Mississippi Lottery sells $2.5m in tickets

The lottery from Mississippi has reported more than US$2.5 million in tickets sales on the first day that they were available.

US.- The Mississippi Lottery Corporation has revealed that people in the state bought around US$2.5 million in lottery tickets on the first day of sales. According to the corporation, the US$2.5 million translates into US$570k for the state.

Tickets went on sale around 5 am on Monday at 1,200 retailers in 80 of Mississippi’s 82 counties. The performance of the Mississippi Lottery exceeded expectations, Tom Shaheen, president of the lottery said.

The first US$80 million in proceeds generated by the lottery will go to the state infrastructure. Any revenue after that will go to the state education fund, the Mississippi Lottery said.

“This is not only a monumental day for the [Mississippi Lottery Corporation] but it is also an incredible day for Mississippi,” said Dr Mike McGrevey, chairman of the Mississippi Lottery Corporation Board. “Legislative members determined net proceeds from the lottery will go toward infrastructure and education needs, which are both extremely important to Mississippians.”

Currently, there are only five states in the US that do not have a lottery: Alabama, Alaska, Hawaii, Nevada and Utah.

Mississippi Lottery sets its sights on advertising

The Lottery has chosen the Maris West and Baker firm to handle all advertising and marketing activity for a period of three years. The move from the Lottery aims to establish itself as profitable. It will sign a three-year contract with Maris West and Baker, which will create and buy ads for the lottery.

Meg Annison, lottery communications director, said that payments to the marketing firm will differ every year, and will equal approximately 11.5% of the lottery’s advertising and marketing budget. The current one ends on June 30, 2020, and sets US$3.5 million for advertising and marketing. Of that money, Maris West and Baker will receive around US$400k.