ND Lottery Ticket Sales, Profits Continue Slide

DALE WETZEL

BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) — Despite hefty increases in promotional spending, lottery ticket sales and profits have declined in North Dakota during the past two years and led to a large reduction in the lottery's financial reserves.

Ticket sales of the North Dakota Lottery's four games — Powerball, Hot Lotto, Wild Card 2 and 2by2 — have dropped by 4 percent, to $21.7 million, from 2007 to 2009, according to lottery financial statements. Profits in the 2009 budget year alone dropped 15 percent, to $5.78 million, primarily because of increased marketing expenses.

The lottery has not added any new games since the 2By2 game debuted in February 2006, said director Randy Miller. The state constitution restricts the lottery to offering only multistate games, which rules out "scratch ticket" instant-win games that are popular in other states.

"That is probably the foremost issue" that explains why sales have slipped, Miller said. "That is something that we're continually monitoring ... new game concepts that would add to our product mix."

North Dakota's winter storms and statewide flooding contributed to the most recent year's sales decrease, along with the absence of a popular Powerball promotion that increased prizes for ticket buyers who paid an extra $1 for the game's Power Play option, Miller said.