8 PUBLIC GAMING INTERNATIONAL • JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2024 From the Publisher We have an exciting slate of interviews for you in this issue. Elected president of EL (European Lotteries Association) last June, Romana Girandon (CEO of Loterija Slovenije) and the EL Executive Committee have updated the mission and purpose of the trade association for a modern world that continues to evolve faster than ever. We are pleased to not only share her vision, but also the 2-year EL Strategic Outline. One sign-of-the-times that gives us plenty of reason to be hopeful: The four biggest lottery industry associations are all led by female presidents: Rebecca Paul for the World Lottery Association (WLA), Cindy Polzin for the North American Association of State and Provincial Lotteries (NASPL), Sue Van Der Merwe for Asia-Pacific Lottery Association (APLA) and Romana for the EL. And thank you to Pat McHugh, CEO of Scientific Games, and Nikos Nikolakopoulos, CEO of Intralot Inc., for sharing their visions of the future. The role of technology partner to government lotteries has evolved into a genuine collaboration, with the objectives and action-plans of both the operator and the technology partner aligned so that everyone is pulling in the same direction. Commercial partners are investing in the development of new technologies, and applying more creative ingenuity to strategically deploy value-adding solutions to enhance the player experience and improve operational effectiveness and efficiencies. And lottery operators are more receptive than ever to the introduction of new and innovative initiatives, and applying a more sophisticated risk-return calculus that unlocks resources to drive ongoing success and increased funds for good causes. And so the Golden Era of Lottery continues unabated. An inspiring example of the modern lottery leader’s approach to business can be found at OPAP in Greece. CEO Jan Karas describes an ambitious, entrepreneurial action-plan that is being executed poste haste. We’re talking “Fast Forward Toward Disruptive Transformation”! Players seeking great experiences now have expectations that evolve faster than ever, and OPAP is on a tear to meet and exceed those expectations. The OPAP leadership team philosophy and posture of bold change-agent positions it and its customers for a bright future. MUSL (Multi-State Lottery Association) does it again! The hits just keep on coming as the new year starts off with a huge bang. New Year’s Rockin’ Eve with Ryan Seacrest had over 22 million viewers, the highest late-night audience in two years. Great fun for the lucky winner of Powerball’s first million-dollar jackpot. And a really great boost for one of the most valuable and well-known consumer brands in the world: Powerball®. And what kinda luck is it to have the fifth largest Powerball jackpot ($842 million) ever won to be drawn on the first day of the year! Congratulations to MUSL members for continuing to lead the innovation train. I have not seen specific metrics on how much crossover there is between sportbettors and lottery. The wait is over. I asked my friend Simon Jaworski to help us understand how sports betting is reshaping the competitive landscape in the gamesof-chance sector, and how we might assess the impact on and implications for lottery. The situation is fluid, but I promise you’ll find this article to be as detailed, as fact and evidence-based, and as comprehensive an update on these issues and how sports betting relates to lottery as can be found anywhere. NASPL always produces fabulous conferences and trade-shows. Check out their schedule at NASPL.org. In this issue, we are pleased to share an executive summary of the “International” panel discussion held at NASPL Milwaukee last November. Sarah Taylor led luminaries Rebecca Paul, Younes El Mechrafi, Andreas Kötter, and CallumMulvihill on a discussion that reveals the universality of so many issues that affect our lottery world. An example of how smart operators are observing and learning from the success of others from all around the world is the relatively recent explosive growth of annuity-style draw games. Congrats to the EuroMillions team of lottery operators for the success of EuroDreams, one of the biggest game launches of the last twenty years. Philippe Vlaemminck, our resident expert on all matters political, legal, and regulatory, drills down on an issue that did not hardly exist fifteen years ago. Enterprising operators are commercializing their success strategies while technology partners are diving more directly than ever into the role of lottery operations. Which raises the question: Does there continue to be a relevant distinction between lottery operator and technology partner? Thank you to IGT, Scientific Games, Neogames, and Fennica Gaming for your editorial contributions. I think we could anoint 2024 as the year of collaboration between Technology Partner and Lottery Operator. Win-Win-Win for players, operators, and good causes. We hope to see you at the WLA/EL Marketing Seminar and ICE Gaming show in London in early February. Mark your calendars for March 12 to 14 of 2024. Join us in Fort Lauderdale Florida for PGRI Smart-Tech 2024 to discuss how the Player Journey runs through Digital Lottery, PGRI’s reinvented conference experience. Visit Euroean-Lotteries.org and PublicGaming.com to get complete info. Lastly, thank you for your support of PGRI and the lottery industry! Paul Jason, Publisher Public Gaming International Magazine
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy NTg4MTM=