Online lottery sales continue, despite program expiration
Illinoisans can still buy lottery tickets online, even though the law authorizing the sales expired in March, officials told lawmakers this week.
Still, lottery officials asked lawmakers to make the program permanent as they prepare to hire a new private company to manage the Illinois Lottery.
The lottery has been selling individual tickets and subscriptions - a package of Powerball, Mega Millions or other game tickets usually sold for a specific week - through its website since 2012.
The subscriptions were exempt from the pilot program, so the lottery changed how it categorized individual online tickets to continue selling them.
"As the pilot was expiring, we clarified our internal game rules to make it clear that subscription means one or more consecutive draws," Jayme Odom, chief of staff for the lottery, told a House committee on Thursday.
Lawmakers made a passionate plea in February to make Internet sales permanent, saying the state would lose out on much-needed revenue if the program expired. The measure was not called for a vote before lawmakers left Springfield, though online sales continued.
Sales from the website and mobile application reached $17 million in 2016, but that's a fraction of the $720 million in yearly revenues.
"The concern, dollars and cents wise, it's not a big amount of money," said state Rep. David Harris, an Arlington Heights Republican.
The money from online sales, though, isn't the central issue. Odom said the lottery wants to be able to guarantee online sales to bidders seeking to run Illinois' games.
Gov. Bruce Rauner's administration is looking to contract with a new manager for the lottery after it terminated the contract with Northstar Lottery Group last September.
Former Gov. Pat Quinn sought to do the same with Northstar in 2014 after the company consistently failed to meet revenue targets it promised and asked to change targets.
Legislation is pending in the House to make the Internet Lottery program permanent.