Public Gaming November/December 2020

9 PUBLIC GAMING INTERNATIONAL • NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2020 The Reviews Are In! Lottery Expo: Transformed and POST-COVID19 Lottery: The Movie Jim Acton, Lottery Industry Consultant G etting back to normal hasn’t been quite as quick or easy as we had hoped it would be, with the return to the office for many being postponed from Labor Day to January 1 and ix of in-person and remote learning. Grocery store shelves have started to revert to their spring states, with cleaning supplies again scarce in some areas. One constant has been the lottery industry, which, unlike casinos and land-based venues, was never forced to shut down in most jurisdic- tions. That has turned out to be a very good thing for U.S. states with strained budgets which rely on lottery revenue to make up for shortfalls in other areas. Retailers have also needed the foot traffic created by lottery customers, for both lottery sales and the residual purchases that always end up in the lottery player’s basket. For both lotteries and commercial partners, the pandemic provided a host of challenges and opportunities. For lotteries, enabling employees to work from home was a new dynamic but one which balanced safety and customer service. Early returns indicate that the new work-style is, well, working, with many lotteries now consider- ing allowing some employees to work from home permanently or to spend time working from home as well as the office. Resilience and adaptability have served lotteries well, as the hard work, fast response, and effective execution has paid dividends, particularly with the instant ticket product. Overall in FY2020, traditional lot- tery (including draw games) sales were basically flat at $80.7 billion (estimated based on states with fiscal years ending in June and others with later end dates). Instant tickets, though, helped boost most lotteries’ revenue, with nation-wide sales jumping 7% over FY2019 to $53.6 billion. Multi-state jackpot games took a big hit, with both Mega Millions and Powerball having to cut the automatic jackpot increases due to lagging sales. While the lottery industry has survived most of the 2020 headwinds, the route forward is cer- tainly not clear just yet. And the best opportuni- ties for lotteries to communicate and collaborate – industry conferences and meetings – have moved to the virtual world and will stay there for at least the first half of 2021. But like other areas of our industry, the conference business is adapting to current conditions and constraints. One highlight of the lottery calendar is the an- nual fall PGRI Lottery Expo. Typically held in New York City, this year the event was re-branded as “Lottery Expo: Transformed and POST-COV- ID19: The Movie.” With a mix of live presenta- tions, pre-recorded “movies” from the industry’s top commercial partners, and special features like the Hall of Fame induction ceremony, the Virtual Expo rolled out in a decidedly 2020 fash- ion, allowing lottery industry representatives to present, question, collaborate and learn. The Roundtable presentations featured small groups of thought leaders discussing the top is- sues we are all facing. These presentations offer timely case studies and sage advice to those on the frontlines of the lottery industry activities, providing roadmaps for navigating these unchar- tered roads. This special Roundtable overview features: • The Big Picture: Impact of COVID on the Global Lottery Industry • Digitization of the In-Store Shopping and Player Experience • iLottery: What Are the Key Drivers for Suc- cess in the World of Online Lottery • Maximizing the Potential of Instant Scratch- offs to Continue to Drive Growth • How Does the Lottery Industry Look Through a SWOT Analysis Three days of insights and spontaneous conver- sation from industry thought-leaders reinforced that the lottery industry is run by outstanding professionals on both the lottery and commercial partner sides of the business, timely innovation is responding to the changing needs of lottery customers, and the exchange of ideas is needed now more than ever. With that… Onward and Upward… There will be a total of eleven PGRI Live! events in 2021. Each event will be held from 1:00 to 4:00 pm EST, on the second or third Wednesday of every month. The first PGRI Live! will be held on January 20, 1:00 pm - 4:00 pm U.S. Eastern Standard Time (EST). Our next live in-person conference event will be Lottery Expo on Oct. 26-28, 2021, in Nashville. More information forthcoming, and updates are available at www.public- gaming.com. And we always appreciate your guidance, suggestions, and critique as that helps us to improve. Thank you for your support and hope to see you on Zoom sooner than later. Introducing PGRI Live! While we look forward to seeing everyone again in-person ASAP, we are also pivoting to the virtual environment in a big way in 2021.