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8 PUBLIC GAMING INTERNATIONAL • JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2021 Paul Jason: The Kentucky Lottery has been so successful over a long period of time. Are you optimistic about the headroom to sustain your annual growth rate of over 6%? Mary Harville: Yes. Like many lotteries, at the end of March 2020, our YoY sales were more or less flat. But fourth quarter of the last fiscal year (ending June 30, 2020) was the Kentucky Lottery’s best quarter ever. And now, for the first five months of the current fiscal year (i.e., July 1 to November 30), total sales were 579.6 million or $140.2 million more than last year. That is a 31.9% increase over the same period of FY 2020. Internet sales for FY 2020 increased by 68% over FY 2019. And iLottery sales in Q1 of FY 2021 are up 218.9% over Q1 of FY 2020. While we probably will not end FY 2021 with a 31.9% YoY increase in annual sales, I am confident that our positive momentum will continue into 2021 and beyond. Our stakeholders depend on it. Wow. Instant scratch-offs must be doing well along with iLottery during this period of social distancing. But clearly your land-based retailer partners are also doing well and your multichannel approach has proven out for everyone. M. Harville: Many lotteries did well over the last nine months for a variety of reasons. Not only did racetracks and casinos close down for a while (though Kentucky does not have casinos, they are right across our border), many other forms of recreation and social entertainment like movies and restau- rants were closed and even continue to be restricted. Lottery continued to be a viable outlet for entertainment throughout this entire time. Most state governors deemed retailers and grocery stores to be “essential” businesses that were allowed to stay open. Lottery continued to serve existing players, but also attracted new players and increased player-ship from casual and lapsed players. But there is more to the story of why lotteries performed well during this time of severe disruption. Like my colleagues all across the country, we leapt into action at the first signs of disruption in the middle of March. Our LSR’s (Lottery Service Representatives) were pulled out of the field, but from the start, they determined how to adapt to these unusual circumstances. They have great sales automation tools on their iPads, utilized them effectively, and figured out how to accomplish their job from home and on the phone. When they have been allowed back in the field, it has been under very restric- tive conditions. I joined our LSR’s to visit retailers and see how the face of Lottery to the customer was holding up. Of course, we were all masked up and followed all our social distancing guidelines. I was very impressed when I saw how our sales force had adjusted their methods to serve the retailers while minimizing in-person interac- tion. The productivity of the time spent in the store with store managers and staff was fine-tuned to the minute. Our sales force recognized the critical need for inventory to keep the stores stocked with product and meet an increased demand. I PGRI Introduction: While Mary Harville was appointed to the position of CEO in September, she has been a member of the senior management team since joining the Kentucky Lottery as senior vice president, general counsel and corporate secretary sixteen years ago. This inter-disciplinary team collaborated to produce average annual increases in sales of 4.7% over the last fifteen years, 5.6% over the last ten years, and 6.8% over the last five years. And now, not that anyone was entirely prepared for the unique challenges of the current times, the Kentucky Lottery has adapted and is set on a course that continues to meet the expectations of players, retailers, and Lottery stakeholders alike. EMBRACING AN UNCERTAIN FUTURE WITHA FOCUSON THE OPPORTUNITIES FOR POSITIVE CHANGE PGRI INTERVIEWS Mary Harville, President & CEO, Kentucky Lottery