“Retailers who sell lottery tickets are great partners and their work helps ensure that North Carolinians collect the prizes that they win,” said Mark Michalko, executive director of the North Carolina Education Lottery.

Tabcorp chief executive David Attenborough said digital sales rose strongly in Tabcorp's lotteries business, growing by 27.8 per cent and accounting for almost 18 per cent of total lottery sales. Mr Attenborough said despite customers shift towards online gambling, bricks and mortar stores weren't going anywhere. "It's really at the heart of the of a lot of Australian communities - their local pub and club," he told reporters. "We do not see a development where you end up with digital without retail, all our long-term strategies are about the integration within the retail environment."