Lottery sees sales impact from Plainridge casino
With about three weeks of data in hand, state officials said Thursday that they have already noticed a dip in Lottery sales near the Plainridge Park Casino.
Plainridge, which offers slot machines and electronic table games, opened last month. Lottery officials have been monitoring sales at the 200 Lottery agents within a 15-minute drive of the Plainville facility, said Michael Sweeney, interim executive director for the Massachusetts Lottery.
"We are still seeing strong numbers at retail agents such as convenience stores and gas stations that carry our products. Where we're seeing some early decreases in that zone are in more of your restaurant, bar, lounge-type of places," Sweeney said. "In that particular region within a 15-minute radius drive, lottery sales are positive, but they're not at the same level of strength as the area immediately outside of there."
Treasurer Deborah Goldberg, who chaired a meeting of the Lottery Commission on Thursday morning, said she and the Lottery team will be keeping a very close eye on the impact Plainridge has on the Lottery, particularly as other casinos come online in the next few years.
"When I'm watching television and I see Plainridge's ad, I cringe," Goldberg said. "But when the big-branded names come in and they really start to throw those ad dollars behind it, that's when we really need to pay attention."
The treasurer said that, though Plainridge competes with the Lottery, she likes the fact that it will arm the Lottery with plentiful data it can use if it needs to illustrate a need for more money from the Legislature.
"As someone who comes out of a competitive business, when you see your competition approaching you, you don't wait until it impacts you, you proactively own the marketplace," she said. "In terms of accessing increased capital from the Legislature, we're going to have to show them data that we are being impacted.”
Any decrease in Lottery revenue would mean that less money would be funneled from the agency to cities and towns across the state. The Lottery expects to return $983.5 million to the commonwealth from last fiscal year. Reduced sales could also harm the small businesses that serve as Lottery agents, Goldberg said.
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