News writer
The Texas Lottery Commission will officially begin revoking licenses of online lottery courier apps, thanks to a unanimous vote on Tuesday banning them from the state.
The vote comes in the midst of scandals and legal issues that have tainted the commission's reputation - and their tangle of problems is far from over.
Assaults on courier services
Courier services are third-party, privately owned online platforms. A player can purchase lotto tickets online, and the services will buy them from retailers on the player's behalf.
In Texas this year, courier services fell under scrutiny after an $83.5 million Texas Lottery win in February, which was purchased on the Jackpocket courier platform. Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick raised suspicions after the win about the unregulated nature of courier services, which have been operating relatively unchecked for about a decade in the state, according to the Texas Tribune.
Courier services make up 10% of the state's lottery revenue, but they're trouncing local retailers. In 2024, Jackpocket and another courier service, Lotto.com, sold over $226 million in tickets, while the biggest traditional retailers sold only $34 million, the Tribune reports.
Lotto.com filed a lawsuit trying to block the commission's ruling on Tuesday, but it has gone unheeded.
Tuesday's vote allows the commission to revoke couriers' licenses, not prosecute them.
It gets bigger and bigger
The Lottery Commission's Tuesday vote comes on the heels of Senate Bill 28, which would criminalize online lottery sales. It passed the Senate unanimously in February.
However, since then, alleged corruption at the commission has come to light, creating a more profound effect. Some members of the state House and Senate are looking to abolish the commission entirely, according to the Tribune. The House recently passed a proposed budget that would strip the commission of all its funding.
According to the Tribune, Sen. Bob Hall, who wrote the bill, said:
[Senate Bill 28] was filed before we knew how bad it really was when I was just thinking, 'If we just get rid of the couriers, we solve the problem. Since then, the couriers are just symptomatic of what the problem is.
In addition to the courier issue, the commission is under investigation for a 2023 $95 million Texas Lottery win, in which a shadowy entity called Rook TX bought $27 million of tickets in every possible combination in order to ensure the jackpot. It has been alleged that commission officials bent the rules to make the win possible, according to the Houston Chronicle.
The commission's top executive, Ryan Mindell, resigned last week.
Patrick spoke to Nexstar, saying the commission is “on life support.” Patrick told Nexstar:
If we have a lottery game, we need to close down the Lottery Commission and turn it over to our Department of Texas Licensing [and Regulation].
A multifaceted issue - and it's spreading
Other states might be coming for lottery courier services.
Last week, Indiana banned courier services, citing that “these couriers have skirted the law in other states.”
However, the issues in Texas go far beyond the services themselves, which argue that they've simply operated under state laws. It appears that the state wasn't prepared for the runaway success of courier services, and if any improprieties took place, the state wasn't watching. The agency in charge may have been fraught with scandal.
Hopefully, other states are taking notes.
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