With Lotteries Seeking Reinvention, Is Mobile the Answer?

What would you do if you won the lottery? It’s a dream pondered by individuals of all ages, but actually purchasing a lottery ticket is an activity most often observed among individuals over the age of 40. In a recent post in the Las Vegas Review Journal, the low percentage of 20 to 30 year-old lottery players was explored.

Although the lottery has been in existence for around 40 years in the US, it is closer to a decade old in both Canada and the UK. Even being a fairly new industry within the UK, only 25 percent of 16 to 24 year olds play the lottery and/or have registered online.

In the late 1980s, the U.S. was able to boost lottery participation in the younger generation with the addition of scratch tickets, but future generations of younger players have not maintained interest their either.

It is for this reason that lotteries around the globe are looking for methods of increasing consumer adoption in the 30 and under age group, by turning to fun-filled online and mobile lottery solutions. Many methods are currently being tested, from purchasing traditional lottery tickets online, to online scratch tickets, and a few other interactive lottery options.

All told, mobile is shaping up to play a major role in the growth of online gambling. Could the same be true for the lottery?

According to projections put forward earlier this year in a new report titled “Mobile: The Future of Interactive Gambling,” researchers say mobile is now inextricably linked to the growth of online gambling and, in particular, interactive gambling.

Growth is forecast to be many times that of any other interactive or land based gambling channel, the report estimates.

Mobile gambling has long since promised to deliver significant growth to the interactive gambling market this has been widely acknowledged over the last couple of years. However, this growth is not subsiding as some anticipated, in fact, it is continuing.

By the end of 2018, mobile is forecast to account for just under 44% of all interactive gambling.

“Following the prior mobile gambling report the channel has seen significant growth and is now of primary importance in any operator’s strategy,” the report summary reads. “Barriers to entry are now limited and markets around the world are capable in terms of networking infrastructure, device penetration and availability.”