News writer
Although the Massachusetts State Lottery has started laying the groundwork for its first-ever online lottery platform, the debut is taking longer than state and lottery officials initially thought.
The reason for the delay
While lottery officials are working to get the online lottery platform in place, it looks like funding issues are causing this new delay.
After the Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce event, Lottery Director Mark William Bracken told MassLive:
Unfortunately, we have not received funding yet to do anything with online lottery.
The Commonwealth legalized online lottery on July 29. At that time, officials said it would take around 16 months to fully implement. With that timeline in place, the platform was expected to launch by the end of 2025.
However, that timeline is delayed because the $2.5 million in government funding needed to get the ball rolling on things has yet to arrive and Bracken said that funding might not even make it until sometime between November and January.
Bracken stated, “We're waiting for the House and Senate to take that fiscal year 2024 close out budget ... once we get that $2.5 million, that's really when the 16-month clock starts ticking.”
Based on that information, players in Massachusetts might not see online sales until April 2026.
Groundwork is in place
While the funding is delaying the start of the process, lottery officials have been working to get the platform up and running. As of that October 15 meeting, they have had conversations with six platforms and three game vendors and have been searching for a consulting service to continue the platform's growth.
Officials can't onboard that service until the funding comes through, Bracken added. He said the rest of that funding will go toward the nearly 20 employees who will be running the online platform.
However, once the platform goes live, Bracken said the “funding will take care of itself.”
What will the online platform offer?
Lottery officials said there is a bid out for a third-party business to help them create the platform. They do know that the platform will offer games like a traditional, virtual scratch ticket with a simulated scratch.
Bracken said there will be themed mini-games also, which will “still hold true to the nature of what a scratch ticket is but it won't be the traditional key number match.”
He said this could be done with a beach-themed game, where players would have to match beach ball symbols. Bracken added:
It could be very similar to, say, a 'Connect Four' game, where symbols are going to drop down, and you're going to match connecting symbols.
The delays not only affect online sales
While players will have to wait for online lottery sales, the delay could also wreak havoc on the fiscal year 2025 budget. When state officials agreed to legalize iLottery in Massachusetts, $100 million of the revenue from online sales was expected to go to early childhood education and care grants for FY2025.
Now that online lottery sales might not be happening until the spring of 2026, that revenue would not be seen until fiscal year 2027. That means state officials would have to reallocate funds from other sources to make up for that loss of $100 million, authorities said.
The delay could affect the FY2025 budget, but Bracken said he doesn't expect any negative impacts on the internal operations of the Massachusetts State Lottery from this delay.
Enjoy playing the Massachusetts Lottery, and please remember to play responsibly.
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