Florida lawmakers set to debate online lottery ticket sales

Taking state lottery ticket sales online in Florida was always going to be a fiercely contested move, but Democrat Senator Gwen Margolis has bitten the bullet and introduced a bill to the state Senate proposing just that.

If approved, Margolis’ SB120 could make Florida the eighth US state to take its state lottery ticket sales online despite the opposition of convenience store owners, who fear such a move would deprive them of customers who frequently buy other products whilst in their shops.

Sen. Margolis says that she would rather see lottery tickets sold online than the advent of major brick and mortar casinos in the state, something which Sheldon Adelson’s Las Vegas Sands Corp. has been agitating for.

Predictably, there are already signs of opposition to SB120, with problem gambling activists protesting that online sales represent the danger of greater compulsive gambling numbers, apparently because the act of using a credit card to buy a lottery ticket online allegedly affects the players’ perception of the value of money.

In fact, Margolis’ proposal is very economical with words and does not specifically suggest that online sales be paid for via credit or debit cards; it merely suggests an age limit of eighteen, and leaves the detail to whoever administers or regulates the service.

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