Massachusetts Ponders Online Lottery

One local retailer says that allowing residents to purchase tickets online would hurt his business amid an already-struggling economy.

January 28, 2013

CHICOPEE, Mass. - Lawmakers in Massachusetts could soon consider legislation that would allow residents to purchase lottery tickets and play lottery games online.

"I'm not saying I wouldn't try it, maybe I'd try it once. People are going to take their credit cards and they're going to be wasting their money on the lottery. It'd be a lot easier for them to gamble," one local resident told 22News (WWLP.com).

However, some residents said that the lottery is an "over saturated market" and that there are already plenty of games available to play. "I think the lottery is just huge as it is. There's just a million scratch tickets. They have 9 or 10 different regular games. I'd prefer to see casinos built locally," said a resident of Belchertown.

Carl Roy, owner of the Country Trading Post, told the news source that the economy has already taken a hit on their lottery sales: "I don't think it'd be good for any store in the commonwealth of Massachusetts. I think it's just going to hurt our business and business isn't that great right now."

The bill would authorize the Massachusetts State Lottery Commission to create Internet-based gambling games, including establishing the price of tickets, the number and size of prizes, the manner of selecting winners and the frequency of drawings, reports The Associated Press. It would require the commission to determine a means for keeping people under the age of 18 from purchase lottery tickets online, and also ensure that only state residents are able to play.

State Treasurer Steven Grossman said last month that he would ask state lawmakers for permission to create and test "a first wave of Internet lottery games in Massachusetts."

Read more about the threat of online lottery to c-stores in "You Can€™t Win" from the April 2012 NACS Magazine.

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