Local sales of $20 lottery tickets
2012 2011 2010 2009 2008
Butler $8.7 million $7.5 million, $6.5 million, $5. 4 million, $4.8 million
Champaign $1.1 million, $879,400, $736,140, $626,980, $573,920
Clark $4.3 million, $3.7 million, $3.2 million, $2.4 million, $2 million
Greene $3.3 million, $3 million, $2.5 million, $2.2 million, $1.6 million
Miami $2.7 million, $2.4 million, $2.1 million, $1.5 million, $1.3 million
Montgomery $16.4 million, $15.2 million, $12.6 million, $10 million, $7.5 million
Warren $4.3 million, $4.2 million, $3.4 million, $2.6 million, $2.1 million
SOURCE: Ohio Lottery
In southwest Ohio, sales of the state’s most expensive lottery tickets have grown at a much faster rate than any of its cheaper counterparts, according to a review of state data by the Dayton Daily News .
Lottery players in the seven-county region bought $40.7 million worth of $20 scratch-off instant tickets in fiscal year 2012, an increase of 248 percent from $11.7 million in 2006, according to the Ohio Lottery. Last year, local sales were up more than 10 percent from 2011, and they have grown at double-digit rates for six consecutive years. Meanwhile, sales of $1 and $2 instant tickets locally remained flat until experiencing an uptick last year.
Lottery officials said players in the region and state increasingly prefer games with larger jackpots, and $20 tickets are appealing because they pay out more.
“Higher-priced games typically have better overall payouts,” said Marie Kilbane, spokeswoman with the Ohio Lottery. “Customers sometimes choose to increase how much they spend on a ticket to get a better payout back.”
But experts who study problem gambling said all lottery products have the potential to lead to addiction, and $20 tickets can be a very expensive habit.
In fiscal year 2012, players in Butler, Champaign, Clark, Greene, Miami, Montgomery and Warren counties purchased about $176 million worth of scratch-off instant tickets, according to lottery data analyzed by the Dayton Daily News. Sales were up 10 percent from 2011, and 17 percent from 2010.
Scratch-off instant tickets are the most popular lottery products sold in the state, and they are available for $1, $2, $3, $5, $10 and $20. They account for about 65 percent of lottery sales. Online games, such as Powerball and Mega Millions, account for the remainder of sales.
In the last six years, local sales of instants tickets priced $10 and under have been inconsistent.
Sales of $1 tickets fell in four out of the last six years. Sales of $2 tickets fell or remained flat in four out of the last six years. Tickets priced $3 have seen large increases in the last four years, after two years of huge declines. Tickets priced $5 saw sales drop in two out of the last four years. And $10 tickets saw sales increase for two consecutive years after dipping in 2010.
$20 game grows in popularity
But $20 tickets have not followed similar sales patterns. In this region, they have only grown in popularity each year.
Sales for $20 tickets in 2012 were $40.7 million, compared to $36.9 million in 2011, $31.1 million in 2010 and $24.8 million in 2009. Last year, only $5 instant tickets brought in more money, $51.7 million, for the Ohio lottery than $20 tickets.
Tickets priced $20 were introduced in Ohio in 2003, and they caught on very quickly, said Ron Fornaro, the agency’s instant ticket product manager.
The payout on the $20 games is much higher than the lower priced games, and some people view them as the better deal, Fornaro said.
The portion of money paid out in winnings relative to the revenue collected from ticket sales is 61 percent for $1 tickets and 65 percent for $2 and $3 tickets, Fornaro said. But $20 tickets return about 75 percent in winnings, and many players like the idea of winning $500 or $1,000, compared to maybe $30 or $50 from the cheaper tickets.
“The odds of winning $100 on a $1 ticket are lower than what you would see on $5, $10 or $20 ticket,” Fornaro said.
Lottery officials said instant games pay out more frequently than online games, and they come in a variety of themes that appeal to players. The Ohio Lottery had a record sales year in 2012, and provided $771 million to the Lottery Profits Education Fund.
But some problem-gambling experts said lottery products that provide quick gratification with high stakes have significant potential for abuse.
“Many people believe the lottery to be an innocuous, less-risky form of gambling,” said Keith Whyte, executive director of the Washington, D.C.,-based, National Council on Problem Gambling. “From a public health standpoint, that can be a very dangerous belief, because any form of gambling can addictive.”
Spending $20 per ticket can be a very expensive habit, Whyte said. He said there are no safe forms of gambling.
“The addictive potential is increasingly present in all forms of gambling,” he said.
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