Sales of $20 lottery ticket disappointing
June 6, 2007
NEW BEDFORD, Mass. --Sales of the state lottery's "Star-Spangled Sweepstakes" $20 ticket, featuring a $20 million top prize to be drawn July 4, have so far been disappointing, lottery officials say.
Officials expected the heavily promoted game's four million tickets with a total of $40 million in prizes to sell out within 10 days of their May 1 launch.
Instead, only about 20 percent have been sold with just 24 days before ticket sales are halted, Massachusetts Lottery Commission spokeswoman Beth Bresnahan said.
"Of course we would love to be sold out already," Bresnahan said. "But we are expecting a strong push as the closing date draws nearer."
At the game's launch, lottery officials touted its better odds and said it will make more millionaires in a single drawing than any other game in the country's history.
Now, the lottery is trying to boost sales with an additional incentive known as the "Early Bird Star-Spangled Sweepstakes." The promotion that ends June 30 allows ticket holders to participate in a daily drawing for $1,000 by matching a number on their ticket with a number published daily on the lottery's Web site.
The prizes will be awarded as advertised even if the tickets do not sell out, Bresnahan said.
The problem with the "Star-Spangled Sweepstakes" may be that typical lottery players want the instant gratification provided by scratch tickets.
"People are not interested in these tickets," said Joe Patel at Joe's Gas in New Bedford. "It's because they don't want to wait."
The lottery, overseen by state Treasurer Tim Cahill, is suffering from stagnant sales. Money raised through lottery sales is redistributed to cities and towns.
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Information from: The Standard-Times, s-t.com
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