PGIJANFEBMAGAZINE2021a

18 PUBLIC GAMING INTERNATIONAL • JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2021 players. The New Hampshire Lottery had really never done that before. We looked inward to understand how we might adapt and grow. So this was my first lesson learned: evolution starts from within. Too often we look to technology, or new gimmicks, to cure a slide. First thing is to identify what you do really well. Second, clarify what we are allowed to do, and brainstorm about what we would like to do differently. Thankfully I had paid attention at the Mass Lottery, and made changes consistent with insights gained by my Massachusetts experience and what I knew would work in New Hampshire. Our profitability went up 19% in two years, with no new products or channels, just organic growth. Compare it to a golfer that thinks he has to buy the latest driver every year. He would be better off spending the money on lessons and range balls to improve his game. A poor craftsman blames his tools. During the same period, we really made an effort to create lasting dialogues across the disciplines. Gone were the silos that had stunted communication between department heads. Success has a thousand parents, and failure is an orphan – so everyone was bathed in the credit that we enjoyed. That’s when we noticed we all thirsted for more. Fast forward a few years and next came the move towards legalization of Daily Fantasy Sports. The nascent industry was in a gray legal area in NH and the industry wanted to ensure a clear path towards fantasy sports legalization. We had always looked upon that industry as de facto sports betting. So rather than oppose it, we welcomed the draft laws, and made sure they were regulated by the NH Lottery. I was not sure, but I thought the law forbidding sports betting might be overturned in the near future. Regard- less, the law was passed and the fantasy operators had to become licensed through our agency. A small thing, but important in our evolution. WALKING UPRIGHT After 2010, the NH Lottery had met its revenue goal every year, never off by more than 1%, rolling into 2017. Performing well creates a lasting impression with the stake- holders that builds a well of capital, which can prove useful. But just as important, we had never been a problem. We hadn’t pushed for gaming expansion, we stayed in our lane and did the job. So when the prospect of regulating Keno and iLottery came about, the Legislature, through all their deliberations, never opposed it on competency grounds. The growth of Keno required folks at the lottery to think differently because it was only going to be sold in bars, and we had virtually zero bars as traditional lottery retailers. We had to recalibrate licensing and sales staff to work with owners that work hours well off of a traditional 9-5 job. We also had to adjust games and promos to align better with the bar patron crowd. Changes like this require a constant sense of re-evaluation that hopefully translates into allowing the process to be streamlined and the results to be maximized. So that was Keno, or as we brand it, Keno603. That initiative allowed us to dramatically increase our footprint, so that our retail network grew from 1200 to 1400. Not only did our terminals sell Keno603, they also sold Powerball, Mega Millions and more, and that retail expansion helped the overall sales number. It seems that the spine connecting our back to our head was moving slightly forward and our gaze had improved and elevated to see towards the horizon. USING FIRE Along with the approval of Keno came the approval of the sale of lottery tickets over the internet. I thought we were set up do handle it. I was wrong. We made more mistakes in our growth and no doubt we burned our hands a couple of times. One lesson that is worth noting: If the first payer impression of iLottery is unfavorable, glitchy, or boring, it will be twice as hard to get the customer to come back. Whatever it takes, try and do it right the first time. As it happens, we forgot something – I won’t say what, but it was a big thing. There I was, with our Chief of Sales and Product (Kelley-Jaye Cleland), begging the State Commissioner of Information Technology (Denis Goulet), for a favor – a big one – actually groveling would be more accurate. God bless Denis, he was a former private sector guy that cut through more red tape than you can imagine and September 4, 2018, we launched, the first Tuesday after Labor Day. We didn’t tell anyone, it was a soft launch for fear of things unseen. Fear of the unknown is powerful, but it didn’t stop us from putting one foot in front of the other, and the launch went smoothly. A quote I often use (and this one, the guy, Louis Pasteur, actually said) is, “Chance favors the prepared mind.” Since so much of our business relies on luck, we got lucky – crazy lucky. We had a $1 Billion jackpot run one month after we launched. In six weeks we had gone from rubbing two sticks together to wielding a full-fledged flame thrower. But along the way we learned about stuff like customer acquisition costs, lifetime player value (differentiated between draw games and instant players) – the different ways to measure the path of a customer who reaches our website and deposits funds. We now live by search engine optimization and tracking in real time dollars spent in advertising and dollars Continued on page 50 PGRI INTERVIEWS