www.PublicGaming.com JULY/AUGUST 2026 Competing Through Value: Portfolio Management, Retail, and the Future of Lottery Tom Seaver Colorado Lottery Also Featuring: The 2026 Class of PGRI Lottery Industry Hall of Fame Gretchen Corbin Georgia Lottery Corporation (U.S.) Jesús Huerta Almendro SELAE (Spain) Jan Karas Allwyn Hellas (Greece) Harold Mays Illinois Lottery (U.S.) Stéphane Pallez FDJ UNITED (France) Tom Seaver Colorado Lottery (U.S.)
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4 PUBLIC GAMING INTERNATIONAL • JULY/AUGUST 2026 Publisher & Chief Executive Officer Paul Jason pjason@publicgaming.com President Susan Jason sjason@publicgaming.com Brand and Design Dan Eggers Design Honored Founders Doris & Duane Burke Subscriptions United States: $145 USD Canada & Mexico: $160 USD All other countries: $225 USD For email address changes, subscription requests and requests to be placed on our e-Newsletter distribution list, e-mail Susan Jason at sjason@publicgaming.com Contact Information PGRI, Inc. 1769 Flagstone Terrace, The Villages, FL 32162 PublicGaming.com T: +425.449.3000 F: +206.374.2600 Public Gaming International Magazine Published six times a year and distributed to readers all around the world. Electronic version is e-mailed and is also available on our news website: PublicGaming.com July/August 2026 Volume 55, Issue 4 ©2026 all rights reserved. Public Gaming Research Institute cISSN: 1042-1912 CONTENTS JULY/AUGUST 2026 FEATURED INTERVIEWS 12 COMPETING THROUGH VALUE: PORTFOLIO MANAGEMENT, RETAIL, AND THE FUTURE OF LOTTERY Tom Seaver Senior Director, Colorado Lottery 34 NATIONAL COUNCIL ON PROBLEM GAMBLING (NCPG) AND PREDICTIVE MARKETS Heather L. Maurer Executive Director, NCPG 16 WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO BE A “LOTTERY” IN 2026 AND BEYOND? Khalid Jones, Former Executive Director, Virginia Lottery Blake Goldman, Vice President Business Development, Bally’s Intralot Inc. Rhydian Fisher, Chief Executive Officer, Instant Win Gaming (IWG) Brooks Pierce, President & Chief Executive Officer, Inspired Entertainment Paul Riley, Vice President of Retail Innovation & Partnerships, Brightstar Lottery 20 NEW DIRECTIONS: HOW MIGHT LOTTERY GAMING CHANGE OVER THE NEXT FIVE YEARS? Sarah Taylor, Executive Director, Hoosier Lottery and Chair of the Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) Committee for the World Lottery Association Mike Cardell, Senior Vice President, Americas Systems, Scientific Games Michelle Carney, Vice President Global Marketing, Brightstar Lottery Lester Elder, Executive Director, Missouri Lottery Julin Shaw, Senior Director, Business Development, DraftKings Rich Wheeler, Interim Chief Executive Officer, Bally’s Intralot Inc. FEATURED ARTICLES
6 PUBLIC GAMING INTERNATIONAL • JULY/AUGUST 2026 Visit Our Family Of Websites PublicGaming.com industry news & information PGRITalks.com videos of conference presentations PublicGaming.org PGRI conference information PGRIDigitalLibrary.com magazine archive of past issues PGRIDirectory.com listing of lotteries and vendors PGRIAwards.com Showcase of industry honorees recognized by the Lottery Industry Hall of Fame PGRI Lifetime Achievement Award Sharp Award for Good Causes Lottery Industry Statesman and Stateswoman Award Rebecca Paul Mentorship Award Collaboration Award Subscribe To Our Free Digital Newsletters Receive our daily newsletters at no charge, published 5 times a week to bring you the latest breaking news in the global lottery industry. Send an e-mail to: sjason@PublicGaming.com with “add to Daily Digest list” in the subject line. 8 FROM THE PUBLISHER Paul Jason 10 BIOGRAPHIES OF THE 2026 CLASS OF PGRI LOTTERY INDUSTRY HALL OF FAME Gretchen Corbin, President & CEO, Georgia Lottery Corporation Jesús Huerta Almendro, President & CEO of SELAE (Sociedad Estatal Loterías y Apuestas del Estado, S.M.E., S.A.), Spain Jan Karas, Chairman & CEO, Allwyn Hellas Harold Mays, Director, Illinois Lottery Stéphane Pallez, Chairwoman & Chief Executive Officer, FDJ UNITED, France Tom Seaver, Senior Director, Colorado Lottery 42 PHOTO COLLAGE: SCENES FROM EUROPEAN LOTTERIES (EL) INDUSTRY DAYS MARRAKECH CONFERENCE IN JUNE 44 PGRI AI LAB: THINKING, AMPLIFIED 46 PULSE OF THE INDUSTRY: SYNOPSIS OF RECENT GAMING INDUSTRY NEWS DEPARTMENTS 22 RETHINKING THE PLAYER LIFECYCLE: STARTING WITH THE ANONYMOUS USER Karri Paavilainen, Brightstar 26 DELAWARE’S ILOTTERY LAUNCH DEMONSTRATES THE POWER OF STRATEGIC GROWTH Scientific Games 30 LOTTERY COMPETITION, PART 1: 7 THINGS TO KNOW ABOUT PREDICTION MARKETS Don Silberstein, Senior Vice President, Marketing & Business Development, SCA 31 MICHIGAN GAMING CONTROL BOARD ENDS NCPG MEMBERSHIP OVER Kalshi Affiliation 32 INNOVATION THAT LEADS: DRIVING THE FUTURE OF CROSSWORD THROUGH CONTINUOUS EVOLUTION Pollard Banknote 34 CLOUD SPEED, PROVEN INTEGRITY: CLOUD MADE POSSIBLE BY PROOF, BUILT ON TRANSPARENCY Helena Pereira, Vice President, Szrek2Solutions 40 EL INDUSTRY DAYS 2026: BRIDGING CONTINENTS TO ADDRESS COMMON CHALLENGES AND SHAPE THE FUTURE OF LOTTERIES FEATURED ARTICLES CONT.
Technology, Services, & Games to Build Lotteries of The Future
8 PUBLIC GAMING INTERNATIONAL • JULY/AUGUST 2026 From the Publisher It feels like a generational inflection point. The retirement of my friend Rebecca Paul from the Tennessee Lottery is an occasion to reflect on who we want to be going forward, how we shape our careers, and how we apply the lessons of our lives for the benefit of others. Rebecca possesses that rare combination of deep experience, keen intelligence, sound judgment, and an instinctive understanding of people. For many of us, she occupies a place far beyond that of friend or business colleague. She has been a mentor, counselor, and advocate. Many others share my appreciation for the generosity with which Rebecca offers her wisdom. She listens, encourages, challenges, opens doors, and helps people see possibilities they might never have recognized on their own. Thankfully, Rebecca’s retirement from the Tennessee Lottery does not mean she is leaving the industry she has done so much to shape. Just as her leadership helped build the modern lottery industry into what it is today, her example can help us decide what we want it to become tomorrow. And congratulations to another beloved luminary, David Gale, who is retiring after thirty-one years as Executive Director of the North American Association of State and Provincial Lotteries (NASPL). David has guided the organization through countless evolutions with the lightest of touches, ensuring that every member feels appreciated and respected, and that every NASPL officer and president feels empowered to lead. David could write the book on how, and why, to do the heavy lifting while taking none of the credit. Helping others succeed, and allowing them to shine, is a rare superpower. And David owns it. Like so many others, I am deeply grateful for his kindness, his friendship, and all that he has contributed to our industry over these many years. Godspeed, David Gale. But wait, there’s more. Welcome home, Kevin Hall! What a refreshing turn of events to see Kevin return to his role as Executive Director of the Virginia Lottery. These are interesting times, and the Virginia Lottery will not skip a beat in the transition. Kevin knows the organization, the Commonwealth, and the broader lottery landscape as well as anyone. And, in a related development, congratulations to Khalid Jones on his appointment as President of Allwyn North America. Exciting times indeed. Brightstar is consolidating its global lottery leadership with the appointment of Marco Tasso as Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer, Global Lottery. Marco brings a wealth of experience, insight, and international perspective to this newly expanded role. Onward and upward as Brightstar enters a new chapter defined by its singular focus on driving success for lotteries and the beneficiaries they serve. There are plenty of congratulations to go around. In this issue, we proudly introduce the Class of 2026 PGRI Lottery Industry Hall of Fame: Gretchen Corbin, Jesús Huerta Almendro, Jan Karas, Harold Mays, Stéphane Pallez, and Tom Seaver. See their biographies and join us in celebrating six extraordinary leaders whose accomplishments, vision, and service have helped shape our industry. Thank you to Tom Seaver for a fabulous interview. Tom’s decades of leadership include a special expertise in instant tickets, and we dive deeply into the pathways for sustaining growth and driving continued performance in this mission-critical category. Also featured in this issue are executive summaries of panel discussions held at our most recent PGRI conference. Videos of these sessions, along with the complete library of panel discussions and presentations from past PGRI conferences, are available at PGRItalks.com. The EL Industry Days in Marrakech this past June was one of the most exciting industry events ever. No trade show. Just a serious symposium bringing together industry leaders from Europe and Africa, along with an exceptional roster of keynote speakers. EL events are consistently global in both participation and perspective, addressing the issues shaping lotteries today while challenging us to think more expansively about the future. Brightstar, Scientific Games, Pollard Banknote, and Bally’s Intralot are regular contributors to these pages, and their partnerships with lotteries have contributed immensely to the success of an industry that serves players, supports good causes, and generates vital benefits for society. Their insights are grounded in well-funded research, extensive market intelligence, and decades of real-world experience across the widest diversity of markets. We are grateful for their willingness to share that expertise with the PGRI community. And thank you to Don Silberstein for his primer on the nature and implications of Predictive Markets. We spend no small amount of focus on this topic as it hopefully inspires a re-regulation that purges Predictive Markets from the betting industry. Looking ahead, the industry fall calendar is busy as always. Upcoming events include the NASPL Annual Conference & Trade Show in Orlando (Sept. 21–24); PGRI Lottery Expo Nashville (Oct. 20–22); and the World Lottery Summit in Sydney (Nov. 9–12). Visit europeanlotteries.org, naspl.org, world-lotteries. org, and PublicGaming.com for additional information about these conferences and our ongoing services. Paul Jason, Publisher Public Gaming International Magazine
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10 PUBLIC GAMING INTERNATIONAL • JULY/AUGUST 2026 Continued on page 38 Continued on page 39 Continued on page 39 Continued on page 39 Continued on page 38 Continued on page 38 Congratulations to the six newest members of the Lottery Industry Hall of Fame The 111 members of the PGRI Lottery Industry Hall of Fame have voted for and elected six industry leaders to be inducted into the Lottery Industry Hall of Fame for 2026. The Lottery Industry Hall of Fame was founded in 2005 as a means of honoring those who have done the most to promote excellence and integrity in our industry and make the world lottery industry the great success. The recipients of this award are all a credit to that ideal and are joining a select and distinguished group of world lottery industry professionals. Visit the “Awards” section of PublicGaming.com to read more about the Hall of Fame. There will be two induction Ceremonies. The ceremony to induct the US Honorees (Gretchen Corbin, Harold Mays, and Tom Seaver) will be held at the NASPL Orlando Conference and Trade Show, Thursday September 24, 2026, from 4:45- 5:15pm in the Coral B Ballroom, Caribe Royale Orlando Florida. The ceremony to induct the International Honorees (Jesús Huerta Almendro, Jan Karas, and Stéphane Pallez) will be held at World Lottery Summit Sydney Conference and Trade Show. Wednesday November 11, 2026 from 5:00 to 5:45 pm (17:00 – 17:45) in the Cockle Bay Room 1 Convention Centre, Sydney, Australia Visit LotteryIndustryHallofFame.com for info about the Hall of Fame and its members Stéphane Pallez is widely regarded as one of the most influential leaders in the global lottery and gaming industry, having played a central role in shaping the evolution of state-authorized operators in an increasingly digital and competitive environment. As Chairwoman and Chief Executive Officer of La Française des Jeux (now FDJ UNITED) since November 2014, she has led over a decade of transformation that has positioned the Group among Europe's leading gaming operators. Her tenure has been defined by a series of landmark achievements. She successfully led the company's privatization and stock market listing in 2019, one of the largest IPOs in Europe that year, establishing a new governance Jesús leads SELAE, one of the largest lotteries in Europe, and globally, including the iconic lottery game El Gordo, widely recognised as a symbol of the lottery sector. He is a highly valued member of the EL community: committed, thoughtful, balanced, and hardworking. As EL’s ExCom member and its representative on the WLA Executive Committee, he plays an important role in ensuring alignment across the global lottery community. Tom began his lottery career in 1985 as the first Instant Game Product Manager for the Missouri Lottery, where he played a key role on the record-setting start-up team. He expanded his role when he joined the Virginia Lottery as Advertising and Marketing Manager, again contributing to the successful launch of a new U.S. lottery. In these formative roles, Tom established himself as a leader in product development, marketing, and research, building the foundation for a career that would influence how lotteries grow and engage players. From 2001 to 2018, Tom’s influence expanded globally as he worked across five continents as a consultant to Scientific Games and numerous advertising agency clients. Jan Karas is the Chairman and CEO of Allwyn Hellas (formerly OPAP), the leading lottery and gaming operator in Greece and Cyprus and a key operating company within Allwyn, which is the second largest listed gaming company in the world, with leading market positions across Europe and North America. During his tenure at the company’s helm, he has led several transformative initiatives – most notably, the historic Allwyn-OPAP business combination and OPAP’s rebranding to Allwyn Hellas in January 2026. After spending six years as the Illinois Lottery’s Chief of Operations and Technology, Harold Mays was appointed to serve as Director in January 2019 by Governor Pritzker, making him one of the longest serving directors in Illinois Lottery history. His varied 41-year career includes work in the power industry, telecommunications, information technology and project management, having worked for Motorola, ComEd, and the Illinois Bureau of Communications and Computer Services. During his 13 years at the Illinois Lottery, Harold has helped orchestrate significant and positive changes to drive responsible incremental growth and increase operational efficiency, having closed FY2025 with $3.84 billion in sales and $796 million in proceeds. Gretchen Corbin became President and CEO of the Georgia Lottery Corporation starting January 1, 2018. As President and CEO of the Georgia Lottery, Corbin’s business goal is to fulfill the Corporation’s mission toresponsibly maximize revenues for HOPE and Pre-K, ensuring that Georgia’s students continue to have access to these important educational programs. Under Corbin’s leadership, Georgia Lottery sales have experienced unprecedented growth. In FY25, Georgia Lottery gross sales reached $6.02 billion. STÉPHANE PALLEZ Chairwoman and Chief Exe. Officer, FDJ UNITED, France JESÚS HUERTA ALMENDRO President & CEO of SELAE (Sociedad Estatal Loterías y Apuestas del Estado, S.M.E., S.A.), Spain TOM SEAVER Senior Director, Colorado Lottery Scientific Games JAN KARAS Chairman and CEO, Allwyn Hellas HAROLD MAYS Director, Illinois Lottery GRETCHEN CORBIN President and CEO, Georgia Lottery Corporation PGRI LOTTERY INDUSTRY HALL OF FAME PGRI LOTTERY INDUSTRY HALL OF FAME
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12 PUBLIC GAMING INTERNATIONAL • JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2026 Competing Through Value: Portfolio Management, Retail, and the Future of Lottery Tom Seaver Senior Director, Colorado Lottery Smoothing the Path to Universal Registration Paul Jason: Colorado sits at the crossroads of many forms of gaming. Sports betting is established, casinos have long been part of the market, and new forms of wagering continue to emerge. How do you think about today's competitive environment? Tom Seaver: We have historically thought of gambling options as distinct and separate. Today, all varieties of gambling are so easily accessible to everyone everywhere that players absolutely do not stay in their lane. We know that from our research. Many lottery players participate in sports betting. They visit casinos. Some are beginning to experiment with prediction markets. There is overlap among virtually all forms of gambling, and pretending otherwise does not help us understand our business or respond effectively. That does not mean there are not players who participate exclusively in lottery, particularly among casual players who purchase lower-price-point instant tickets or occasionally buy Powerball when jackpots get large. But our core players frequently participate in multiple forms of gambling, and the reality is that we compete head-to-head with these other forms of recreational gambling. The challenge, however, is not about defending market share or worrying about competition. The challenge is continuing to create value propositions that remain relevant. Scratch products account for roughly seventy percent of Colorado's sales, and those products have to evolve continuously. Different players want different things. Some seek giant jackpots. Others want longer play experiences. Some respond to lifetime-income concepts, while others are attracted to experiential products or entertainment value. No single game will appeal to every player, so we should not aspire to make that happen. The product portfolio has to provide multiple reasons for people to participate. PGRI INTERVIEWS PGRI Introduction: Colorado operates in one of the most competitive gaming markets in North America. Sports betting is firmly established. Casinos have long been part of the landscape. New forms of wagering continue to emerge. Consumers today have more entertainment choices than at any time in history, and lottery now competes not only against other games of chance, but against an entire ecosystem of digital entertainment, sports, gaming, and media. Given those circumstances, it would be easy to spend all our time discussing threats. Sports betting. Prediction markets. Changing demographics. New technologies. The fragmentation of consumer attention. The increasing sophistication of competitors. Tom Seaver certainly recognizes all of those realities. But what makes his perspective especially valuable is that he redirects our attention to what may be the more straightforward and actionable question: How does lottery continue creating value for players? Like the best product managers, Tom speaks less about defending lottery against competitors and more about understanding players, identifying unmet needs, creating compelling experiences, and continuously refining the portfolio. As competition intensifies and consumer behavior continues to evolve, Tom argues that instead of trying to become more like sports betting, casinos, or other forms of gaming, lottery must become better at what lottery does best: understanding players, delivering value, building trust, and creating products that occupy distinct and meaningful positions within the gaming marketplace. In the end, the most interesting thing about this conversation may not be what Tom Seaver says about competition. It is what he says about opportunity.
14 PUBLIC GAMING INTERNATIONAL • JULY/AUGUST 2026 Every Product Needs a Reason to Exist You seem to return repeatedly to the importance of value propositions. Is that really the heart of modern portfolio management? T. Seaver: I think it is. We spend a tremendous amount of time thinking about what motivates players and what forms of value resonate with different segments. Colorado was among the first states to introduce a $50 scratch ticket. The assumption had always been that nobody would spend fifty dollars on a lottery ticket. Today we may have four separate $50 products in the market at the same time. The lesson is that player preferences evolve, and lottery products must evolve with them. Lower-price-point products continue to play an essential role within the portfolio, but consumer behavior clearly demonstrates that many players are willing to spend more when the value proposition is compelling. Every game should have a reason to exist, and preferably an identity that differentiates it from others. Powerball offers enormous jackpots. Colorado Lotto Plus offers better odds and local winners. Millionaire For Life delivers a lifetimeincome proposition. Experiential products offer opportunities and access that cannot easily be purchased. Each game occupies its own position within the portfolio and should solve a different problem or meet a different need. Attempting to make every game appeal to every consumer often results in products that lack a clear identity. Millionaire For Life and Player Segmentation Millionaire-for-Life seems to illustrate many of these ideas. What did you learn from that game? T. Seaver: We were replacing Cash-for-Life and Lucky-for-Life, and we conducted extensive research before making that decision. One of the most interesting findings involved younger players. If you are twenty-five years old, the idea of receiving one million dollars a year for life means something very different than it does for someone who is sixty-five. A younger player may receive those payments for forty or fifty years, and the lifetime-income proposition becomes extraordinarily compelling. That insight influenced how we thought about the product and how we positioned it. We wanted to preserve the appeal for existing players while also creating something that might resonate with younger consumers. States that offer the game through digital channels are already seeing evidence that younger players, a profile we are always stretching to connect with, are helping drive performance. The broader lesson is that products need clear identities and clearly understood value propositions. I think of Millionaire For Life as the "forever jackpot." The top prize never changes. If someone wins it today, the same prize is available tomorrow. There is no jackpot fatigue because the prize does not continue escalating and resetting. The product offers certainty rather than volatility, and that differentiates it from Powerball and Mega Millions. Innovation and Product Life Cycles How do you think about innovation and keeping products relevant over time? T. Seaver: The current challenges facing Mega Millions illustrate why portfolio management is an ongoing process. The price increase from two dollars to five dollars did not produce the results that designers hoped for, leaving one of the industry's flagship products searching for renewed momentum. I do not view that as evidence of failure. Rather, it is a reminder that products evolve, consumer preferences change, and lotteries must continually reassess the value propositions they offer. A mature game can experience something of a midlife crisis. That may mean that eventually it should be retired, but the better approach may be to adjust, rethink, and innovate to extend the life cycle of successful products. Experiential products represent another avenue for creating value. Colorado has seen success with Game of Thrones products, sports partnerships involving the Denver Broncos and Denver Nuggets, and the shopping spree game. The strongest experiential products offer something consumers cannot, or wouldn’t purchase for themselves, almost regardless of how much money they have. Some earlier products offered trips or vacations that consumers could theoretically buy. The newer experiences often involve access, opportunities, embedded games or interactions that simply cannot be purchased. Those products may appeal to consumers who would not otherwise purchase a traditional lottery ticket, allowing the portfolio to reach entirely different audiences. Retail Still Matters The industry spends considerable time discussing digital channels, yet retail still drives the overwhelming majority of sales. How do you think about retail today? T. Seaver: We are still very much a retail business. Digital channels are important and will become increasingly important, but scratch products continue to depend upon retail execution. Colorado has invested heavily in retail modernization, including upgraded equipment, digital menu boards, improved signage, and expanded implementation of SciQ®. These investments make transactions easier for consumers while improving inventory management, accountability, and security for retailers. One of the most important developments has been the shift toward inventory management and product velocity. Historically, lotteries printed games, took delivery of tickets, and sold them until they were gone. Some games remained in dispensers long after players had lost interest because nobody wanted to destroy inventory. Today the focus is very different. Products that fall below performance thresholds are removed and replaced with fresh inventory. Retailers benefit because inventory turns faster, players benefit because they encounter new products, and the lottery benefits because shelves are stocked with the strongest products to drive sales. The movement toward sales-based vendor contracts has reinforced this approach. Instead of focusing primarily on print quantities, lotteries and vendors increasingly share incentives around sales performance and product velocity. Everyone benefits from maintaining fresh products and stronger sales. Continued on page 37
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16 PUBLIC GAMING INTERNATIONAL • JULY/AUGUST 2026 As lotteries confront disruptive technologies, expanding gaming competition, evolving regulation, and the expectations of digital native consumers, the industry faces a defining question: how should lottery evolve while preserving its identity and public trust? Do faster play, higher payouts, and more immersive experiences strengthen competitiveness or challenge the traditional values of integrity and player protection? As lottery emerges from a monopoly era into a marketplace defined by choice, this session explores how operators are redefining the player experience to remain relevant and thrive in 2026 and beyond. Moderator: Khalid Jones, Executive Director, Virginia Lottery and Lead of the Mega Millions Consortium Panelists: Blake Goldman, Vice President Business Development, Intralot, Inc. Rhydian Fisher, Chief Executive Officer, Instant Win Gaming (IWG) Brooks Pierce, President & Chief Executive Officer, Inspired Entertainment Paul Riley, Vice President of Retail Innovation & Partnerships, Brightstar Lottery Competing in a Fragmented Market Without Losing the Plot The lottery industry has always lived with a quiet contradiction. It is at once one of the most stable institutions in gaming and one of the most exposed to disruption. For decades, that contradiction resolved in lottery’s favor, as new forms of gaming emerged, competition expanded, and yet lottery continued to grow—steady, resilient, and culturally embedded in everyday life. But the numbers now tell a more complicated story. Moderator Khalid Jones: “Let’s start with context. In 1992, at the launch of Powerball—what I think of as the beginning of the modern lottery—lottery held about 70% of the legal gaming market. Today, that number is closer to 26%. What’s important, though, is that while share has declined, sales have continued to grow. That tells us something critical: this industry has faced disruption before—and adapted.” As the market has expanded, lottery is no longer operating in a protected ecosystem but in a marketplace defined by abundance, choice, and constant stimulation. That shift framed the central question posed by Khalid Jones: what does it mean to be a lottery in 2026 and beyond? The answers revealed both confidence and uncertainty, and a growing recognition that the industry’s future depends on the choices its leaders make now and in the coming months and years. The instinct in moments like this is often to look outward at trends, towards what appears to be working elsewhere, and adjust to the actions of competitors. What emerged from this discussion is that we also want to look inward, reflect on our strengths and identity in order to define what is essential, what is adaptable, and what should not be compromised. That tension between embedded brand identity and progressive evolution sits at the center of the strategic decisions the industry now faces. Too Big to Fail? Or Too Slow to Win? Jones opened with a deceptively simple provocation: is lottery too big to fail? For Rhydian Fisher, the answer was both reassuring and cautionary. “No one is too big to fail. Lottery certainly won’t disappear, but it can absolutely decline if we make the wrong choices.” He pointed to a fundamental strategic trap: trying to compete directly with iCasino, sports betting, or other forms of gaming that PANEL DISCUSSION This article is based on a panel discussion held at PGRI Smart-Tech Ft Lauderdale on March 11, 2026 Rhydian Fisher, Khalid Jones, Paul Riley, Brooks Pierce and Blake Goldman What does it mean to be a “Lottery” in 2026 and beyond?
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18 PUBLIC GAMING INTERNATIONAL • JULY/AUGUST 2026 operate under entirely different economic and regulatory models. “If we fall into the trap of trying to compete toe-to-toe, then we will fail. They have different rules and different business models. We can’t outspend them or let them define the competitive landscape.” Lottery needs to differentiate itself more clearly and deliberately. Fisher emphasized the assets that are uniquely lottery’s: scale, trust, and the ability to collaborate across jurisdictions in ways few other gaming sectors can replicate. “We are getting huge success with multi-state instant games,” he noted, pointing to shared liquidity models as a glimpse of what is possible when lottery leans into its structural advantages. That combination of scale and cooperation, if paired with meaningful innovation, creates a path forward that does not depend on mimicking competitors. The implication is that lottery’s strength lies not in becoming more like everything else, but in becoming more fully what it already is—modernized, expanded, but still distinct. It is a subtle shift in mindset, but one that has significant strategic consequences. That sense of cautious optimism was echoed, but also sharpened, by Paul Riley, who brought the conversation back to measurable outcomes. Stagnant or declining sales constitute failure by any reasonable standard. But surely flat or slow growth does not qualify as success, regardless of how strong the brand or legacy may be. Riley pointed to the two primary levers in the business—content and distribution—and suggested that many of the traditional tools for driving growth have already been deployed. “We’ve already innovated on many fronts,” he said, noting that while many opportunities remain, the path forward is not as straightforward as it once was. He emphasized that past resilience does not guarantee future performance. From the perspective of Brooks Pierce, the issue is less about survival and more about pace. “I don’t think it’s a question of lotteries failing,” he said, but he quickly added that the industry operates at a different speed than the broader gaming sector. In the commercial gaming sector, innovation is driven by a highly competitive ecosystem of suppliers, each pushing to create better, more engaging content. That openness creates a feedback loop of experimentation and improvement, something that lottery, with its more controlled structure, has not fully embraced. “The best content providers are the ones who win,” Pierce observed, suggesting that greater openness to competition and new ideas could unlock a new phase of growth. Sustainable growth is the goal, and part of the solution is creating the conditions under which innovation can flourish. Chasing the Next Generation Without Losing the Core If the structural challenge is one dimension of the problem, the demographic question is another. Can lottery attract younger players without alienating its core audience? The instinct is to frame this as a generational divide, but the panel repeatedly circled back to a more nuanced understanding rooted in life stages rather than age cohorts. Riley captured the practical reality succinctly: “Youth is all about convenience. They live on their mobile phones.” Without a robust digital channel, lottery is not even present in the environments where younger consumers spend their time. Yet even as he emphasized the necessity of digital access, he acknowledged the constraints that continue to limit progress, from payment restrictions to regulatory barriers. “We are successful in spite of the restrictions placed on lottery that are not applied to others in the games-of-chance industry.” Pierce expanded the conversation beyond youth to a broader concept of portfolio strategy. The goal, he said, is not simply to attract a younger audience, but to serve a wider range of player preferences. “Not everybody plays the same,” he said, noting that some players seek frequent, smaller wins while others are drawn to large, infrequent jackpots. This diversity of motivations suggests that growth will come not from targeting a single demographic, but from expanding the range of experiences available. A well-constructed portfolio can accommodate multiple player types simultaneously, reducing the need to choose between legacy audiences and new ones. In that sense, the youth question becomes less about replacement and more about expansion of options. For Blake Goldman, the generational divide is often overstated. “The values that are unique to lottery such as transparency, authenticity, and good causes are universal and timeless and transcend generations,” he said, challenging the idea that younger players are fundamentally different. What has changed is not the underlying motivation, but how those motivations are expressed and experienced. Younger consumers still care about impact and meaning, but they expect to encounter those ideas in formats that are immediate, visual, and embedded in their daily digital lives. Goldman emphasized that the opportunity lies in how the story is told, pointing to social media and quick, engaging experiences as key. In his view, the gap today is not in the games themselves, but in how effectively their stories are brought to life. Fisher added an important layer to this discussion by distinguishing between motivation and reinforcement. “People don’t play because of good causes,” he said plainly, noting that the primary driver remains the chance to win. However, he said, the presence of good causes provides a powerful secondary justification, one that reinforces participation and differentiates lottery from its competitors. More fundamentally, Fisher challenged the assumption that younger adult players must be actively converted at an earlier stage. “It’s a life-stage thing,” he said, pointing out that lottery has historically benefited from a natural progression as players age into its value proposition. The strategic imperative, then, is not to accelerate that timeline, but to ensure that when the moment arrives, the product is relevant, accessible, and compelling. Competing in an Attention Economy, Not Just a Gaming Market The competitive landscape complicates all of this. Lottery is competing not only against other forms of gaming, but against an entire ecosystem of digital experiences that define consumer expectations. Goldman captured this simply: “People want to pick up their phone, click, and it’s done.” That expectation, shaped by e commerce, streaming, and social media, has become the baseline for Continued on page 50
20 PUBLIC GAMING INTERNATIONAL • JULY/AUGUST 2026 The next generation of players have more games of chance options than ever. How will lottery gaming continue to innovate and differentiate from commercial offerings/games/ products to support the long-term success of the lottery? Moderator: Sarah Taylor, Executive Director, Hoosier Lottery and Chair of the Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) Committee for the World Lottery Association Panelists Mike Cardell, Senior Vice President, Americas Systems, Scientific Games Michelle Carney, Vice President Global Marketing, Brightstar Lottery Lester Elder, Executive Director, Missouri Lottery Julin Shaw, Senior Director, Business Development, DraftKings Rich Wheeler, Chief Corporate Relations Officer, Intralot Inc. The lottery industry has always evolved in response to competition, technology, and consumer behavior. What feels different today is the pace and breadth of that change. The next generation of players is growing up with near-limitless entertainment options, instant gratification, frictionless payments, and digital discovery as second nature. Against that backdrop, lottery is being asked a harder question than ever before: not simply how to modernize, but how to do so while preserving the trust, integrity, and public-benefit mission that define the category. That question framed a wide-ranging panel moderated by Sarah Taylor, Executive Director of the Hoosier Lottery and Chair of the World Lottery Association’s Corporate Social Responsibility Committee. Joined by leaders from lottery, suppliers, and commercial gaming, the discussion explored how lottery gaming might evolve over the next five years — across player journeys, product innovation, competition, responsible gaming, and emerging technologies. What emerged was not a call to abandon lottery’s roots, but a clear consensus that the industry must modernize around those roots, meeting consumers where they are while reinforcing what makes lottery fundamentally different and special. From Player Journey to Consumer Journey Lottery can’t just optimize what happens after someone arrives. It has to get better at being found, and at feeling effortless once it is. Mike Cardell of Scientific Games described a fundamental shift in how consumers interact with brands and products. “The player journey isn’t linear anymore — it’s a web,” he said. “People enter from different places, on different devices, with different expectations. Our job is to make the experience consistent wherever they start, and seamless as they move between channels.” That consistency, Cardell emphasized, extends beyond the games themselves. Payments, portfolio structure, and engagement moments all need to work together. “You have to meet people where they want to play, when they want to play, and how they want to play; and make sure the entire experience is stitched together seamlessly.” Julin Shaw of DraftKings suggested that the industry may need to widen its frame even further. Rather than focusing exclusively on the “lottery player journey,” she encouraged that lotteries should instead be thinking of the broader consumer journey. “People are already on digital pathways every day — searching, scrolling, comparing, buying,” Shaw said. “We leveraged sophisticated tools for what happens once players reach our app or website. Now we have to get better at the earlier step: discovery. How do we find them where they already are — and give them a simple bridge into lottery?” That shift in perspective matters, she added, because attention is now the scarcest commodity. If lottery relies solely on players seeking it out, it risks falling behind brands that insert themselves naturally into consumers’ existing digital habits. Rich Wheeler of Intralot noted that many lotteries are already moving in this direction, particularly by taking retail data more seriously. “We’re seeing more lotteries invest in understanding the retail player, not just the iLottery player,” he said. Loyalty programs have become more sophisticated, digital wallets are changing expectations, and analytics now allow operators to see where players disengage — and why. PANEL DISCUSSION This article is based on a panel discussion held at PGRI Lottery Expo Nashville on November 6 Left to right: Sarah Taylor, Michelle Carney, Mike Cardell, Julin Shaw, Rich Wheeler and Lester Elder New Directions: How might Lottery Gaming change over the next five years? Continued on page 24
22 PUBLIC GAMING INTERNATIONAL • JULY/AUGUST 2026 Who are the players lotteries may be overlooking today, and why do they matter? Karri Paavilainen: As much as 60% of the active app audience is made up of anonymous users in some cases. Anonymous users represent a major untapped growth opportunity in lottery websites and mobile apps. They visit regularly, check winning numbers, browse games and promo information, yet they remain outside of traditional CRM programs because they have not registered or shared contact details. Operators miss valuable opportunities to increase conversion and drive incremental revenue growth if they ignore the potential from this audience. What is the core challenge with relying on traditional CRM strategies? Traditional CRM strategies depend heavily on email and SMS. But as email opt-in rates sit between 50-60% among registered players, and registered players make up only 40% of all digital visitors, lotteries are effectively only reaching 25% of their digital audience potential. The rest remain active, interested, and largely non-addressable with a traditional CRM approach. How should lotteries rethink anonymous players within the player lifecycle? Lotteries should view anonymous users as the first stage, as a prospect instead of a non-addressable audience. That shift opens the door to engaging players earlier, building trust over time, and guiding them toward registration through relevance rather than pressure. It means lifecycle strategy should begin before identity capture. When lotteries engage anonymous players with relevant, behavior-based personalized CRM messaging, they create a smoother path from visit to registration, then onward to deeper engagement and monetization. If players are anonymous, what can lotteries still learn about them, and how can they segment them? Even without personally identifiable information, lotteries can see meaningful behavioral signals, such as which screens players visit, how often they return, which games they explore, and how their activity changes over time. Those patterns provide a solid foundation for segmentation. Lotteries can segment by behavior. For example, a player who checks Powerball numbers several times a month shows different intent than someone who occasionally browses scratch games. That difference can shape messaging, content, and timing, even before registration. Which channels are most effective for engaging anonymous players, and why? Mobile-first channels are especially effective. In-app messaging can reach active users in the moments that Rethinking the Player Lifecycle: Starting with the Anonymous User Karri Paavilainen, Vice President of Player Marketing Services, Brightstar Lottery, discusses anonymous players, a meaningful starting point for future growth for lotteries.
23 PUBLIC GAMING INTERNATIONAL • JULY/AUGUST 2026 matter, on the screens they are already viewing. Push notifications also play a significant role once a player opts in, especially for timely updates. In-app messaging creates a direct path to engagement without requiring email collection first. It allows lotteries to educate, assist, and guide players while interest is already high. That makes communication feel timely, useful, and more likely to earn attention. How should lotteries approach registration prompts for anonymous players? Registration should be treated as an earned next step. Instead of relying on one-time prompts, lotteries can build contextual journeys that deliver value first. When players see relevance and benefit, they are more likely to register willingly. What results can this approach deliver, and do anonymous players respond to messaging? The impact is significant and can be measured across the conversion funnel. In one North American lottery, an in-app message aimed at gaining push notification opt-ins converted 9.8% of previously opted-out players. Of those who converted, 33% were anonymous at the time. In another North American lottery, 51% of all in-app message clicks came from anonymous players, and 53% of all push notification openers were anonymous. These examples show the impact when lotteries start to build engagement with the anonymous users. How does this approach improve the health of the player funnel and create downstream benefits? Over time, registrations increase while the anonymous audience stops expanding out of proportion. That balance suggests players are progressing through the journey rather than stalling at the top of the funnel. This is an indicator of lottery being able to nurture deeper relationships with its players. In some jurisdictions, push-eligible audiences now exceed email-eligible ones, which signals that players see clear value in timely, mobile-first communication. How does segmentation improve messaging performance, and why does this matter for long-term lottery growth? Segmented lifecycle journeys outperform broad, generic campaigns because they personalize communication to player behavior and intent. That improves efficiency, reduces unnecessary sends, lowers opt-outs, and helps lotteries to engage players more effectively. Anonymous players are not a gap in the system. They are the starting point of future growth. How lotteries engage them shapes registration, channel eligibility, and long-term revenue. When that early stage is handled with precision, growth becomes more consistent, scalable, and sustainable. The path forward is clear: engage players based on behavior before asking for identity. When lotteries treat anonymous engagement as a strategic lifecycle stage, they unlock a stronger foundation for communication, conversion, and long-term player retention. Karri Paavilainen brings more than 20 years of experience in the lottery industry. He has experience with both lottery operator and vendor roles, where he has developed strong expertise in digital growth strategy and execution. His experience spans strategy development, player analytics, product development, and marketing. Karri leads Brightstar’s global Player Marketing Services and Advanced Analytics and AI teams, helping iLottery customers enhance B-to-C digital player engagement across acquisition, activation, retention, and player experience optimization. Considering anonymous players has a positive impact on the conversion funnel.
24 PUBLIC GAMING INTERNATIONAL • JULY/AUGUST 2026 “Once you understand the funnel,” Wheeler explained, “you can design promotions and recommendations that actually fit real behavior, rather than guessing.” From the operator side, Lester Elder of the Missouri Lottery grounded the conversation in practical reality. With marketing budgets under pressure and competition everywhere, he said, lotteries have little choice but to show up where players already spend their time. “If we want to stay relevant, we have to market where people actually are,” Elder said. “Streaming, social media, digital signage at the pump and in the store — those are today’s attention lanes. And our competitors are already there, spending aggressively. If lottery doesn’t show up in those channels, we’re choosing to be invisible.” Competing Without Trying to Outspend As the discussion turned to competition, the panel was candid: lotteries cannot, and should not, try to match commercial gaming operators dollar for dollar on incentives or payouts. “Sportsbooks can give away $1,000 for a $10 bet,” Cardell said. “That’s not lottery’s prize structure model, and it’s not our way of doing business even if we could.” Instead, the panelists repeatedly returned to trust and mission as lottery’s most durable advantages. Michelle Carney of Brightstar Lottery framed it as a cornerstone to lottery’s identity, external message, and internal culture. “Our most sustainable differentiator is our mission,” she said. “Lotteries fund communities and good causes under a regulated model built on integrity and consumer protection. That’s not just a slogan — public trust is foundational to our brand.” That trust, Cardell added, represents strategic capital built over decades. “In a market where scandals and bad actors can stain the broader gaming category, lottery has an opportunity to stand apart by staying disciplined — fair products, clear guardrails, and a brand people feel comfortable with.” Shaw suggested that lotteries can also learn from how leading consumer brands deepen engagement without relying on constant discounting. Airlines, hotels, and retailers, she noted, have turned transactions into experiential ecosystems — using loyalty, partnerships, and smart prompts to stay connected. “Linked loyalty is a powerful model,” she said. “It’s about adding value without forcing consumers to change their behavior. It’s no longer just about who ‘owns’ the customer. It’s about who can share the relationship.” Elder returned the conversation to lottery’s unique emotional appeal. “Lottery occupies a different space,” he said. “People don’t usually say, ‘If I hit on a slot machine, my life changes.’ But they do say, ‘If I win the lottery, everything changes.’ That dream narrative still matters.” Wheeler offered a note of caution. Over the past decade, lottery growth has leaned heavily on two levers: larger multistate jackpots and higher price points and prize payouts in instant games. “We can’t rely on that same playbook forever,” he said. “We need growth strategies that go beyond simply making prizes bigger. It’s about understanding the role lottery plays in the overall entertainment portfolio, and how players engage with it as a category.” We won’t win by trying to mimic competitors’ economics. We’ll win by modernizing the experience around what only lottery can credibly claim: trust, public benefit, and broad accessibility. Draw Games: Keep It Simple, Modernize the Access When the panel turned to draw games, the challenge was clear. The core mechanic — pick numbers, wait for a draw — hasn’t changed much, and may never fundamentally change. The opportunity, then, lies in how draw games are packaged, distributed, and made relevant. Carney offered the “researcher’s paradox” of draw games: across decades, the big categories haven’t changed much, and attempts to innovate often circle back to the same fundamentals. “Players really prefer simplicity. The categories of games really haven’t changed. There are multistate games, lotto games, cash games, daily draw, Pick 3 and Pick 4. Even newer concepts and innovations are more likely to succeed when they feel familiar. The larger opportunities are going to come from distribution. How easily can a person add the game to their basket? Think of the payment process as being a part of how people play. So, how do you allow a player to add Mega Millions or Powerball or Cash Pop to their basket, whether it’s in lane, self-service, or walk-in walk-out and using payment methods such as digital wallets biometrics, or another form of frictionless checkout? There needs to be options other than paying cash at clerkassisted check-out.” Elder agreed, pointing to broader consumer behavior. “Convenience isn’t an optional feature anymore — it’s the baseline,” he said. “People can order almost anything from their couch. They expect lottery to be just as accessible.” Wheeler separated the issue into two parts: channels and product. “On channels, we’ve made real progress. On product, the harder question is whether younger players find the traditional draw mechanic entertaining enough. I don’t think we’ve fully answered that yet.” Shaw described how some lotteries are addressing that gap through brand partnerships, access points, and experiential prizing. “The NFL initiative is powerful moment for our industry because it’s more than sharing logos,” she said. “It’s a cultural bridge. Courier and digital access points create discovery. And experiential prizes give people something they’ll want to share.” The takeaway: There are constraints to how the draw game can be changed. But there is headroom to further modernize distribution, partnerships, and pathways to connect with contemporary culture and younger players. Instant Games: Beyond Glitter and Ink Instant games remain a foundational revenue engine, but the panel was candid about the generational tension: physical scratch still matters, yet the next growth wave will come from connecting instant play to digital habits and modern discovery. “Scratch isn’t going away. Retail is foundational,” Cardell said. “But shiny inks and product enhancements aren’t a complete strategy. The next step is building bridges that connect physical instant games with digital behavior; that includes e-instants where permitted, retail-linked digital experiences, and cultural collaborations that bring digitalfirst consumers to lottery.” Shaw described the industry’s retail investments with affectionate humor. “We’ve spent years peacocking scratch at retail — special inks, die-cuts, premium finishes — and all that matters. But now we have to make sure all of that effort and investment intersects with how younger consumers discover and buy.” New Directions: How might Lottery Gaming change over the next five years? — continued from page 20 Continued on page 36
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