An assumption common in the business world is that growth equals survival. And since North Carolina went into the lottery "business," a similar model has been at work.
There seems to be no such thing as a revenue stream strong enough for those in charge to say, "Hey, that's good enough. We don't need to be hounding Tar Heels to spend still more of their money chasing the elusive dream of instant riches -- or even the little shot of adrenaline from winning enough to buy breakfast at Bojangles."
After all, lottery revenues are helping to support vital state services -- specifically, education. Except when they're siphoned off for general use, making it more a matter of faith whether those revenues are really being used for something essential. And there's the question of whether they're taking a little of the load off regular taxpayers at someone else's expense.
Itching to play
Is the lottery just an entertaining diversion for people who think they're getting their money's worth, win or lose, and who are glad to help the state keep its fiscal head above water? OK, there must be some of that. But common sense tells us that plenty of lottery traffic involves players hoping that a big hit will rescue them from hard times. Then there are the players who get hooked on the action.
North Carolina's lottery caters to both. The mega-jackpot Powerball drawings, in which revenues from several states are pooled, bring in waves of customers who shoulder almost impossible odds on the chance that they'll be the ones with a ticket to a life of luxury. Scratch-off games, the most popular, feed and fuel the craving for instant gratification. For those with a weakness, addiction is not far away.
Even the humble Pick 3 -- a legalized version of the old numbers racket -- is coming on strong. Prizes are modest, but it doesn't cost much to play. Since the state went to twice-daily drawings last year, The N&O reports, sales in that category have jumped by 40 percent. That's despite the recession that has put a damper on lottery sales in some other states.
"The Pick 3 player is a different type of player," says lottery director Tom Shaheen. "They like their two-times-a-day draws." And the state is eager to accommodate them -- even when traffic is heaviest at outlets such as a convenience store on Raleigh's Poole Road, where it's a good bet that affluent customers are scarce.
Shaheen is president of the Multi-State Lottery Association, the consortium of Powerball states. Now he's talking up the possibility of letting people in those states also buy tickets for the big game that is backed by a different group of states, Mega Millions. And vice versa. That means North Carolinians who wanted to play Mega Millions could buy tickets here instead of driving to Virginia, and Virginians could stay home and still get in on the Powerball action.
The upshot -- bigger jackpots all around. Plus, more revenues extracted from players who might or might not be able to resist their state's so thoughtfully provided new opportunity to spend their money on lottery tickets.
As if that weren't enough, Shaheen tells the Associated Press that a national lottery also is in the works. Does lottery fever ever break?
Approval of the North Carolina lottery was a very close call in the General Assembly because of sensible objections, and the sour taste of the maneuvers necessary to pull it off still lingers.
There's no turning back the clock -- but there's also no reason for this state to follow the lottery lemmings off the cliff. Let the Lottery Commission view with skepticism any grand expansion of the ways North Carolina lures its people to part with their money in long-shot games of chance.
