Holiday 2025 Review – Arkansas to Massachusetts

By NASPL Insights Online

Published February 17, 2026

Arkansas Scholarship Lottery

Arkansas’ holiday lineup included four games: one each at $1, $2, $3 and $5. View the games in our ticket gallery.

Most successful game(s):

Our $5 ticket, Winter Winnings, was probably our most successful holiday ticket this year. The $1 Holiday Cash and $2 ELF also performed well. Winter Winnings marks the first holiday $5 we’ve launched since 2014 after many years of disappointing results.

General timing of holiday marketing:

November is general game launch marketing, and then from the last week of November through Christmas, we focused on holiday gifting and responsible gifting.

Did any marketing tactics really stand out this past holiday season?

We added digital video at the pump. From a product standpoint, we launched four holiday games vs. three; one game ($2) was a licensed property game, and one game ($5) was printed on a premium platinum foil paper.

Post-holiday strategies to capitalize on new players who purchased or were gifted holiday games:

Arkansas does not have a history of holiday tickets being primary sales-drivers. We’ve had some marginal success in the past at lower price points ($1 and $2), but given a lack of seasonal sales fervor from our players, we typically have not analyzed the staying power of newer players during this sales period because we, for the most part, don’t get a significant amount of newer players during the holidays.

Major lessons learned in 2025:

Our holiday tickets in 2025 overall did either average to slightly below average compared to our non-holiday tickets and compared to our typical holiday offerings. We learned that after more than a decade going without a $5 holiday ticket, we have the potential – provided we find the right ticket – to introduce $5 holiday offerings without worry that they would underperform.

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Atlantic Lottery

Atlantic’s holiday lineup included three games: one each at $5, $10 and $25. View the games in our ticket gallery.

Most successful game(s):

The most successful ticket was our $25 Holiday Pack, as it achieved a 90% sell-through rate. This $25 pack contained multiple tickets, with a guaranteed winner of $10 or more in each and a top prize of $150,000.

General timing of holiday marketing:

The Scratch’N Win portion of our holiday campaign began Nov. 12 and ended the final week of December.

Major lessons learned in 2025:

Like last year, we linked our Scratch’N Win holiday campaign with our online holiday campaign and contest, December to Remember. This created a more cohesive “holidays at AL” campaign, rather than two separate campaigns. Along with creating a cohesive messaging and media strategy, this also saved us time and resources.

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British Columbia Lottery Corporation

BCLC’s holiday lineup included 10 games: two each at $1, $2, $3 and $5, and one each at $10 and $20. View the games in our ticket gallery.

Most successful game(s):

The $5 and $10 price points were our most successful with year over year growth of 8% for the $5 price point and 6% for the $10 price point. We had two offerings at the $5 price point: $5 Merry Multiplier 10X sold out a week before Christmas, and $5 Sparkling 7s didn’t fully selling out, but it was close. $10 Christmas Countdown sold out at the beginning of December, even though we increased the print quantity from 250,000 the previous year to 300,000. This is an advent calendar-style ticket that has become very popular with our players and gift givers. This is the third year we have done this style of $10 game for the holidays.

General timing of holiday marketing:

We had a paid media campaign from Nov. 27 to Dec. 24. This included social channels (Meta and Pinterest), traditional and digital audio, and out-of-home posters. We also had a point-of-sale campaign at retail that ran from Nov. 17 to Jan. 4. This included posters, digital signage and banners displayed on BCLC owned assets.  

Post-holiday strategies to capitalize on new players who purchased or were gifted holiday games:

In January we launched several tickets at various price points – more than any other month previously. This provides a wider variety of game play and designs to continue to engage those who may be newer to instant tickets.

Major lessons learned in 2025:

The advent calendar-style ticket continues to be a favorite at the $10 price point. Overall, players continue to enjoy the wide variety of designs and game play we have during the holiday season, with two tickets at the $5 and $10 price point. Typically, players used to be drawn to more traditional colors like red, green and gold as well as traditional designs. Over the past two years, we have introduced lavender as a holiday color, as well as pastels, with success. We will continue to look for outside-the-box creative when it comes to the holiday season.

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Colorado Lottery

Colorado’s holiday lineup included seven games: two at $10 and one each at $1, $2, $3, $5 and $20. View the games in our ticket gallery.

Most successful game(s):

Our $10 National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation ticket was a standout success. We launched on Dec. 9 with a deliberately limited holiday run, followed by a seamless transition to the National Lampoon’s Vacation post-holiday pulse, supported by refreshed artwork. This approach allowed us to fully leverage a strong licensed property during peak holiday demand while extending the game’s lifecycle beyond the season. Player response was extremely positive, demand exceeded expectations, and it was our highest-selling ticket during Christmas week.

Our $10 Blowout ticket was also a top performer. It was the best-performing scratch ticket across all price points during the holiday season and became our highest-indexing $10 game of the year. Featuring prizes at $50, $100, and $250, we released it first in a holiday pulse and then in a post-holiday version. This was the second consecutive year we executed this strategy, following similar success in 2024, reinforcing a strong position in our portfolio.

Together, these two $10 tickets helped us set a new all-time weekly scratch sales record during Christmas week, reaching $16,337,371.

General timing of holiday marketing:

We launched our first wave of holiday tickets on Oct. 27, supported by a robust advertising campaign, “Give Instant Joy,” which focused on the warmth and joy of sharing scratch tickets during the holiday season. The second wave followed on Dec. 9, featuring three licensed property games and supported by a “Scratch Tickets Make Great Last-Minute Gifts” message.

Throughout the holiday season, we also ran a responsible gifting campaign, reinforcing that scratch tickets can be great gifts – but not for kids.

Did any marketing tactics really stand out this past holiday season?

Yes. Launching multiple licensed property games across a range of price points in December continues to be a very effective strategy for us. This year in particular, our Lotería and National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation games resonated strongly with players and reaffirmed the power of recognizable brands during the holiday season.

Our market basket analysis shows that players who purchase licensed property games are significantly more likely to buy at least one additional ticket in the same transaction, making these products especially valuable from both a sales and engagement standpoint.

Post-holiday strategies to capitalize on new players who purchased or were gifted holiday games:

On Jan. 5, we launched a strong, cohesive family of gemstone-themed games spanning the $1, $2, $5, $10 and $20 price points, supported by a comprehensive marketing campaign. In addition, we transitioned three holiday games into post-holiday pulses, refreshing the portfolio while maintaining momentum and familiarity for players who engaged with the brand during the holidays.

Major lessons learned in 2025:

For the second consecutive year, our $10 Blowout and $20 Frenzy holiday games performed very well, particularly because of the strategy of pulsing them into post-holiday versions. Players continue to respond positively to these differentiated value propositions, and the pulse strategy allows us to extend the life of successful games while keeping the portfolio visually fresh.

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Delaware Lottery

Delaware’s holiday lineup included five games: one each at $1, $2, $5, $10 and $20. View the games in our ticket gallery.

Most successful game(s): 

Our $1 and $2 tickets sold out on Christmas this year, which brought both advantages and challenges. We hadn't anticipated the tickets selling out within a month and a half, which resulted in a temporary shortage of our $1 games. However, given the seasonal themes of the tickets – Gift Tag Cash and Pawsome Holiday – the likelihood of these designs continuing to perform well after the holidays would have been very low. So, these tickets actually sold out at the perfect time.

General timing of holiday marketing:

We start promoting our holiday games at the beginning of November and run through December.

Did any marketing tactics really stand out this past holiday season?

From a data standpoint, we're not sure what tactics really drove sales. We promoted our holiday tickets on billboards, social, digital/streaming and broadcast radio. We also created holiday videos this year that ran on our social channels. The theme for the campaigns was all about gifting and how these tickets make great gifts. The campaigns and the ticket designs married well and got the message across in a very impactful way.

Post-holiday strategies to capitalize on new players who purchased or were gifted holiday games:

We did have an idea for a second chance promotion that would give players with non-winning tickets the chance to enter their tickets into a New Year’s Second Chance to win a cash prize. This would keep people engaged with the Lottery and drive signups to our Loyalty Program for those that don’t play regularly or received these tickets as gifts.

Major lessons learned in 2025:

In looking back on the holiday tickets, we had a good mix of fun, gift-centered creative on the tickets and marketing messaging that reinforced that sentiment. Would it have been nice to have a few thousand more $1 and $2 tickets in market? Maybe, but we'd rather have the problem of selling out of tickets than not selling enough, so we might keep the same print run as last year for next year.

We also found that giving people a reason to use these as gifts was very successful. Gift Tag Cash, shaped like a gift tag, was a no-brainer and it resonated with consumers. Our Pawsome Holiday ticket that featured Cats and Dogs was a great gift to give to pet lovers. Hundreds for the Holidays spelled out what the ticket featured and our Blowout tickets in Delaware always do very well, so having a $50 or $100 Holiday Blowout as a $10 ticket made complete sense.

Overall, we might consider changing the concept on the $20 ticket and not make it so much a money/wealth ticket, but more of a holiday theme like the other price points so it fits more into that gift giving theme. We're also thinking about trying an extended play ticket.

Keeping things simple and making sure the ticket concepts and the marketing concepts marry one another was very successful, and something we will repeat for next year.

Florida Lottery

Florida’s holiday lineup included five games: one each at $1, $2, $5, $10 and $20. View the games in our ticket gallery.

Most successful game(s): 

The full family of games saw an increase in sales compared to the same time last year, with the $20 grossing over $2 million. Holiday sales in the first 10 weeks were 6.67%, or $16.17 million, higher compared to last year.

General timing of holiday marketing:

The Holiday Cash tickets were released in market on Oct. 30 and the advertising launched on Nov. 3. TV and radio ran through Dec. 25, while digital, social and out-of-home assets remained in market through Jan 11.

Did any marketing tactics really stand out this past holiday season?

A Holiday Cash Bonus Play Promotion ran Oct. 27 to Jan. 11. Eligible tickets included non-winning Holiday Cash scratch-off tickets and Cash Pop tickets. Sales during the 11-week promotion were 5.38%, or $2.5 million, higher compared to last year’s holiday promo.

Post-holiday strategies to capitalize on new players who purchased or were gifted holiday games:

As noted, we maintained digital, social and social and out-of-home assets in-market, including at the point of purchase, through Jan. 11. By heaving-up on out-of-home support, we are able to reach shoppers past the holiday season both at the point of purchase and during post-holiday travel. We consistently see that OOH drives the highest ROI. Our research shows after buying gifts for others, consumers often turn their attention to purchasing items for themselves.

Major lessons learned in 2025:

We will continue to employ the following strategies where we have seen positive results for holiday into next FY:

• Maintain high levels of OOH support where we see the strongest ROI.

• Prioritize holiday digital content for relevancy.

• Increase connected TV support to maintain Share of Voice during higher digital traffic period.

• Planned support to align with Black Friday seasonality.

• Utilize premium sporting events to increase campaign unique reach.

• Drive favorability and capitalize on holiday spirit with combined brand and product TV weight levels.

• Promote Gift Responsibly during the month of December to build positive brand sentiment.

• Utilize seasonal targeting for relevancy and deeper engagement.

Illinois Lottery

Illinois’ holiday lineup included seven games: two at $10 and one each at $1, $2, $3, $5 and $20. View the games in our ticket gallery.

Most successful game(s):

Several games stood out, each contributing to performance across different player needs and behaviors. The $2 Gnome for the Holidays performed well with new and infrequent players, supported by its approachable price point, playful character-driven artwork, and strong gifting relevance. While lower price points continue to face industry-wide pressure, this game played an important role in acquisition and engagement, particularly through its inclusion in the Holly Jolly Second Chance promotion.

The $10 Holiday Bucks was one of the most balanced performers in the holiday portfolio, combining festive theming with a strong value proposition and meaningful prize structure. The $10 price point remains a core driver during the holiday season, performing well both as a gift and for personal play.

Our $10 Winter Blowout was a key driver in extending momentum beyond peak gifting. Blowout-style games continue to outperform non-blowout equivalents, and Winter Blowout benefited from premium positioning, strong perceived value, and appeal to core players. This strength supported +1.4% year-over-year growth in total holiday/winter sales, despite macroeconomic pressures.

Together, these games supported a diversified holiday strategy that balanced acquisition, gifting, and engagement while helping stabilize overall performance in a competitive environment.

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General timing of holiday marketing:

Holiday support begins on launch day (Oct. 7) and continues through Dec. 31, following a phased and escalating approach. Paid and owned media activate at launch to establish awareness, supported by early in-store POS. In late October, gifting-focused POS, including holiday standees and envelope holders, rolls out statewide. Linear TV and terrestrial radio run from Nov. 10 through Dec. 21, with paid media spend increasing as we approach Thanksgiving and peak gifting weeks.

While overall website traffic increased in November and December, traffic to the Holiday Instants landing page declined year-over-year. We believe this was a result of the two rolling multistate jackpots. Despite this decline, we observed a clear increase in interest and engagement on the Holiday Instants page in the days leading up to Christmas, indicating high-intent seasonal behavior. Based on this insight, next year we plan to prioritize the visibility of the holiday instants content on the homepage, starting in mid-December, to better capture late-season demand.

Did any marketing tactics really stand out this past holiday season?

Gifting-led messaging and POS were highly effective. Tracking research indicates that gifting messages and POS likely contributed to the +6% year-over-year growth in gift-only purchases. A key execution was a custom holiday standee featuring die-cuts, Holly Jolly Second Chance call-outs, and built-in holiday envelope holders placed near vending machines and other high-traffic areas.

Holly Jolly Second Chance promotion. Despite severe weather and lower overall holiday ticket sales, entries were nearly flat, which was helped by the addition of the $2 Monopoly Second Chance offer targeted to new and infrequent players. The promotion also delivered strong digital and CRM results. CRM performance was particularly strong among anonymous, opt-in players. Holiday Instant push notifications to this audience exceeded click goals by 12,000 clicks, demonstrating strong interest from non-registered players during the holiday period and reinforcing the value of holiday content as an acquisition and engagement tool.

Social Media Performance. Social engagement was led by an October Facebook-only holiday instants giveaway, which was the top-performing piece of holiday content. It generated an 11% engagement rate and 1,300 engagements, outperforming all other holiday posts and confirming the effectiveness of early-season social activations.

Post-holiday strategies to capitalize on new players who purchased or were gifted holiday games:

Our post-holiday strategy focuses on retention, education, and trade-up. Winter and licensed properties help convert gift recipients into repeat purchasers, and second-chance promotions and CRM follow-ups help re-engage holiday participants and introduce them to ongoing promotions. After Christmas, we saw that many players navigated from the holiday instants page to the unclaimed tickets page. As a result, next season we plan to adjust the holiday instants page content after Christmas to better align with this behavior by incorporating links and information on “Unclaimed Tickets” and “When You Win.” All these strategies help extend the holiday experience beyond gifting and support longer-term engagement.

Major lessons learned in 2025:

Gifting-focused POS and messaging assisting 6% year-over-year growth in gift purchases. Enhanced Crossword innovation delivered 15% to 18% growth, and introducing a new $30 game helped offset the absence of a new $50 launch year-over-year. Vending continued to outperform counter sales (+1.5% vs. -4.9%). CRM and social activations exceeded engagement benchmarks, particularly among non-registered players.

Among the challenges: Severe winter weather and macroeconomic pressure reduced overall foot traffic, and entry-level price points continued to face industry-wide headwinds.

Our key learnings for next season include making gifting effortless at the point of purchase; continuing to lean into premium printing effects and innovations; expanding second-chance offerings throughout the holiday period; optimizing digital channels during peak intent periods (mid-to-late December and post-Christmas); and aligning website content with real user behavior to extend engagement beyond the holiday moment. These insights are already shaping future holiday planning to further strengthen resilience, relevance and performance.

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Kansas Lottery

Kansas’ holiday lineup included five games: one each at $1, $2, $5, $10 and $20. View the games in our ticket gallery.

Most successful game(s):

The $5 Full of 500s was our most successful holiday ticket. It hit an ideal price point, making it an easy and attractive option for gifting to family and friends. Additionally, the top prize could be paid out at retail, providing players with immediate gratification, which further contributed to its popularity.

General timing of holiday marketing:

Our holiday campaign is intentionally phased to build momentum and sustain engagement throughout the season. We begin in early September with the launch of our $20 holiday scratch ticket in coordination with the Holiday Millionaire Raffle. This early, premium-price launch allows us to capture highly engaged players first while leveraging the added value of second-chance drawing entries to drive incremental play and cross-promotion between products.

In October, we roll out the $10, $5, $2 and $1 price points to align with the start of traditional holiday shopping behavior. This staggered approach expands accessibility, supports gifting occasions at multiple budget levels, and ensures strong retail visibility during peak seasonal traffic. By sequencing launches in this manner, we maximize both early-season enthusiasm and late-season impulse purchases, optimizing overall holiday sales performance.

Did any marketing tactics really stand out this past holiday season?

The 2025 holiday season was particularly impactful for the Kansas Lottery due to the expansion of our product portfolio. With the launch of iLottery in February 2025 and the addition of Fast Play in June 2024, we were able to extend our holiday strategy beyond traditional scratch tickets for the first time. This multi-channel approach allowed us to introduce holiday-themed games across retail scratch, Fast Play, and digital iLottery platforms simultaneously. By doing so, we met players wherever they preferred to engage – in-store or online – and created a more cohesive and immersive seasonal experience.

Post-holiday strategies to capitalize on new players who purchased or were gifted holiday games: 

We intentionally leverage a post-holiday second-chance strategy to retain and re-engage players who enter the market during the holiday season. All holiday scratch tickets are eligible for a second-chance promotion, offering prizes ranging from $1,000 to $20,000. This approach serves multiple strategic objectives. First, it encourages gift recipients and first-time players to engage beyond the initial scratch experience by creating a reason to register and enter their tickets. Second, it extends the lifecycle of holiday products into the post-holiday period, helping to smooth the typical January sales dip. Finally, it provides us with an opportunity to capture player data and transition new participants into ongoing promotional communications and future product launches. By positioning second-chance drawings as a continuation of the holiday excitement, we’re able to convert seasonal or gift-driven play into sustained engagement.

Major lessons learned in 2025:

What worked exceptionally well was the “loaded” game. Players clearly gravitated toward products that offered perceived value and higher win frequency. Additionally, games with top prizes that could be paid at retail performed strongly, as immediate payout enhances excitement and convenience. Ease of gifting also proved critical; tickets at accessible price points with strong visual appeal continued to resonate with holiday shoppers.

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Loto-Québec

Loto-Québec’s holiday lineup included seven games: two at $5 and one each at $2, $3, $10, $15 and $25. View the games in our ticket gallery.

Most successful game(s):

The Célébration $25 ticket continues to be our most successful holiday product, maintaining the record-level sales achieved last year. It remains the strongest contributor to total holiday sales and revenues, reinforcing its role as the cornerstone of our holiday collection. The ticket’s premium price point, strong brand recognition, and widespread distribution ensure a significant impact on overall performance.

General timing of holiday marketing:

Our holiday games advertising and marketing campaigns typically begin in early November, with POS materials in-store as of Nov. 4. Other elements include radio advertising, web banner campaign (La Presse+), Advent Calendar integration on Salut Bonjour (TV morning show), social media and influencer activations, and advertising on our web platforms and consumer-facing displays

Did any marketing tactics really stand out this past holiday season?

An online-exclusive November promotion gave players a chance to win $25,000, with one entry earned for every dollar spent on eligible online scratch tickets; it helped drive a 32% increase in sales compared to November 2024. The strongest gains were generated by Bingo, 7 Chanceux and $2 Mots cachés.

Post-holiday strategies to capitalize on new players who purchased or were gifted holiday games: 

Holiday tickets are more frequently given as gifts, which helps normalize lottery play among new players who may be experiencing our products for the first time. This approach continues throughout the year with targeted launches of thematic products inspired by popular social media trends. Developed in collaboration with the advertising and sales teams, these products are designed to connect with younger adult audiences, including zillennials, through relevant themes, accessible price points, fun game mechanics, and innovative in-market activations.

Major lessons learned in 2025:

Our Cadeau surprise scratch ticket is a well-established classic that stands out by offering merchandise prizes exclusively. Holiday 2025 confirmed players’ strong appeal for prizes sourced from local suppliers. We plan to highlight this aspect even more next season. The season also reinforced that Calendrier de l’avent is a well-established holiday classic with consistent performance, making it a clear candidate to return in the next holiday lineup.

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Louisiana Lottery

Louisiana’s holiday lineup included five games: two at $2 and one each at $1, $3 and $5. View the games in our ticket gallery.

Most successful game(s):

Our strongest results this year came from pairing a cohesive holiday scratch-off family with seasonal pulse concepts that carried across multiple holidays and formats.

We opened with Halloween-themed products like the $2 Midnight Money Scratch-off, followed by Merry Money for Christmas and Masquerade Money for Mardi Gras. Keeping the “Money” title and core look consistent across each season allowed us to refresh the artwork while maintaining recognition at retail and extending the life of the concept well beyond a single holiday. This game is indexing at 169.

For Christmas, we also launched a dedicated Home for the Holidays family of scratch-offs at the $1, $2, and $5 price points, featuring coordinated pine garland artwork and top prizes up to $100,000. This family indexed at 121, 128, and 106, respectively.

We supported the games with Fast Play companions such as Stocking Stuffers and Cash Is King, which is Mardi Gras themed, giving players additional ways to participate while reinforcing holiday visibility at retail. Our Bingo scratch-off pulse followed a similar pattern, transitioning from Naughty or Nice Bingo during Christmas into Royal Bingo for Mardi Gras, allowing that playstyle to carry cleanly into the next season. Our Bingo pulse is indexing at 120.

Together, the family-plus-pulse structure helped us maintain continuity, offer multiple price points and playstyles, and stretch product lifecycles across the entire season.

General timing of holiday marketing:

For the Louisiana Lottery, “holiday” isn’t a short seasonal window. It’s an extended selling period that begins with Halloween and carries through Christmas and into Mardi Gras. That longer calendar allows us to keep themed products on shelves for months rather than weeks, creating steady momentum rather than a single December spike.

Therefore, we treat the season as a progression – fall into winter and straight into Carnival – with products that feel timely and locally relevant at each stage. Planning begins in late summer, with Halloween products entering the market as early as August. Broader support ramps up in October and runs straight through Thanksgiving and Christmas before transitioning seamlessly into Mardi Gras, which in Louisiana can extend through February or even March.

Our media mix combines out-of-home, retail, television, and advanced TV placements to maximize both visibility and reach. Billboards, in-store signage, and our PAD monitor system strengthen point-of-sale presence, while radio and social promotions help generate conversation and engagement.

Did any marketing tactics really stand out this past holiday season?

Pairing scratch-offs and Fast Play under consistent seasonal themes strengthened shelf presence and gave players options across price points and formats. Seasonal artwork tied to local traditions – Halloween fun, holiday gifting, and Mardi Gras celebration – consistently attracted incremental players. We also supported launches with radio call-ins and social media promotions to create additional excitement around holiday products.

Post-holiday strategies to capitalize on new players who purchased or were gifted holiday games:

As holiday games wind down, we focus on retaining new and gift-driven players by rolling directly into an active spring lineup anchored by second-chance promotions and licensed brands. This year, that includes second-chance events tied to our New Orleans Saints strategic alignment, our 35th anniversary celebration featuring nostalgic and throwback games, along with Louisiana-specific seasonal favorites like crawfish-themed tickets and Fast Play products. The goal is to keep momentum high and ensure players who first engaged through holiday products always see something new and relevant next.

Major lessons learned in 2025:

Pulse continues to be one of our most effective seasonal tools, helping us extend game lifecycles and transition smoothly between holidays. We’re also refining how we structure families – maintaining cohesive branding while ensuring each game has enough visual distinction to stand out at retail.

Stretching the season from Halloween through Mardi Gras – rather than concentrating solely on December – has proven to be the most effective way to drive sustained holiday sales.

Maryland Lottery

Maryland’s holiday lineup included six games: one each at $1, $2, $3, $5, $10 and $20. View the games in our ticket gallery.

Most successful game(s):

The $3 game Candy Cane Cash outperformed our expectations. We had launched $3 Peppermint Payout eight times and it performed exceptionally well, until it didn’t. Candy Cane Cash had a similar playstyle, but the shape of the play area was different. We were eager to measure the ticket’s performance against Peppermint Payout, and it exceeded the 13-week validation numbers from FY25 and FY24.

General timing of holiday marketing:

As in previous years, instant tickets launch in mid-October; advertising begins one week later and is focused on the second-chance promotion. That switches to a gift-giving message after Thanksgiving. We also launched a Holiday Raffle game this year which ran concurrently.

Did any marketing tactics really stand out this past holiday season?

This was a tough holiday season overall. We had a crowded market with holiday-themed scratch-offs and Fast Play games, the Holiday Raffle, plus promotions. The second-chance promotion brought back the Warehouse Dash, which is a player-favorite prize that we had not offered for the past few years. Players asked when it was coming back, so we were glad to offer it again. Total entries for FY26 were down compared to the second-chance promotion offered in FY25, but that is a function of sales also being down. Unique second-chance entrants were up by about 3,500 year-over-year and were comparable to a high-water mark seen in FY19.

For the first time, we were able to use three influencers whose followers lined up well with our behavioral targets (last minute shoppers, DIYers, interest in crafting). Each produced a short video displaying how they would include Maryland Lottery holiday scratch-offs into their holiday gift giving.

Post-holiday strategies to capitalize on new players who purchased or were gifted holiday games:

The last second-chance drawing deadline was Jan. 12. We intentionally stretch the contest to extend past Christmas/New Year’s so anyone who receives our holiday tickets as gifts has time to enter them into the last drawing. Additionally, we launched our Multiplier family of games and second-chance promotion on Jan. 9. Multiplier actually began with a $30 ticket that launched the first week of December, and then five other Multiplier tickets priced from $1 to $20 and the full launch of the second-chance promotion followed right after the holidays to appeal to players of nearly every price point. Additionally, we launched a new high price point second-chance promotion on Feb. 9, with $30 and $50 scratch-offs eligible for entry. Every month we will select four winners to each receive $3,500 cash + one book of $20 Gifts of Green.

Major lessons learned in 2025:

We were quite pleased with our influencer campaign, which performed well above the targeted goal with 6.4 million total impressions. Each video that the influencers posted was above the industry benchmark for Viewer Engagement Rate. We will definitely use this tactic in future efforts.

In FY25, we launched a $1 holiday game in October and soft launched another $1 holiday game in November. That strategy really seemed to get us incremental sales without cannibalizing other low price points or other product lines, and we’ll consider utilizing it again next year.

Massachusetts Lottery

Massachusetts’ holiday lineup included six games: two at $5 and one each at $1, $2, $10 and $20. View the games in our ticket gallery.

Most successful game(s):

Our most successful holiday ticket has been the $10 Merry Mint Blowout. Since we introduced the Blowout concept back in 2018, it’s become a fan favorite. Players love the simplicity of it – every win is either $50, $100 or $500. It’s one of those games we know we can count on for strong demand, great energy at retail, and consistent performance as a key part of our holiday lineup.

General timing of holiday marketing:

The Mass Lottery’s holiday campaign typically launches in mid-October with a phased approach, beginning with the launch of our holiday instant tickets, and builds in scope as the holidays draws closer.

Our three-tiered wave approach starts with a focus on paid social media and ads on YouTube, connected TV and high-impact displays which run through the end of December. In November, we launch radio and streaming audio ad spots as well as a sponsorship of Boston’s 24/7 holiday music radio station. To complete our phased advertising campaign, we included television and out-of-home ads from late November through the end of December. In addition to paid media, we prioritize a strong in-store presence throughout the entire campaign. Retail visibility and point-of-sale support are critical drivers of holiday ticket sales.

Did any marketing tactics really stand out this past holiday season?

We utilize a promotional initiative to appeal to our players and agents, and to create additional foot traffic to our regional offices. Our Scan to Enter – Winter Winnings promotion ran from our holiday launch on Oct. 14, 2025, through Feb. 2, 2026, where players had a chance to win one of 985 cash prizes ranging from $100 to $10,000. This promotion also had a corresponding Early Bird promotion, which ran from Oct. 14 to Nov. 17, which included an additional fifty $500 prizes. Players with a verified Mass Lottery Player Account were required to enter three of the same non-winning tickets from the holiday launch, as well as an additional ticket from our previous holiday launch that was still in the market, to receive an entry into the promotion. The Early Bird promotion alone had 482,280 entries.

To drive players to our regional offices, we ran a concurrent Winter Winnings Promo Pack promotion at each location, where players were able to buy pre-assembled $30 and $50 instant ticket packs with all tickets in each pack being eligible for the Scan to Enter promotion. As an extra incentive, players were given either one (with a $30 purchase) or two (with a $50 purchase) The State of Winning promotional ticket(s). These promo tickets are all winners, with an opportunity to win between $1 and $100.

In conjunction with this Scan to Enter promotion, we also incentivized our retailers with a drawing for $500 and $100 prizes credited to their accounts. Retailers earned an entry into the drawing for each book of applicable tickets from the promotion that they activated during the overall promotion timeline. During this period, a total of 215,315 books were activated and 6,130 agents earned entries into the drawing.

Post-holiday strategies to capitalize on new players who purchased or were gifted holiday games:

Right after the holidays, we focus on maintaining product momentum with a strong January launch, featuring six games across the $1, $2, $5 $10, and $30 price points. One highlight was our $30 $10,000,000 Cashword, the first time we’ve launched an extended play game at this price point, with a brand-new 11x4 ticket size. The game included a Scratch My Back feature with an extra puzzle on the back of the ticket, plus five second chance drawings.

To make the post-holiday shift feel seamless, we leaned into our new tagline, Start the Year with a Win, helping bridge that transition from holiday gifting to starting the year with some winning excitement.

Major lessons learned in 2025:

Our holiday campaign reinforced the importance of being disciplined with print quantities and prize structures. Staying strategic with quantities and prize mixes in our holiday launch allows us to drive strong seasonal sales while keeping the portfolio balanced and moving efficiently into the new year.

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