41 PUBLIC GAMING INTERNATIONAL • JULY/AUGUST 2025 What are your main priorities for the next three years? What’s getting the most attention? H. Shergill Chima: While we’re not currently authorized to sell online, there’s still a lot of room to innovate. Some of our ideas are still under wraps while we develop them further—but the goal is always the same: drive growth, increase engagement, and maximize funding for public education. Like many lotteries, we’re continuing to lean into Scratchers®. They’ve been fantastic for us—consistent, popular, and a strong performer even when the big national jackpot games aren’t hitting record highs. We’ve also evolved our messaging. Instead of focusing just on the thrill of winning, we’ve shifted to highlight the fun of playing. It’s about the experience— whether that’s sharing a game with friends or co-workers, giving Scratchers as gifts, or just enjoying a moment of play during the day. A campaign line we started back in September 2021 still anchors a lot of what we do: “A little play can make your day.” It’s working so well that we continue to use it. Today, more than half of California adults have played Scratchers in the past year, and in a typical month 40% of Californians play Scratchers. That’s powerful reach—and a testament to the fact that when we focus on joy, not just jackpots, people respond. Further testament is the research tracking studies, which we do continuously, and which clearly show a positive response to our advertisements based on fun. Where do things stand with credit cards, e-wallets, and other cashless options? H. Shergill Chima: Surprisingly, given how highly regulated we are, the California Lottery Act is actually silent on payment methods. So, it’s entirely up to individual retailers whether they accept credit cards, e-wallets, or other cashless options. Our Lottery Ticket Vending Machines are currently cash-only and don’t give change. But just last month, we got approval to pilot a cashless payment option on those machines. We’ll be starting with debit cards only and rolling out a small test with about 100 retailers. Like everything we do, this is research driven. We’ll track what works and what doesn’t and start refining even while the pilot is underway. It’s a continuous cycle: test, measure, tweak, repeat. We’re laserfocused on making sure every dollar we spend returns maximum value for public education. In addition, we received the green light to explore methods for processing in-lane ticket-purchases, so that’s in the works now too. Yes, there’s a lot happening, but we move carefully and deliberately. Some might call us conservative or risk-averse— we call it smart business. We take the time to plan, reduce risk, do the research, and invest the state's resources wisely. You’ve got eight draw games. That seems like a lot. H. Shergill Chima: It probably goes back to California so populous. Draw-games need to have a minimum volume of play to be profitable, right? California has the liquidity, the number of players who can spend money on the games, to support more draw games than would be practical in a smaller state. So yes, we offer more draw games because we can, and because it allows us to reach a broader range of player preferences. And it’s working—each of our draw games is seeing steady growth. We’re constantly evolving the promotional messaging, too, based on fresh research and changing tastes. Take SuperLotto Plus®, for example—it’s still hugely popular. But we’re also seeing strong performance in our smaller daily and weekly games, which have a totally different player vibe. And we’ve been experimenting too. One of the newer efforts that paid off big was a crosspromotion between Scratchers and Hot Spot®. With the Hot Spot Scratchers game, players can win a $5 Quick Pick entry into our Hot Spot draw-game. That drew attention to both game categories and brought in new energy. At the end of the day, it’s about offering variety—more ways to play, more reasons to engage. Is increasing draw-games as a percentage of your product mix a priority? H. Shergill Chima: They’re important, but draw games make up only about 12% of our total sales. It’s really the Scratchers that drive our business. Of course, the big national jackpots always grab headlines, bring in new players, and bring a big bump in sales. But we’ve reached a point where most players don’t really perk up until the jackpot hits $700 or $800 million. A recent exception to that is the launch of the new Mega Millions® game, which brought a real spike in engagement—maybe because it was fresh and different. I’m confident, though, that the change enhances the game, improves our product differentiation and mix, and so has real staying power. And beyond the game itself, it was just such a great experience to be part of that national rollout. Directors from across the U.S. came together to make it happen. It was also a terrific way for me to get to know the Mega Millions consortium of directors, which has been fantastic as they are such a warm and welcoming group. And I appreciate their willingness to share their insights and experience to help me power through issues that may be new to me but not new to them. Is the California Lottery app where you’d like it to be at this stage of development? H. Shergill Chima: Yes, I’d say we’re in a really good place. Our app is frequently ranked among the Top 100 entertainment apps in the App Store, boasts a 4.8 rating with over 180,000 reviews, and has more than six million subscribers. The “checka-ticket” feature is our most popular, and we average over 1,500 downloads each day. Users engage with the app for various reasons. Additionally, we can send push notifications to stay directly connected with our players. Of course, there’s always room for improvement. We are actively exploring new technologies to keep the app user-friendly and efficient. Currently, we are focusing on upgrading our second-chance platform, which we see as a significant opportunity for engagement. Overall, the app has performed exceptionally well, and our goal is to continue building on that momentum. Powerball and Mega Millions winners hale from California because there are so many more players in your state. What do you do to leverage the bump in visibility, prolong the excitement? H. Shergill Chima: We try to maximize the emotional impact of in-state winners Rooted in Mission, Driven by Innovation: Inside the Transformation of the California Lottery — continued from page 36 Continued on page 42
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