to earn real rewards for making lotto purchases. For each $1 spent on a machine-generated ticket (Powerball, Hot Lotto, Wild Card, Idaho Pick 3, Raffle), players receive 1 point. Points may be redeemed through the Idaho Lottery’s VIP Club website for prizes and merchandise, including I-pods, DVD players, bicycles, and watches.

In August 2008, the Idaho Lottery offered a North American first – the ability for players to donate part of their winnings from a scratch ticket to an international non-profit organization. The Idaho Lottery offered a $1 ScratchTM game to help financially support the 2009 Special Olympic World Winter Games being held in Idaho in February 2009. Using creative game technology, winning players are asked to donate 25%, 50% or 100% of their win to support the international event.

Mascot

The unofficial mascot of the Idaho Lottery is “Ball”, a large, life-sized symbol of the red Powerball. “Ball” boasts a circumference of 132 inches and made his debut in television commercials in 2006. The Powerball commercials featuring “Ball” won acclaim from (DC HELP HERE?) and depicted “Ball” being so huge, he could not fit into revolving doors, elevators, or up escalators. Today, “Ball” makes appearances at special events and community venues such as collegiate and professional football, basketball, hockey, and baseball games. “Ball” also has an eleven foot likeness that is a helium filled balloon that flies outside the Lottery’s special events trailer.

Notes

External links

* [http://idaholottery.com/ Idaho Lottery site]