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Lottery Receives National Award for Excellence in Financial
Reporting
RALEIGH, North Carolina (May 27,
2009) – The North Carolina Education
Lottery (NCEL) has received the Certificate of Achievement for Excellence
in Financial Reporting.
The Government Finance Officers
Association of the United States and Canada (GFOA) presented the award to the
NCEL for its comprehensive annual financial report (CAFR). This award is the
highest form of recognition in the area of governmental accounting and
financial reporting. Its attainment represents a significant accomplishment by
a government agency and its management. “This is the first time that
the NCEL submitted its CAFR for consideration and I think it’s a
tremendous testament to our NCEL Finance Division to get the award on its first
try,” said Tom Shaheen, NCEL
executive director. The CAFR is judged by an impartial panel to meet the high
standards of the program. The standards include demonstration of ‘full
disclosure’ in effort to clearly communicate an agency’s
financial story and to motivate potential users to read the CAFR. The GFOA is a
nonprofit professional association that serves approximately 17,500 government
finance professionals. Its offices are in Chicago and Washington D.C.
SOURCE: North Carolina Education
Lottery.
Knowing Your Customer
The Importance of Upgrading your Retail Betting
Business
Article by Mr. Andreas
Papoulias, General Director, Betting Company, INTRALOT BOD Member
May 26, 2009
The retail betting business took off
at the beginning of the twentieth century and continues to maintain a strong
presence in a variety of forms in many countries. In the last few decades, the
Internet betting business has developed rapidly, assisted by strategies aiming
to attract and maintain customers. These strategies focus on the development of
technologies that make Internet businesses comprehensive, secure, and
profitable. To survive in a competitive environment, retail betting businesses
need to adopt similar strategies customizable to their existing operational
frameworks.
According to experts, dot-com
businesses proliferated during the Internet boom and were able to survive
because of the rapid expansion of their customer base. Internet bookmakers have
espoused this theory with total devotion. Customer Relationship Management
(CRM) has become an integral part of their success, improving customer
services, and using customer information for targeted marketing.
Until recently, the retail betting
business was never required to dedicate resources for such practices. It
existed comfortably, either in monopolistic environments that employed a
multitude of marketing efforts to retain its player base, or in countries where
licenses are dispensed by a government-controlled authority and where there are
more than one operators competing against each other, offering improved odds
and creating an atmosphere conducive to betting in their POS. In all these
cases however, the retail business is based mostly on agents working on a
commission basis and on players who are anonymous. Moreover, it is extremely
difficult for operators to know their players’ betting behaviour except
through market research, which is not as comprehensive as operators would like
it to be.
Within this competitive environment,
the retail betting business needed to find new ways to maintain its
profitability. Becoming immediately aware of this ‘missing
link’, INTRALOT was quick to create a carefully designed module that would
help betting retailers to acquire a deeper and more accurate knowledge of their
customers’ preferences.
INTRALOT’S LOTOS Club module aims to
support betting retailers to manage registered players by offering attractive
services and privileges. The module is based on a very simple process; by
registering, a player joins a club-type network, receives a membership card and
acquires a number of benefits based on interest or habits. This personal card
is the quickest and safest method for players to participate in their favourite
games. Players also have access to their accounts which allows them to play on
any alternative channel the operator might have e.g. self-service terminal,
internet applications. For players who are reluctant to register in such
schemes the module offers incentives, such as participation in prizes and
special draws. Players can always opt out of any marketing promotion if they
wish to.
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The LOTOS Club module is modelled on
CRM approaches/principles, which are in turn largely dependent on peoples’
attitudes, existing institutional frameworks and the legal status regarding
personal data collection and usage in individual markets. With the LOTOS Club
module, retail betting operators can take advantage of CRM benefits, while
keeping the social set up in the POS intact.
The LOTOS Club module has the
additional benefit of providing risk management capabilities, making it an
indispensable tool for retail operators conducting business in an ever
deregulated betting market. Whereas risk management is generally done on an
overall basis or at best on an agency basis, with the LOTOS Club module
providing players registration, risk management decisions can be narrowed down
to the level of the individual player. Additionally, knowledge of players’
betting history means that they can be categorised in terms of heavy or light
player loss or win.
The benefits of LOTOS Club module
for a retail betting operator are significant. With the deregulation of betting
markets gradually supplanting monopolies, prize payout ratios are on the
increase. In the circle that comprises the interrelation of high payout ratio,
increased player winnings and high operator’s turnover, it is even more
important to know players’ betting patterns. INTRALOT’S LOTOS Club
module with all that it encompasses is definitely the way forward for the
retail betting operator.
SOURCE: Mr. Andreas
Papoulias, General Director, Betting Company, INTRALOT BOD Member.
Asia Pacific Lottery Association
Regional Conference 2009
Auckland 9 – 12
November 2009
- Leading a lottery business in
tougher times
- How to keep and build your
customer base
- Share insights and learn from the
experts
The changing economic environment
brings new challenges for the lottery industry, our customers, products and our
leadership.
Speakers at this year's
APLA conference will address the most
pressing concerns that CEOs and senior lottery executives face today, including
how to navigate unprecedented economic uncertainty, and how to innovate and
build your business during tough times.
Join us in November for three days
of thought-provoking presentations and discussions featuring international
experts on leadership, marketing, product innovation, the retail environment,
and technology.
This conference is the must attend
event for lottery executives in 2009 - and will provide you with valuable
insights to take back to your own business.
Send us your expression of interest
by 31 July 2009 and go into a draw for two bottles of fine New Zealand wine -
more information. http://www.apla2009.com/registration.asp
Welcome from the Chair of APLA
 |
| June
Roache, CEO of SA Lotteries and Chairman, APLA |
The
Asia Pacific Lottery Association (APLA) will be pleased to welcome you to
our 2009 regional conference in Auckland, New Zealand. Our regional conference
is an important forum for strengthening communications and sharing information
within the Asia Pacific region, and also with the worldwide lottery
industry.
This year’s conference will be
hosted by New Zealand Lotteries Commission. The
theme for the conference is “New Horizons – Asia Pacific Lotteries
Responding to a Changing World”.
In the current economic environment
we face many challenges to ensure that our businesses remain successful and at
the forefront of our industry.
This conference will provide you
with valuable insight on how to meet these challenges.
I look forward to seeing you in
Auckland.
June Roache
Chairman,
Asia Pacific Lottery Association
Exalogic Joins Ludwin Technologies
PARIS, France (may 27, 2009) -- Last
year, LudWin Group (www.ludwingroup.com) and ArsBlue (www.arius.rs) had announced the signature of an
agreement to set up LudWin Technologies, a company specializing in providing
open platforms for on-line processing to gaming operators.
Exalogic (www.exalogic.it) has recently decided to
join the team and bring its own sports betting, racing and skill games
platforms to LudWin Technologies.
Through LudWin Technologies, LudWin
Group, ArsBlue and Exalogic are joining forces to provide all gaming operators
a combination of open platforms, with IT standards-based solutions, providing
unparalleled performance and flexibility at unrivalled prices.
Using the best of ArsBlue and
Exalogic core competencies, LudWin Technologies systems support every type of
existing gaming concepts from number games to instant games and totalizator or
fixed odds racing and/or sports betting on a number of access mode (internet,
mobile, land based, …).
In addition, our systems support
commercial transactions such as bill payments, wireless phones electronic air
time recharges, and other financial transactions.
LudWin Technologies provides an
adapted suite of back-office applications such as game management, retailer
management, reporting, system performance, hotline, accounting and player
services that allows our customers to efficiently manage and operate their
businesses.
Since our platforms are
standards-based suite of products, it is also much easier to incorporate
third-party, best-of-breed solutions. This improves the ability of LudWin
Technologies to adapt to demanding environments and evolve to better meet
customer requirements.
For Christophe Caye, LudWin
Technologies’s General Manager, “the addition of Exalogic to our
team brings us a wealth of experience in terms of racing and sports betting.
Exalogic has been operating for a number of years on one of the most demanding
and sophisticated market in the world and has been able to adapt its technology
to supply land based or internet operators in Italy. We can now supply very
flexible platforms supporting any type of gaming products or commercial added
value services via any sort of access.”
About ArsBlue
ArsBlue is a young software company
born as a continuation of the software development efforts and achievements in
software engineering of Arius. Since 1995, Arius has grown into a leading
provider in complete solutions for secure electronic payments.
Arius’ solutions help reduce
costs, maximize profitability, improve client relation management, and
eliminate fraud. Arius software products process several million payment
transactions each month via several thousand devices. In Nigeria, the
National Sports Lottery system
provided by Arius and supported by ArsBlue manages up to 50,000 terminals for
its lottery and added value services operations.
About Exalogic
Exalogic is the main sports betting
and skill games platforms provider in the most demanding and sophisticated
market for such activities: Italy. Its solutions are used by the Italian
Government (SOGEI), the national association of horse racing agents and by a
number of sports betting and racing licensees. It operates in a very demanding
environment for both land based and i-gaming operations.
About LudWin Group
LudWin Group was founded in 2007 and
specializes in providing advice and support as well as products and services to
gaming operators. LudWin Group has dedicated skilled teams of
multi-disciplinary staff and a network of experts. This enables the company to
offer solutions that are tailored to its customers' needs and that are
appropriate for the economic and structural context of a rapidly-expanding
market.
CONTACT: LudWin Technologies –
1 rue d’Argenson – 75008 – Paris – France, Mme Barbara
d’Espouy, Email: barbara.despouy@ludwingroup.com.
Camelot Begins Third Lottery Licence With The Best National Lottery
Sales Performance In 10 Years – Creating More Winners And Boosting Returns
To The Good Causes
Camelot completes exhaustive
preparations for third Licence and boosts Good Causes returns with
mega-jackpots and convenient new ways to play
WATFORD, UK (May 26, 2009) --
Camelot Group plc today unveiled its best
sales performance in a decade – in the year the company successfully
completed the largest lottery upgrade of its kind in the world and started the
third National Lottery Licence.
In the most recent full year to 31
March 2009, Camelot grew total National Lottery sales across its portfolio of
games to £5,149.1 million, an increase of £182.8m on the previous
year’s figure of £4,966.3m.
The further improvement in sales
drove annual returns to the Good Causes up from £1,351.8m to
£1,377.6m1, an increase of £25.8m over the same period last year,
bringing the total amount which National Lottery players have helped to raise
to date to over £23 billion. So far over 317,000 Good Causes awards have
been made across the UK – the equivalent of 109 awards per postcode
district.
This year also saw Camelot devote
over one million people hours to complete the largest – and fastest –
lottery upgrade of its kind in the world within the agreed timescales. Camelot
completely replaced the entire network of National Lottery terminals,
introducing new touch-screen models, cutting-edge media screens and printers
– connecting over 27,500 retailers to an upgraded gaming system via a
brand-new communications network.
The performance is a further
endorsement of the company’s long-term strategy for growth, offering an
innovative range of games and convenient new ways to play, which has now
delivered an 11.6% increase in ticket sales over the past five years. The
results come in spite of slowing lottery sales in the wider European and US
markets, challenging high-street conditions – and a strong second-half
comparative performance the previous year, including two Lotto Triple Rollovers
and particularly strong EuroMillions sales.
Camelot succeeded in growing sales
of both draw-based and non draw-based games, and in driving performance across
all major distribution channels – including retail, interactive and
subscriptions. Strong sales from London 2012-designated games and across the
wider portfolio ensured fundraising for the Olympic Games and Paralympic Games
remains well on target, with the success of Team GB – the ‘Beijing
Boost’ – providing a further fillip to sales. With over
three years to go until the 2012 Games, more than £400m of the
£750m target from designated games has been paid to the Olympic Lottery
Distribution Fund to date.
Across the year, sales of draw-based
games – comprising Lotto, EuroMillions, Thunderball, Lotto HotPicks,
Dream Number and Daily Play – rose by £71.3m to £3,928m, with
a series of big winners boosting excitement and sales. Major winners this year
included 18-year-old Cumbrian student, Ianthe Fullager, who scooped
£7,055,142.10 on EuroMillions in September; a 13-strong Lotto Rollover
syndicate, from Accrington which shared £3,938,641 in February; and
Whitby PA, Jane Surtees and her stuntman partner, who scooped a massive
£7,544,200 in December’s Lotto Rollover draw.
Sales of non draw-based games,
including interactive Instant Win Games and Scratchcards, rose by 10%, or
£111.5m, to £1,221.1m. Camelot once again refreshed its portfolio
of games – launching 44 new Scratchcards and 37 new interactive Instant
Win games. Players responded positively, with particularly strong sales of the
ground-breaking Prize Hunter interactive 3-D game, the Olympic Champions
interactive game, and the Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull
and James Bond: Quantum of Solace Scratchcard games.
With average weekly player spend
remaining at around £3 a week, the growth in overall sales was achieved
in line with Camelot’s ongoing strategy of appealing to a wide player base
which only spends a relatively small amount.
In retail, new digital media screens
and the faster Altura terminal led a series of innovations designed to make
customers’ and retailers’ lottery experience even more
convenient. Despite the unfortunate closure of a number of retail chains
and challenging conditions in the wider market, Camelot succeeded in rapidly
redeploying those terminals affected – enabling the business to deliver a
£44.7m rise in overall retail sales from £4,526.4m to
£4,571.1m. With retailer margins in many categories declining, Camelot
has further underlined its commitment to its retail partners by maintaining
commission on draw-based games at 5% and increasing commission on Scratchcard
games by 20% – from 5% to 6%; a welcome boost to retailers’ bottom
lines.
Camelot is committed to offering
players a fast, efficient service with a wide choice of games and ways to play
to suit a range of lifestyles. The National Lottery Fast Pay service, which
allows players to store information on their favourite National Lottery
draw-based games and pay for them quickly and easily, continues to go from
strength to strength. Now available from all National Lottery retailers, over
24 million cards have so far been distributed, helping to drive sales via Fast
Pay up by 98.8%, from £413.2m to £821.3m.
For registered players, The National
Lottery’s interactive channels continue to offer a convenient means to
play from the comfort of their own home. Interactive sales delivered
double-digit growth, increasing by £117.8m (31.8%) to reach £488.2m
– helping to raise over £2.5m for Good Causes every week via these
channels alone and cementing National-lottery.co.uk as one of the most
successful e-commerce sites in the UK.
Building on this success, 2009/10
has already seen the launch of the new, next-generation National Lottery
website, with a redesigned interface and a host of new functions including a
Game Selector tool, dedicated results checker and opt-in alerts service.
Camelot is also planning a host of innovations for later in the year designed
to further boost returns to the Good Causes, including a new-look retail
playstation, further 3D games on the website and a selection of games based
around well-known TV quiz shows2.
Dianne Thompson, Chief Executive of
Camelot Group plc, said: “This has been an incredibly busy landmark
year for Camelot and The National Lottery. I’m delighted to be able to
announce that, despite the challenge of preparing for the new Licence and some
significant challenges in the wider market, we have been able to deliver the
best National Lottery sales performance in a decade, returning even more money
to the Good Causes – helping to take the total raised to over £23
billion.
“The fact that we completed
the largest National Lottery upgrade of its kind in record time is testament to
the hard work of all Camelot staff – and puts us in an excellent position
as we begin the third Licence and countdown to London 2012. Over the coming
year we will be looking to consolidate our position as the most cost-effective
lottery operator in Europe, introducing further innovation to ensure that we
continue to deliver for players and the Good Causes in the next 10
years.”
NOTE:
1) Figures do not include investment
returns on National Lottery balances which are reported separately.
2) Subject to approval by the
National Lottery Commission (NLC).
For further information, please
CONTACT: Rob Dwight, Senior Media Relations Manager: 020 7632 5748 or Miranda
Pugh, Head of Media Relations: 020 7632 5734
Ben Rosier, Controller of Media
Relations: 020 7632 5743, Camelot Press Office: 020 7632 5711.
Svenska Spel First To Meet European Standard
VISBY, Sweden (May 15, 2009) --
European Lotteries, the industry organisation
for State-regulated lotteries and gaming companies in Europe, has created a
standard for got responsible gambling among its members.
First to be approved according to
this new standard is Svenska Spel.
This is once again major recognition
of our responsible gambling work. This certification is completely in line with
the social responsibility we are expected to accept and which forms the basis
of everything we do, says Meta
Persdotter, CEO of Svenska Spel.
The European Responsible Gaming
Standard covers research, staff training, reseller training, game structure,
online and telephone gambling, advertising and marketing, referrals for
treatment, training and information for gamblers, stakeholder commitment,
reporting, measurement and certification.
An external auditing company has
assessed a total of ten gaming companies which are taking part in a pilot
project for the standard.
In purely specific terms, this
assessment has involved reviewing matters and making sure that staff and
business partners are receiving the right training, that there are clear
ethical rules on marketing; and we have also looked at - for example -
processes involving evaluation of responsible gambling measures aimed at
players, says Meta Persdotter.
If all goes well with the project,
European Lotteries (EL) is expected to make a decision to roll out the standard
among all its members following the responsible gambling meeting to be held in
Istanbul this summer.
EL accreditation to the new standard
is more desirable than its World Lottery Associations (WLA) equivalent in some
ways, as the European gaming companies have made more progress in their work on
responsible gambling.
Last year, we received an award from
the WLA, naming us as the world?s top gaming company in the field of
responsible gambling. This EL accreditation further underpins our position. But
there is still more we can be doing. There are a number of things that we can
improve, and staying at the top requires even more development and renewal,
says Meta Persdotter.
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Interviews with people responsible
for relevant areas at Svenska Spel have formed the basis for the assessment.
Interviews have also been held with external Svenska Spel stakeholders with
regard to the company?s compliance with certain elements of the framework.
While these interviews were ongoing,
documentation was also gathered and assessed in respect of how Svenska Spel is
working with responsible gambling in each respective area. Representatives and
business partners have also been visited, and test games have been played on
svenskaspel.se and Vegasautomater.
The following companies are taking
part in the pilot study: Svenska Spel - Sweden, Mifal Hapais Israel National
Lottery - Israel, Österreichische Lotterien - Austria, Loteria de
Catalunya - Spain, Société de la Loterie de la Suisse Romande -
Switzerland, La Française des Jeux - France, Camelot Group plc - United
Kingdom, Veikkaus - Finland, Westlotto - Germany and Lottomatica - Italy.
FACTS - European Lotteries
European Lotteries and Toto
Association is an independent industry organisation for State-regulated
lotteries and gaming companies on the European market. The organisation was
founded in 1999 and its head office is in Lausanne, Switzerland. European
Lotteries currently has around a hundred members in most European countries.
Its members are the State-regulated
lotteries and gaming companies of Europe, popular movements, but also
subcontractors and partners of the member companies.
The purpose of the initiative is -
among other things - to exchange ideas, experience, technology and training
between members and with other international and regional organisations for
lotteries and betting.
For further information: Meta
Persdotter, CEO Svenska Spel, tel. +46 (0) 8 757 77 77, Ann-Sofie Olsson, Head
of CSR/PA, Svenska Spel, tel. +46 (0) 70 650 43 66.
Pollard Banknote Awarded Secondary Instant Ticket Contract With The
Massachusetts Lottery
YPSILANTI, Michigan (May 22, 2009)
-- Pollard Banknote was recently awarded a
secondary contract with the Massachusetts
Lottery to supply instant lottery tickets and related services. The
three-year contract is scheduled to commence in July 2009, with two one-year
extensions possible at the Lottery’s option. This latest agreement builds
on a relationship that has existed since 1999.
It is anticipated that production
volumes will at least equal current levels, but opportunities to expand the
company’s business with the Massachusetts Lottery are being actively
pursued. Pollard Banknote’s collaboration with the Lottery broke new
ground in 2007, for example, with its inaugural launch of Cashword, an
innovative product line employing the company’s patented translucent
marking system. With weekly revenues of $3 million, representing about 5% of
instant ticket sales, these games now form an integral part of the
Lottery’s strategic plan to offer products capable of satisfying the
demands of a broader player base.
“The Massachusetts Lottery
has consistently remained one of the world’s most successful instant
ticket jurisdictions,” said Gordon Pollard, Co-Chief Executive
Officer, Pollard Banknote. “We are proud that our company has been
given the chance to continue capitalizing on our decade-long relationship with
this industry leader and look forward to introducing products and strategies
that will assist in achieving even greater sales.”
The Massachusetts Lottery
currently distributes proceeds to local governments according to an aid formula
established by the state’s legislative body. The funds are subsequently
dispersed to whatever programs and services these municipalities judge most in
need. In FY 2008, the Lottery’s contribution totaled over $935 million in
direct assistance of this nature-based on revenues that exceeded $4.7 billion.
About Pollard Banknote Limited
Partnership
Pollard Banknote Limited Partnership
(“Pollard Banknote”) is one of the world’s leading full-service
lottery vendors and is a major supplier to North America’s charitable
gaming industry. The firm manufactures instant tickets and provides related
programming, design, and marketing support. As well, Pollard Banknote
manufactures ticket vending machines, pull tab tickets and bingo paper, and
supplies lottery management services (including warehousing and distribution).
Established in 1907, the firm is owned by the Pollard family and the Pollard
Banknote Income Fund and currently serves more than 45 lotteries worldwide,
including some of the largest and most respected lotteries in the United
States, Canada, Europe, Asia, and Central and South America.
About Pollard Banknote Income
Fund
Pollard Banknote Income Fund (TSX:
PBL.UN) is an unincorporated, open-end trust which owns 26.7% of Pollard
Holdings Limited Partnership, which in turn owns Pollard Banknote Limited
Partnership.
FOR MORE INFORMATION CONTACT: Gordon
Pollard (gpollard@pbl.ca) or John Pollard
(jpollard@pbl.ca) Co-Chief Executive
Officers, Phone: (204) 474-2323, Web Site:
www.pollardbanknote.com
“I should be so lucky, lucky lucky
lucky…”
National Lottery Players Can
Choose From Four New ‘Lucky’ Interactive Instant Win
Games
WATFORD, UK (May 21, 2009) --
The National Lottery website is launching
an exciting line-up of ‘Luck’ themed Interactive Instant Win
Games, as part of its plans to offer players more innovation and choice in its
range of interactive games.
Players will be able to choose from
four ‘Luck’ games on Camelot’s recently re-launched website,
including the return of the ever-popular 7-Times Lucky (with a top prize of
£70,000), new game Lucky Lucky Lucky (with a top prize of £90,000)
– both £2 games – and Lucky Streak and Magic 7’s (£1
games, with top prizes of £9,000 and £7,777 respectively).
All the ‘luck’
games will be promoted with a mix of home page adverts and eye-catching on-site
banners, as well as emails to registered players and promotional account
notification messages.
Magic 7s is a £1 game for all
magic enthusiasts, and the first of its kind to use magic imagery. On the
magician’s stage, players wave a magic wand, choosing five from seven
black top hats. A rabbit, white dove or three inter-connecting rings may
pop up, and if players pull out the ‘Magic 7’, they’ll win a top
prize of up to £7,777.
Lucky Lucky Lucky is the first
£2 Instant Win to offer players the chance to triple their prize.
With the top prize at £90,000, players click on seven counters to reveal
a range of lucky symbols, including black cats, wishbones and rainbows.
To win, players must have a complete
set of matching symbols or reveal an instant prize. What’s more,
revealing a ‘tripler’ symbol as well as completing the set will mean
that the prize is tripled.
7-Times Lucky costs £2 to play
and is a numbers-based game. With seven sums in the game, if after
calculating the total, the player’s sum matches the target figure, the
player wins a prize, as well as the chance to reveal an extra sum and win
further Instant Win prizes. Up for grabs is a top prize of
£70,000.
Lucky Streak is a £1 game in
which players choose to play two of the four rows. Players must match any
of their symbols to the lucky symbol shown to win prizes up to
£9,000.
The new website at
www.national-lottery.co.uk
launched in March with a wealth of new features, including the ability for
players to filter all games by type, top prize, price, theme and launch date,
to help them find the perfect game to suit them.
The National Lottery is also
launching a range of ‘Luck’ themed Scratchcards, available to
players in any of its 27,500-plus retailers. Triple Winning 7s – a
£2 game with a top prize of £77,777 – launches on 21 May and
will be TV advertised as well as supported with an extensive range of in-store
point-of-sale materials. Lucky Dice Doubler (a £2 game with a top
prize of £60,000), White Hot 7s and Lucky Devil – both £1
games with top prizes of £7,777 and £6,666 respectively – all
launch throughout July. Lucky Stars (a £1 game with a top prize of
£5,000) is already on sale.
Nigel Goodacre, Head of e-Commerce
at Camelot said: “Our range of new Instant Win game launches continues
apace. The National Lottery website now creates seven winners every four
seconds*, and our players tell us that they love ‘seven-themed’ games
because of the association with seven as a lucky number – this is just one
of the reasons why we’ve developed 7-Times Lucky and the exciting game for
all magicians-in-the-making, Magic 7s.”
“Together with Lucky Streak
and Lucky Lucky Lucky, all our Instant Wins play a vital role in driving sales
growth and delivering even more money to Good Causes. Our interactive
services raise an average of over £2.5 million per week, helping to boost
the £22 billion-plus already raised by all National Lottery players to
date.”
As part of a varied portfolio of
exciting draw games including Lotto and EuroMillions, Instant Win favourites
such as Scrabble™ and the company’s first 3D game, Prize Hunter,
players can choose from the full range of game themes on the National Lottery
website, including: cash and treasure, board and dice, TV shows and classics,
words and numbers, sport and luck, as well as seasonally themed games.
Camelot was the first organisation
to receive accreditation from GamCare – the UK’s Centre for
information, advice and help regarding the social impact of gambling – for
all three of its interactive platforms: the internet at
www.national-lottery.co.uk,
Sky Active and Play by text on mobile phones.
For further information, please
CONTACT: Lisa Hancox, Corporate PR Manager: 020 7632 5716, Camelot Press
Office: 020 7632 5711.
The Lottery and the New England Patriots Announce A Partnership To
Develop A New Instant Ticket
BOSTON, Massachusetts (May 21, 2009)
- The Massachusetts State Lottery and the
New England Patriots announced today that they are developing the first
licensed NFL instant ticket. The announcement comes just days after the NFL
owners voted to allow teams to partner with lotteries throughout the country.
“This is an excellent
opportunity for two successful brands to work together on behalf of the
communities of Massachusetts,” said State Treasurer Tim Cahill, Chair
of the Massachusetts State Lottery Commission. “During this economic
downturn, cities and towns will benefit from this partnership.”
“This is going to be a
hugely successful collaboration,” said Robert Kraft, Chairman and CEO of
The Kraft Group. “We are looking forward to helping the Lottery
generate much needed revenue for the cities and towns of
Massachusetts.”
The Massachusetts State Lottery has
a proven track record of creating successful instant ticket products with major
sports franchises. These products have generated over $740 million in sales and
$101 million in local aid for the cities and towns of Massachusetts.
“We know sports partnerships
work,” said Mark Cavanagh, Executive Director of the Lottery. “This
is a natural evolution and we look forward to taking our relationship with the
New England Patriots to the next level.”
“We look forward to being
the first NFL team to partner on an instant ticket,” said Jonathan
Kraft, President and Chief Operating Officer for The Kraft Group. “We
know it will be beneficial for the Patriots, the Massachusetts State Lottery
and for local communities.”
The Patriots ticket is expected to
go on sale before the start of the 2009 NFL season.
About the Massachusetts State
Lottery
The Massachusetts State Lottery is
dedicated to providing revenue for the Commonwealth's 351 communities and has
returned more than $5 billion to taxpayers since 2003. The Lottery, through our
7,500 agents, offers players exciting and entertaining games, a formula that
has made us among the most successful lotteries in the nation.
About the New England
Patriots
The Patriots were named the eighth
and final charter franchise of the American Football League (AFL) on Nov. 16,
1959 and will be celebrating their 50th anniversary season this year. In 1994,
Robert Kraft purchased the franchise and vowed to bring New England its first
league championship. The Patriots delivered on that promise at the end of the
2001 season and became just the second team in NFL history to win three Super
Bowls in a four-year span after winning back-to-back titles in 2003 and 2004.
Since 1994, the Patriots have won more games (173) and more often (.655 winning
percentage) than any other NFL team. For more information, please visit
www.patriots.com.
SOURCE: Massachusetts Lottery.
OLG Announces New Environmental Initiatives
Reducing Paper Use on
Lottery Tickets
Canada's First Gaming
Facility to use 100% Green Electricity
BRANTFORD, Ontario, Canada (May 22,
2009) -- The Ontario Lottery and Gaming
Corporation’s (OLG) CEO Kelly McDougald was joined today by Brantford
Mayor Mike Hancock to announce a reduction in the size of lottery tickets and
the targeting of silver LEED certification for the Brantford casino. These are
the latest in a series of measures aimed at reducing OLG’s environmental
impact as part of OLG’s Bet on Green program.
“OLG’s ‘Bet on
Green’ environmental program is a key priority for the corporation. The
program is supported by clear commitments to reduce our environmental footprint
in all areas of our business - from casino construction to the printing of
lottery tickets,” said Ms. McDougald. “Today we are proud to
be announcing action against these commitments.”
Starting on Tuesday, May 26,
Ontario’s lottery tickets will be reduced by 15-20 per cent depending on
the game. Affected games include Lotto6/49, Super 7, Lottario, Payday, Ontario
49, Pick 3, Pick 4, Daily Keno, Proline, PointSpread, ProPicks and the change
will take effect early next week.
“With this change, not only
will OLG be saving 3,000 trees annually - the equivalent of 25 million pieces
of paper - but with a cost savings of around $1 million, we will be able to
return additional funds to the province to reinvest in critical priorities like
health care and education,” said McDougald.
The reduction in paper consumption
represents action against one of OLG’s green energy commitments. Another
key target in OLG’s program is that within five years, 90% of the
electricity used to power all OLG facilities across the province will be from
clean and renewable sources.
Dave Levac, MPP for Brant said,
“Energy conservation is a priority of the McGuinty government and OLG
should be commended for its leadership role in finding ways to use clean
energy.”
In January of this year, as part of
the $37.5 million renovation of Casino Brantford, OLG converted all its energy
consumption to 100 % green electricity from renewable sources. This is also a
requirement to meet the corporation’s goal to achieve silver certification
through the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) program,
supported by the Canadian Green Building Council. As a result, Casino Brantford
is the first gaming site in Canada to use 100% green electricity. Converting to
green electricity at Casino Brantford is the equivalent of taking more than 400
cars off the road this year.
As the largest employer in
Brantford, OLG continues to support the Branford area with the creation of 200
construction jobs in the area over the next 18-24 months of the renovation.
Mayor Hancock applauded the
environmental efforts of OLG in his community. “We are extremely proud
to be the first city in Ontario that will host a LEED certified green casino. I
congratulate OLG in continuing to be a great community partner in Brantford in
all areas of its business.”
An environmental consultant will
guide the renovation team through the targeting and implementation of
“green” requirements. OLG has awarded the construction
management contract to Govan Brown & Associates which has extensive
experience in building and renovating facilities to meet high environmental
standards.
About The Ontario Lottery and
Gaming Corporation
OLG is a provincial agency
responsible for province-wide lottery games and gaming facilities. Since 1975,
OLG lotteries, casinos, slots, and resort casinos have generated more than $28
billion for the benefit of the Province of Ontario. Gaming proceeds support
Ontario’s hospitals, amateur sport, recreational and cultural activities,
communities, provincial priority programs such as health care and education,
and local and provincial charities and non-profit organizations through the
Ontario Trillium Foundation.
SOURCE: The Ontario Lottery and
Gaming Corporation.
Lottery Players Get a Chance to Compete With 25 Sports Legends
In The Ultimate Sports Fantasy
Alchemy3
Incorporates Groundbreaking September Event Into Promotions and
Games
ATLANTA, Georgia (May 25, 2009) --
For the first time in history, lottery players will have a chance to compete
side-by-side with 25 of the greatest sports legends of our time and 25 world
famous poker pros.
Alchemy3® has signed an agreement with
the Sports Legends Challenge to give lottery-playing sports fans a
once-in-a-lifetime experience to interact with the likes of Troy Aikman, Kareem
Abdul-Jabbar, Richard Petty, Sugar Ray Leonard and Mike Ditka as well as
compete for up to $10 million dollars in prize money in front of a nationally
televised audience on Fox Sports.
The Sports Legends Challenge (SLC)
is set for Sept. 14-17 at the Atlantis Paradise Island resort in the Bahamas.
Alchemy3 has the exclusive right to offer lotteries the chance to incorporate
the event into instant, on-line and retailer promotions.
The Sports Legends Challenge will be
the only event of its kind where avid sports fans can play side-by-side with
and against the greatest names in sports, while being coached by world famous
poker professionals including Phil Helmuth, Annie Duke, Chris Moneymaker, Jamie
Gold and Johnny Chan, culminating in a nationally televised No Limit Texas Hold
’Em poker event to be aired on Fox Sports on Thanksgiving Day.
“I’m thrilled to be
participating in a great event like the Sports Legends Challenge,”
said Mike Ditka. “It’s going to be a special couple of days,
seeing old friends including Jerry West, who I guarded in college at Pitt.
Couple that with playing Hold ’Em against fans and peers while being
coached by the likes of Jamie Gold will be a first for me.”
The event will also be a first for
lotteries. Alchemy3 will work with lotteries to offer players the chance to
participate in the SLC through a wide variety of promotions for online games,
including second-chance drawings. Lotteries can also use the Sports Legends
Challenge to drive sales by offering qualifying retailers the chance to
participate in the September event. Finally, Alchemy3 can work with
international lotteries to build instant games around future Sports Legend
Challenge events, with games launching in the spring of 2010.
“One of Alchemy3’s
goals is to bring genuinely innovative marketing ideas to lotteries —
ideas they just can’t get anywhere else,” said Alchemy3 CEO David
Schorr. “The Sports Legends Challenge definitely fits the bill.
Lotteries seldom have the chance to put their players and retailers in the
company of legends like Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Richard Petty and Mike Ditka
— and with the bonus of a chance to win up to $10 million.”
Icons participating in the Sports
Legends Challenge include Abdul-Jabbar, Petty and Ditka, along with Troy
Aikman, Sugar Ray Leonard, Emmitt Smith, Reggie Jackson, Joe Namath, Julius
Erving, Fuzzy Zoeller, Laffit Pincay, Jr., Herschel Walker, Jim Brown, Bobby
Hull, Jerry West, Brooks Robinson, Gale Sayers, Kyle Petty, and Michael
Strahan, with additional Legends to be named later.
Sports Legends Challenge Founder and
CEO Bruce Bibbero said, “We believe that this distinct combination
— fantasy sports camp meets the World Series of Poker — will provide
an experience to be talked about forever.”
In the current economic environment,
lotteries are under pressure to keep all their games fresh and to keep sales
increasing. “The Sports Legend Challenge can help lotteries do
both,” Schorr said.
Alchemy3 plans to make it easy for
lotteries to couple promotions with the Sports Legends Challenge.
“Before we propose an idea like this to a lottery, we think through how
to make it successful and easy to stage at every step of the way,”
Schorr said. “For example, Alchemy3 can create online or play-for-fun
interactive ‘poker rooms’ and incorporate them into a lottery’s
Web site, so players can get directly involved in the promotion.”
About Alchemy3:
Founded by lottery industry veterans
in 2007, Alchemy3 focuses on creating what it calls “smart
matches” between licensed consumer brands and lottery games. The
company works with lotteries to capitalize on the power of established consumer
brands to attract new players with tailor-made instant and online games.
Alchemy3 represents premier brands including The American Music Awards, Bass
Pro Shops, CBS Classic TV Shows (“Cheers,” “Happy Days,”
“The Brady Bunch,” “The Love Boat” and
“Dynasty”), Chrysler, Frank Sinatra, Professional Bowlers Association
(PBA), Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines, Six Flags and 20th Century Fox. Alchemy3
also created A3 Rewards—lottery prize packages that instantly award
non-cash prizes including gasoline, movie tickets/concessions, CDs, DVDs and
more.
To learn more about Alchemy3, go to
www.alchemy3.com.
About the Sports Legends
Challenge:
The Sports Legends Challenge,
www.sportslegendschallenge.com, is the only event of its kind that gives sports
and poker fans a chance to compete with and against the greatest sports legends
of our time. Corporate partners of the event include Absolute Poker.net, NTN
Buzztime Inc., On-Site Network and National Poker League.
CONTACT: Jeffrey Schweig,
770.442.6993, Email: js@alchemy3.com
Polla Chilena in Favour of Children
Codeni is also celebrating
75 years of existence
SANTIAGO, Chile (May 26, 2009) --
One of the beneficiaries of Polla Chilena
de Beneficencia, the Children’s Defense Council (Codeni) is
celebrating its diamond anniversary as well as Polla is (75 years of age), for
which it is preparing some activities focused on the fact the foundation
members who are the present and the future of the country, the children and the
teenagers, may take part in this anniversary celebration.
The institution, whose mission is to
protect children under threat or under a real breach of their rights, as well
as youth in conflict with the law, has a first event called “Drawing
Competition 2009, 75th Anniversary of Codeni,” focused on about 3,500
members of the Foundation, who should depict a scene related to the Council
reflecting their vision about the institution and their feelings of love and
bonding.
The objetive of these types of
activities is to make the foundation work known through activities promoting
the identity of children and teenagers, according to Edmundo Ruiz, the General
Manager of Codeni. In relation to the contribution of companies such as Polla
Chilena, the Council guarantees the help to support the needs of the
beneficiaries. “Polla and the Council are twin brothers who help the
neediest people,” he says.
The selection of the winning works
of art would be made by the department of the corporate image of Codeni, along
with a special judge appointed for that case.
Polla Chilena will be present in the
activity through the presence of Veronica Montellano, the President of the
company’s Board, as a qualifying judge, and also with the donation of the
prizes which will be awarded in the corresponding centres of the Council,
throughout the whole country.
The prizes will be awarded for the
1st, 2nd, 3rd place, separatedly for women and men, while the drawings should
be sent no later than Friday May 15th this year. The best works of art will be
exhibited on the occasion of the anniversary of the Council.
Next May 31st, a Painting Festival
will be held in Plaza Peru, where ten children from the Foundation along with
ten famous people will paint creative drawings for the public. For this
activity, Codeni will have the sponsorship of institutions such as the Catholic
University of Chile and certainly the cooperation of Polla Chilena.
SOURCE: Polla Chilena de
Beneficencia.
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