NASPL to continue growing in 2017
David Gale, NASPL executive director, said that the lottery industry aims to maintain the growth shown in 2016 for this year.
US.- The North American Association of State and Provincial Lotteries (NASPL) recorded an outstanding 2016 for the lottery industry in the region. Year-over-year growth last fiscal was stronger than any other since 2012 and its fund raising for diverse good causes saw its highest peak.
According to data provided by the NASPL, US$22.6 billion were raised by lotteries in the US for beneficiaries in 2016 as Canada raised 3.3 billion Canadian dollars (US$2.46 billion), which means a growth of 8 and 18 percent respectively. As for sales, US industry reached US$80.5 billion while Canada’s lotteries totalled C$10.4 billion (US$7.75 billion), increasing previous numbers by 9 and 13.5 percent respectively.
Following last year’s performance, NASPL executive director, David Gale, explained to TotallyGaming.com the organisation’s priorities and objectives for 2017: “In terms of retailer relations, our member lotteries are consistently looking to their retail partners from single-store location to big box chains for ways to help them succeed with lottery product sales.”
Gale detailed that “current retailer and consumer trends clearly indicate that American consumers are rapidly moving toward a cashless reality” but there are some some hurdles to get retailers to accept debit or credit cards, related to the fees associated with these relatively small transactions.
The NASPL is “working on initiatives to create standard guidelines and a cohesive approach to manage cashless lottery retail purchases,” according to the executive director. “They will help each lottery make the business case to their jurisdictions and regulatory bodies on the most viable operational business model, while adhering to each individual jurisdiction’s statute,” Gale explained.
He also highlighted the importance of sharing information and cooperating between NASPL members in order to work together for a better development of the industry: “Lotteries are open to sharing information on products, services and game innovations with one another. Although states and provinces operate under their own specific legislation, all members work co-operatively on issues facing them on a national level.”
