Lottery Analysis Says Hundreds Of Millions Lost To Skill Games
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The Pennsylvania Lottery sold nearly $15 billion in scratch-off tickets from October 2017 to March 2022. Lotteries sold another $650 million without the growth in competitive "skill game" gambling machines at lottery retailers and elsewhere. The lottery's primary vendor, Scientific Games, conducted an updated analysis of the impact of these devices. It estimated the scratch games would be generating 4.4% more in sales and providing some $165 million a year more revenue if not for the competition.
The number of lottery retailers with skill games has increased by nearly eight-fold since September 2017. The number at those locations grew from 707 to 11,634 in that span. Lottery officials have been vocal in their opposition to the growing industry. “From day one post-install, Games of Skill machines made a clear, negative impact on scratch lottery sales at Pennsylvania retailers”
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Since 2017, the Pennsylvania Lottery retail network has seen 17 times more Skill machines on-site across the state and the spread of Skill machine to every county in the Commonwealth.
Lottery's recent financial summary for the just-completed 2021-22 fiscal year noted it had revenue of $1.2 billion from $5 billion in sales last year. Lottery officials did not specifically attribute that decline to the skill games competition. The study covering 2017-21st stated that scratch sales have consistently grown. Lawmakers have lacked consensus on what to do about skill game machines for years. The analysis received support from Pennsylvanians Against Gaming Expansion, an entity funded by Parx Casino.
