The latest trend in the lottery business — allowing people to buy tickets from their home computers instead of waiting in line at stores — has taken hold in Illinois. And other states are giving serious thought to following suit.
But Wisconsin won't be among them.
There is a state ban against the sale of lottery tickets online, according to Wisconsin Lottery spokesman Andrew Bohage.
"It's not on the radar screen at all," Bohage said last week as the Mega Millions jackpot surged beyond $600 million, setting off a ticket-buying frenzy across the country. "Internet lottery sales are prohibited by the state constitution."
On March 25, Illinois became the first state to sell individual lottery tickets online. A Justice Department opinion issued last year cleared the way. It said the Wire Act of 1961, which bars wagering over telecommunication systems across state or national boundaries, applies only to sports betting.
At least 21 states and the District of Columbia are considering online lottery sales or other wagering such as poker, said Frank Fahrenkopf, president of the American Gaming Association, which represents commercial casinos. New York and several other states sell lottery subscriptions to residents online, but not individual tickets.
Bohage said Wisconsin doesn't allow people to play the lottery — which has offered games to state residents since 1988 — with computers, phones or any form of "electronic, telecommunication, video or technological aid."
Wisconsin lottery players occasionally inquire about the prospect of buying tickets online, Bohage said.
"(They're) looking for an easier way than stopping at a convenience store to get a ticket," he said. "We'll get contacted every now and then about that."
Wisconsin also bans players from setting up long-term subscriptions to buy lottery tickets, Bohage said.
Jeff Lenard of the National Association of Convenience Stores says the group has "significant concerns" about the economic effect on stores that sell lottery tickets.
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Illinois Lottery Superintendent Michael Jones says online sales could attract 1 million new players when Mega Millions payouts exceed $100 million, increasing proceeds that go to public education. Only 9 percent to 12 percent of Illinois adults play now, he says.
Visitors to illinoislottery.com are asked to register and enter credit card and Social Security numbers, date of birth, name and address. Sophisticated software should ensure that only Illinois residents 18 and older play, Jones says. Purchases will be limited to $100 a day. At first, only Mega Millions and Lotto games will be offered.
The federal ruling "was a gift of potentially hundreds of millions of dollars and thousands of jobs to any state that wants to do this," says I. Nelson Rose, a Whittier Law School professor who blogs at gamblingandthelaw.com. "In less than 10 years, we're going to see most of the states moving to Internet gambling."
In Maine last week, a Senate committee approved a bill that would make online lottery sales illegal but could reconsider.
"We're moving cautiously," Republican Sen. Debra Plowman says, "and we'll be watching Illinois."
The flurry of interest spells trouble for gambling addicts and young people, says Anita Bedell of Illinois Church Action on Alcohol and Addiction Problems. "It's going to open a whole Pandora's box nationwide," she says.
Fahrenkopf hopes Congress will set standards to protect online customers from fraud and ensure they are adults.
Online lottery gambling also is a concern to Rose Gruber, executive director of the Wisconsin Council on Problem Gambling.
"We know that when you increase availability (of gambling), you run the risk of more people getting addicted," she said. "Compulsive gambling is considered a hidden addiction to begin with. One of our concerns with Internet gambling is that nobody knows you are doing it, and you can get into trouble fast."
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