How cool would it be if the Massachusetts Lottery created an app so you could buy tickets on your mobile device? I am talking one click and jackpot, $100 million in your pocket. BostInno reached out to the State Treasurer’s Office, who is in charge of the Lottery, to see if this could one day be possible. Beth Bresnahan, Director of Marketing & Communications for the Massachusetts State Lottery says mobile applications represent an exciting opportunity for lotteries to expand distribution channels for their games. However, there’s a federal law that says lottery tickets cannot be purchased on phones or mobile devices without legislative approval or changes to the law.
The Wire Communications Act of 1961 prohibits the use of wire communication facilities, which includes telephone lines, for interstate or foreign gambling purposes. The use of telephone wires in Internet transmission is defined under that law, therefore making it unlawful for the Massachusetts Lottery, or any U.S. lottery, to offer its games for sale on-line. The Massachusetts Lottery does hope it can one day be equipped to deliver game information and promotional messages to players over their phones or similar devices.
App developers are waiting for the laws to change because it could be a huge money maker for them as well. The Lottery often receives solicitations from vendors with new ideas and products including mobile solutions. While they would love to entertain offers, legally they are not allowed to.
The Massachusetts Lottery currently isn’t on Twitter and their Facebook page is just text from Wikipedia.com. However, they do plan on rolling out a social media initiative this summer. Their goal is to boost the overall profile with existing players and new audiences, promote new games and jackpots, celebrate winning experiences, promote the Lottery’s mission, and provide information and customer service support to their players. After a quick search on Twitter, I found few state lotteries with accounts. The most successful is California’s, @calottery. They have more 5,000 followers.
State Treasurer Grossman has done a much better job using social media than his department. Grossman has more than 1,500 Twitter followers and 2,700 Facebook fans. Beth Bresnahan says he found both of these platforms to be effective vehicles to speak directly with constituents.
What do you think about Lottery apps for mobile devices? Recipe for success of disaster?
