How Covid 19 is affecting the lottery
The fact that COVID-19 is still around and is in its third or fourth wave in many countries, and the mutations it has spawned, shows that it is a viral menace that caused lock-downs, businesses to go out of business, people to lose their jobs, and other detriments to the economy and our retail and industrial complexes.
The gaming industry has also seen its fair share of COVID created revenue loss. Many operators have had to shutter their casinos and bingo halls due to limitations on the total number of people who can occupy the venue at the same time. With a limited allowed capacity of players, many operators have decided that it is not financially feasible to open as they would lose money with a limited number of players.
Lottery Going Strong
However, lottery purchases are still going strong and a noticeable loss of revenue has not been seen by operators. Although many jurisdictions have shut down retailers, some players may have to travel a fair distance to find another retailer to buy from. Finding one that is open, having to wait in line, maintaining a six-foot distance, can be irritating and frustrating.
Now during this time, lots of other types of businesses have gone about doing curb-side pick-up or their stores are closed altogether. Many of these businesses have found a way to stay in business, and that is by to online ordering. Income can still be made, and consumers are able to get items they want.
The online world has not been ignored by gaming operators. You can play slot machines and table games for real money on the operator’s website. For the lotteries, they have created or refurbished online ordering of lottery tickets to make purchases and wins fully automatic. You can order your tickets manually for each draw, or you can set up a recurring ticket purchase so the games you play are automatically purchased for you. You then sent an email confirming your purchase for each game and the associated numbers generated or selected by you for that game. Multiple tickets for the game will each have a different set of numbers.
Online Play
You no longer need to have a physical ticket to win, and you can check the results online. If any of your online tickets is a winner, you will be notified of the win and the amount you have won. Smaller wins can be deposited right into your gaming account. Information on the next steps to claim larger wins will be emailed to you.
There are good and bad aspects of online ticket purchases. The good are that you no longer need to leave home to buy your tickets. You don’t have to worry if you have enough cash on you for the purchases. There is no need to find an open retailer. And best of all, no physical ticket to lose! On the downside, there may be a lower excitement level due to the automation of the purchases. There now is little effort needed to buy tickets, which may reduce the interest of the lottery in general. You don’t get to cash in your winning ticket and receive your prize then and there, it is automatically deposited into your player’s account and you will have to transfer it to your bank to actually get the money for it. And there is no physical tangible ticket you can hold and look at and know it is yours.
However, online ticket purchases are a blessing during these lockdown times for both players and operators. Money continues to flow around the community and help stabilize the economy, charities will still get some funding from the profits, and instant millionaires can still be made.