Massachusetts Lottery Looks to Expand into Fantasy Sports

In a bid to keep pace with the burgeoning Daily Fantasy Sports (DFS) industry, Massachusetts Lottery officials are looking into expanding their own offerings to include similar games.

Seeking to attract 'a younger audience that favors playing on mobile devices, particularly 25-to-45-year-old males’, the State treasurer Deborah Goldberg recently advised the Lottery operator to target this demographic “who are not Lottery players (and) who are extremely excited by sports-related fantasies.”

Following her advice, the Massachusetts Lottery Commission have started a information-gathering process and “inviting organizations to submit proposals for the development and implementation of online gambling, including fantasy sports betting,” according to the patriotledger website.

This will include information such as the practicalities of ‘player account registration, management and authentication’ as well as ‘web-based wagering and payment systems’.

Lottery Executive Director Michael Sweeney claimed that DFS was “the biggest challenge” facing the lottery, explaining to the State House News Service recently that:

He explained that the DFS appeal to the younger players and the ease of use in increasingly mobile-based platforms presented a big challenge, which the Lottery would have to meet head-on.

The recent level of record lottery-sales would not continue, was Goldberg’s take on matters this month, in view of the growth of DFS and a growing casino industry. Lawmakers are also heavily involved in state-wide discussion of legalising and regulating online gaming.

All these factors are cause for concern to lottery officials, and Goldberg claimed that they must depend less on their scratch cards and Keno offerings, which accounted for some 87% of lottery sales in the last financial year.

Figures for 2014 showed a profit of $971 million, some $34 million higher than was anticipated in the state budget according to official statistics, while lottery sales amounted to $4.861 billion, the highest figure ever for the state lottery. The next massive Massachusetts Lottery windfall could be set to fall on February 1st, with the PowerBall jackpot sitting at $334 million.