Public Gaming November/December 2020

36 PUBLIC GAMING INTERNATIONAL • NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2020 A PARTIAL PRODUCT SOLUTION IN THE TIME OF COVID-19 AND BEYOND? Dr. Barry Goodstadt, Principal and Founder of Telecom, Utility & Regulatory Consulting, LLC, Bethany Beach Delaware BACKGROUND The emergence of Covid-19 in the United States has had a dramatic impact on the US economy in general. The economic effects impacts on the travel, tour- ism, entertainment, and gaming industries have been especially severe. These impacts were occasioned by wide-spread shutdowns as their cus- tomers were advised to only leave the safety of their homes for essential purposes in order to stem the contagion. In the gaming industry, casinos were closed in many states for several months and began to re-open over the summer with capacity limitations and social distancing measures (such as moving card gaming stations to outdoor tents in Washington State). Lotteries and casinos have experienced some mixed results applying a variety of innovations for example: • Most lotteries experienced a rise in “scratch off” sales • Kentucky found that its instant play and lottery sales were up over 2019’s record results • Texas found that its jackpot lottery has grown • North Carolina found that its educational lottery has increased revenue • Maryland has experienced a small rise in casino revenue on a year-over-year basis