8 PUBLIC GAMING INTERNATIONAL • JULY/AUGUST 2024 From the Publisher Responsible Gaming, and the broader commitment to the betterment of society, are the DNA cornerstone ideals of government lottery. The community of commercial gambling operators have always proclaimed that there is nothing the government lottery sector does that commercial gambling operators can’t do just as well. That may be true. But the reality is that they don’t do it. They do not put the customer before profits until and unless they are required by law. Their charter to pursue profit within the boundaries of the law causes them to deliberately act in ways that they know to be detrimental to the well-being of their customer, i.e. the players. See top left column of page 55 for brief news items about how measures to protect the consumer that are required by law in the UK and other jurisdictions are not being applied in the U.S. The commercial operators are not breaking the law in the U.S. They are just exercising their rights to conduct business in ways that comply with the laws that apply jurisdictionally. The fact that they know their business practices are harming the consumer is not part of the calculus. Contrast this with government lotteries. Check out the feature on EL (European Lotteries Association) Positive Impact of Lotteries for an in-depth look at lotteries’ genuine commitment to the welfare of its players and society in general. Lotteries and their regional and world associations do this because it is the right thing to do. I wish that our political stakeholders might appreciate this difference between commercial and government operators. It often seems like they don’t. Or maybe they do but choose to side with commercial operators because they contribute to political campaigns. In any event, government lotteries’ dedication to the welfare and improvement of society should be leveraged as a competitive differentiator. Lottery deserves the whole-hearted support of government constituents and media in the competition for playership. Slight digression: Commercial operators like Allwyn, IGT, The Lottery Corporation, FDJ, and others are licensed to operate what I call “government lotteries”. I still refer to them as government lotteries; not only for the mission to serve society, but for the culture they inhabit. To my mind, these commercial operators adopt the player-first and society-first ideals of what I call “government lotteries, which is why I still refer to them as government lotteries. I hope that is OK! Thank you to our feature interviewees: Cindy Polzin leadership of NASPL includes hosting the last annual event in Milwaukee and navigating a post-pandemic era in which many assumptions are being revisited. This year, for instance, the annual NASPL event in Kansas City will focus on the conference instead of trade show. As Cindy says, we need to be open to change, to experimenting with new ways of thinking and meeting the needs of our constituents. We so look forward to seeing Cindy, Team NASPL, and all of you at NASPL’s A State of Winning event in Kansas City! Ryan Mindell has been with the Texas Lottery for seven years now and so brings a wealth of lottery experience, and hands-on leadership experience with the Texas Lottery, to his new role as Executive Director. All lotteries are unique in some ways. The Texas Lottery is so interesting for many reasons, one of which is its intense focus on building the digital connection with the players even though it is prohibited from selling tickets online. Pat McHugh has led Scientific Games through what must be counted as one of the most transformational periods in its history. It feels like a culmination of sorts. Merging with casino suppliers and other game categories and then de-coupling to return to its core value and competency of government lottery. And doing that just in time to navigate the pandemic and set a fresh course for its future. Thank you, Pat, for sharing the vision of where Scientific Games is going from here. We started to include executive summaries of PGRI conference panel discussions and so hope you enjoy the focus on retail with the two summaries in this issue. Continuing the focus on retail are articles by IGT on optimizing LVMs (self-service Lottery Vending Machines) and Pollard Banknote on big-picture retail and consumer shopping trends. And thank you to Simon Jaworski for his ongoing research into the players’ attitudes and perceptions of Lottery’s uber-brands like Powerball and Mega Millions and how they compare to other giant consumer brands, and how we might leverage these insights into increased player engagement. Next up is NASPL annual conference in Kansas City, Sept. 9-12. Visit NASPL.org for complete info. Susan and I look forward to seeing you there! Paul Jason, Publisher Public Gaming International Magazine
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