North Carolina mulls instant online scratch cards

The North Carolina Education Lottery Commission is currently discussing the introduction of online scratch card betting in a bid to generate more sales and profits, keeping a cautious eye on anti-gambling action groups and the possible reaction of retail ticket sellers in the state.

The issue was placed on the agenda for discussion at the Commission’s quarterly meeting this week, but reports indicate that exchanges were “muted” and commissioners quickly moved to the next agenda item.

The proposal is that online punters would play the scratch cards using their debit cards or checking accounts; the lottery already allows the convenience of being able to buy main lottery tickets online, and the scratch card issue as a logical expansion has been going on for some time.

Lottery commissioners are hoping to attract younger, technology-savvy online punters to lottery products.

Perhaps signalling future opposition, the North Carolina Retail Merchants Association recently asked state legislators to step in and scrutinise the online scratch card proposal from the lottery, and anti-gambling groups have directly asked lawmakers to kill the concept.

North Carolina state law allows the lottery commission to approve any game that another state lottery already offers. The lottery recently commissioned an independent study of online game possibilities, which reported that online games could bring in $130 million in new revenues over five years.

The North Carolina Education Lottery reported sales last year of $2.4 billion, with $622.5 million going to educational projects in the state.