Illinois

Illinois Lottery Reports Half-Year Results

Published

1 month ago

March 19, 2024

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Lottery Funding to Support the Common School Fund

CHICAGO, March 19, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — The Illinois Lottery today announced its results for the first six months of the 2024 fiscal year, in which the Lottery has generated $1.9 billion in sales leading to estimated returns to the State of Illinois of $456 million so far.

These results continue the track record of performance established in recent years with record annual sales in FY19, FY21, and FY23, and record proceeds to the State of Illinois in FY22 and FY23. The major drivers of the record performance are the historic volume of multi-billion dollar multi-state jackpots and increasing digital performance.

Additionally, the Illinois Lottery raised over $4.1 million in the first half of the 2024 fiscal year for good causes in Illinois. The Lottery’s specialty scratch ticket program generates much needed revenue for causes such as homelessness, Alzheimer’s, breast cancer, Multiple Sclerosis, HIV/AIDS, police memorials, Special Olympics, and Illinois veterans. As of January 1, 2024, two additional good causes will benefit from lottery funding: the United Negro College Fund and DREAM Fund.

“For 50 years, the Lottery has provided Illinois residents with fun and entertainment, a chance to win, and an opportunity to make a difference through the funding we generate – with K-12 education as the Lottery’s primary benefactor during most of our time serving Illinois. The Lottery has contributed more than $24 billion in revenue to educational funding in Illinois,” said Harold Mays, Illinois Lottery Director.

During the fiscal period, the Illinois Lottery launched its first-ever $50 Instant Ticket. The ticket was an ‘instant’ success with strong sales performance generating over $500,000 a week for the Common School Fund since mid-December.

“A $50 scratch ticket is not new to the lottery industry, but new to Illinois, and it’s proven to be popular with players and retailers alike,” said Mays. “Already, three Illinois players have won $1 million playing this game. There are three top prizes of $10 million still to be won, and we can’t wait to meet those lucky players.”

During the fiscal period, the year of the billion-dollar jackpot continued with three jackpots of $1 billion or more in Powerball and Mega Millions. The Powerball jackpot rolled to $1.0 billion in July 2023, Mega Millions rolled to $1.6 billion in August 2023, and then Powerball rolled to $1.7 billion in October 2023.

Illinois Lottery players won total prizes of $1.2 billion during the first six months of the 2024 fiscal year, including 26 players who won prizes of $1 million or more.

The largest prize won in Illinois during the reported period was a $23.75 million Lotto jackpot won on a single ticket bought from the family-owned BP gas station at 400 E. 95th Street in Chicago in September 2023. This was the largest Lotto prize won in Illinois in more than seven years.

The Department of Lottery and operating partner Allwyn (formerly known as Camelot) have worked together since 2018 to responsibly grow the Lottery and generate funding to support education and good causes. Allwyn helps lotteries raise funding for good causes and the communities they serve, by driving innovation, digitization, customer insights, efficiency, and player safety.

“With a focus on digital innovation, combined with retail excellence, we are growing the Lottery’s player base and sales by offering engaging game content and new ways to play, backed by a data-driven and machine-learning based approach to Customer Relations Management,” said Keith Horton, Illinois General Manager and General Counsel for Allwyn North America.

The Illinois Lottery is supported by Allwyn’s iLottery platform, website, and app which have helped grow online players and sales year-over-year, with iLottery sales in the first half of the 2024 fiscal year up by a third over the same period in the prior year.

The 2024 Financial Year runs from July 1, 2023, to June 30, 2024, and the full-year audited returns to the state will be published later in the year.

About the Illinois Lottery
The Illinois Lottery, founded in 1974, has contributed over $24 billion to the State’s Common School Fund in support of K-12 public education in Illinois since 1985. The Common School Fund is the Illinois Lottery’s primary benefactor, receiving nearly 99% of Illinois Lottery proceeds. The Illinois Lottery also supports various specialty causes as described in the Illinois Lottery Law (20 ILCS 1605/21.4). For more information about the Illinois Lottery and the causes we support, please visit IllinoisLottery.com.

About Allwyn North America
Allwyn is the private manager of the Illinois Lottery, working in partnership with the Illinois Department of Lottery to operate a modern lottery that benefits the people of Illinois. For more information see: www.Allwyn-NorthAmerica.com

MEDIA CONTACT:
Emilia Mazur
[email protected]
(312) 802-4303

Arizona

Colorado’s Sports Betting Market Surges, Attains Third Largest Status in the United States

Published

6 months ago

November 9, 2023

GamingAmericas.com

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Sports Betting in 2023: States that are wagering the most

New Jersey has spent the most per capita out of all states so far on sports betting in 2023 while New York has the second highest spend per capita followed by Colorado in third.

Currently between January and July this year, America has wagered over $59 billion. This is a 176% increase from the entire of 2020 and a 4% increase from 2021. Last year Americans wagered $85 billion so projections would suggest that in 2023 the total amount wagered may surpass over $100 billion.

Research by NoDepositRewards analyzed the state-wide reported figures up to July of 2023 and calculated how much has been wagered per capita (only including the population that is over 18) in every state.

Nevada has a handle of $1,766.44 per capita however we decided to not include this state in the rankings due to not being able to differentiate how much of this handle is from gambling tourism within Las Vegas.

1 – New Jersey

Legal online sportsbooks began taking bets in August of 2018, two months after the law was signed by Governor Phil Murphy. Since then, New Jersey has seen a huge increase in wagers. New Jersey so far in 2023 has wagered over $7.7 billion, which is equal to $1,069.30 per person. Handle per capita: $1,069.30.

2 – New York

It hasn’t taken long for New Yorkers to show their love of sports betting. With nine sportsbooks kicking off online betting in 2022. New York has seen the most money wagered in sports betting across all states with over $13 billion already wagered in 2023; that’s a 59% increase from the entire of 2022. New York does have a much higher population so this equates to $828.90 per capita. Handle per capita: $828.90.

3 – Colorado

Colorado legalized sports betting in 2020 and since then has seen huge growth in the market. With over $13 billion in total handle, $3 billion of that has been in 2023. Divided by the total adult population of around four million it equates to $685 per person. Handle per capita: $685.

4 – Illinois

Residents of?Illinois in 2023 have so far wagered just over $6.6 billion, which is a 40% increase from the first half of 2022. This means that each adult could have wagered $678.53 so far this year. Handle per capita: $678.53.

5 – Arizona

Arizona is also experiencing a surge in sports betting with $3.9 billion already wagered this year; that’s a 124% increase on 2021’s yearly figures. Arizona’s adult population is around 5.7 million, which means that each person could have wagered $677.27. Handle per capita: $677.27.

6 – Iowa

Iowa in total has wagered over $6.7 billion since sports betting was made legal. $1.5 billion of that total has been in 2023. Iowa has one of the lowest populations in this list with around 2.4 million adults. That means that between January and July this year each member of the population could have wagered $643.27. Handle per capita: $643.27.

7 – Maryland

Maryland began sports betting in 2021. Between January and June of 2022 residents of Maryland wagered around $173 million. So far in 2023 over $3.9 billion has been wagered, that’s a 18,166% increase. With just over 4.8 million adults in Maryland, that’s equal to $627.55 per person. Handle per capita: $627.55.

8 – Kansas

Kansas began sports betting in 2022 and so far in 2023 there has been over $1.3 billion in wagers, that’s equal to $601.53 per capita. Handle per capita: $601.53.

9 – Massachusetts

Massachusetts began sports betting in 2023 and already there has been over $3 billion, one of the largest figures achieved within the first year out of all states. When adjusted to the population this equates to $550.26 per capita.?Handle per capita: $550.26.

10 – Indiana

In 2022 Indiana wagered over $4.4 billion. So far in 2023 there have been over $2.8 billion in wagers, which shows that Indiana, although hasn’t experienced the same growth as some other states, is maintaining a solid baseline for possible future growth. Handle per capita: $549.36.

“Sports betting has been growing exponentially in America since its legalization in many states,” Mason Jones from NoDepositRewards said. “In just two years wagers have gone from $21 billion in 2020 to 85 billion in 2022. So far in 2023 there has been a total of $59 billion, this is a 176% increase on 2020 figures and a 3% increase on the whole of 2021 and it’s only halfway through the year. Sports betting seems to only be growing in popularity and trends suggest it will only continue to grow, especially as more states legalize it.

“This increased revenue from gambling has shown positives for governments as they have been able to tax it – over $3 billion has been made in tax revenue since 2018 – and utilize Americans’ love of betting to build and improve the nation at local and national levels. It’s important, however, to be aware of the risks of gambling and never gamble if you can’t afford to lose the money.”

Affiliate Industry

MediaTroopers Co-Founder Stepping Down

Published

7 months ago

October 4, 2023

GamingAmericas.com

Benjamin Truman (pictured), the co-founder and Chief Operating Officer for the successful United States digital marketing agency MediaTroopers, will be stepping down from his position and leaving the company to pursue new opportunities. The agency recently announced the news alongside its gratitude and well wishes for the online gambling industry veteran.

Truman has been with the company since the very beginning, founding MediaTroopers with fellow gambling expert Shmulik Segal back in 2018. Since then, the company has established itself as a prominent digital marketing agency specializing in planning, implementing and optimizing the marketing strategy of online gambling operators in the United States.

As one of the market leaders in mobile acquisition for the online gaming industry, MediaTroopers specializes in driving high-quality traffic through numerous mobile acquisition channels, Google, AdWords, social media platforms and other advertising channels.

During his time as the Chief Operating Officer of the company, Truman has helped MediaTroopers expand exponentially, growing from just a handful of states in 2021 to over two dozen including Washington DC and Ontario at the start of 2023. His determination and dedication have helped the agency to establish itself as a leading force in the regulated United States gambling market and a pioneering digital marketing agency in many newly legalized states.

The company already holds licenses in 21 states including prominent online gambling markets like Arizona, Indiana, Michigan, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and more. Furthermore, MediaTroopers is also operational in another dozen states where a license is not required on an affiliate level including Connecticut, Illinois, New York, Nevada, Ohio and more.

When asked about Truman’s departure, Shmulik Segal, the co-founder and Chief Executive Officer for MediaTroopers, left the following heartfelt comments: “It’s hard to say goodbye to a colleague and friend who has become such an integral part of the MediaTroopers team. Ben has left an incredible impact on the company that we will feel long after he leaves. I’d like to thank him for his dedication, passion and service to our company.

“His dependable work ethic and fearless leadership have guided us through our ups and downs and it has been an honor to work alongside him and learn from his generosity and commitment. Ben, you will always be a part of the MediaTroopers family.”

When asked about his exit from MediaTroopers, Truman said: “Leaving my family at MediaTroopers will never be easy but I feel that, as the company has gotten to where it is now, it is time for me to go and pursue new opportunities. While I’m looking forward to the next steps in my career, I’ve thoroughly enjoyed my time at MediaTroopers and I will keep in touch with the team both personally and professionally.”

Brad Splear

Incredible Technologies Incorporated Hires Brad Splear and Dave Stone

Published

1 year ago

March 22, 2023

GamingAmericas.com

American gaming machines designer and manufacturer Incredible Technologies Incorporated has added to its highly-experienced executive team by hiring Brad Splear to serve as its new Chief Financial Officer.

Possessing some 25 years of fiscal leadership experience, Splear was previously employed in analogous roles by a number of privately-held manufacturing companies and is to now lead Incredible Technologies Incorporated’s evolving finance, accounting and human resources departments as they endeavor to further align the Illinois firm to a renewed strategic vision.

The Vernon Hills-headquartered innovator has furthermore promoted industry veteran Dave Stone to the post of Gaming Sales Vice-President where he is to take charge of a growing sales team and help to refocus the enterprise’s many commercial strategy and planning objectives. Established in 1985, Incredible Technologies Incorporated asserted that the experienced figure has held a number of roles since joining its ranks as a sales associate in 2007 and is now destined to help it scale up ‘to meet its renewed strategic objectives’.

Privately-owned Incredible Technologies Incorporated is a member of the American Amusement Machine Association, the National Indian Gaming Association, the Association of Gaming Equipment Manufacturers and the Amusement Machine Operators Association and designs and manufactures a wide range of Class III casino and coin-operated video games such as the popular Golden Tee Golf series. The company additionally has over a decade of experience in developing casino gaming software and hardware utilized by such prominent names as Rush Street Interactive, Draft Kings, Fan Duel and Caesars Entertainment in several American jurisdictions including Michigan, New Jersey, Connecticut and Pennsylvania.

“Incredible Technologies Incorporated is writing a new chapter in our storied 38-year history,” the President of Gaming for Incredible Technologies Incorporated, Dan Schrementi, said. “The best word to describe that chapter is ‘focus’. This includes focus on cultivating the very best talent to deliver the products we’re known for. Brad and Dave join the executive team at a pivotal time and their expertise is a welcome addition to the extraordinary effort that is underway among our staff.”

The appointment of Splear and the promotion of Stone comes around six months after Incredible Technologies Incorporated named the long-serving Jim Esposito to serve as its North America Senior Sales Director. The company’s former Strategic Accounts Director is now overseeing all gaming sales teams and their associated initiatives encompassing market strategy, process management and forecast planning duties.