The Maine Lottery is celebrating five decades with new initiatives designed to keep moving forward.
By Patricia McQueen
Published July 24, 2024

Maine is known for a lot of great things, yet there’s nothing greater than shattering a record to celebrate a 50th anniversary! When the books closed on the Maine Lottery’s year ending June 30, 2024, almost 50 years to the day after the very first numbers were drawn on June 27, 1974, the results were impressive indeed! Total sales of almost $430 million were up nearly 5%, but more importantly, transfers to state funds reached $90 million, a whopping 23% increase over the previous year. The five billion-dollar jackpots during the year certainly helped, because draw games contribute more to the bottom line than do instant games, but there was plenty of other good news across all product lines.
“Things are going well,” says Mickey Boardman, Director of Lottery Operations for the Maine Bureau of Alcoholic Beverages & Lottery, in a classic understatement. He noted that in the Lottery’s very first year, it actually lost money. It has certainly come a long way since then!
The Lottery has been on a roll over the last decade, setting new records for transfers for 10 consecutive years. Total sales topped $400 million for the first time in FY23 and jumped again in FY24, reaching almost $430 million. FY23 was marked by Maine’s first-ever Mega Millions jackpot win – a big one, at $1.348 billion, won on January 13, 2023.

Since 1974, the Maine Lottery has delivered nearly $1.8 billion to the state’s General Fund, which receives the lion’s share of revenues to support many different programs, including education, conservation, emergency services, health care and so much more. Since 1996, revenues from selected instant tickets raise money for the Maine Outdoor Heritage Fund; more on that later.
The years of record profits have been delivered with an eye on responsible gambling. The Lottery works closely with the Maine Responsible Gambling Committee, which also includes members of the state CDC, Maine Gambling Control Board, the casino industry and substance use organizations. The group holds quarterly meetings to discuss what each organization is doing and collaborates on projects to promote responsible play. Each year there is a conference during Problem Gambling Awareness Month, and Boardman typically gives a presentation at that conference, going into details about the Maine Lottery’s activities and the importance of not only promoting responsibility but also providing resources to those in need.
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Game Success
A number of things came together to produce Maine’s big year in FY24. The first full year of a $30 instant game was one, and big jackpots also contributed – from Powerball and Mega Millions to Tri-State Megabucks. The latter game was the very first multi-state lottery game in America when it launched jointly with New Hampshire and Vermont in 1985. In FY24, Tri-State Megabucks sales were up 64%, in part due to the addition of a third weekly drawing and a jackpot that nearly broke a record. Also under the Tri-State banner are the daily games, Fast Play, and the Gimme 5 cash lotto, drawn five days per week.
There are also instant games under the umbrella of the Tri-State Lotto Commission. These take advantage of economies of scale to offer lucrative second-chance events that stay local in New England. For example, the $10 Ultimate Dash features a warehouse dash event scheduled for September in Maine. Based on the number of tickets each of the three lotteries printed, Maine and New Hampshire will each be represented by two Dash participants, with one from Vermont. Because the event is local, the Lottery is considering inviting members of the public to watch in person. “We could get even more excitement, and the media would love it,” says Boardman.
To help celebrate the golden anniversary, there’s a family of instant games, Maine Lottery 50th Anniversary!, at the $1, $2 and $5 price points. The $1 game is loaded with $50 top prizes, the $2 game has a top prize of $10,000, and the $5 game has a top prize of $100,000. There is also a 50th Anniversary Bash! Fast Play game at $10, loaded with $50 and $500 prizes.

Maine’s first new draw game in years was launched on June 2, as Cash POP made its debut with five drawings daily (by statute, the maximum number of daily drawings allowed in any game). It replaced the long-running World Poker Tour, a hybrid game with an instant-win component combined with a daily drawing. That game had declined considerably in recent years, results Boardman links to the launch of Fast Play in FY18. People would play World Poker Tour for the instant-win component and had less interest in the drawing portion. When Fast Play came in as an instant-win draw alternative, players migrated to that game.
The biggest challenge in implementing Cash POP was that the game is an IGT product, and Maine’s vendor partner is Scientific Games. IGT licensed the game, but Scientific Games had to do the programming. Fortunately for Maine, the same situation was happening at the Maryland Lottery, a bigger organization that was able to get through the programming, testing and implementation quicker than Maine. “We learned from Maryland’s experience and it really helped our implementation go extremely well.”
On the surface, Cash POP is simple – players only need to match one number. That said, there are options that make it more complicated for players unfamiliar with the play style. Boardman thinks players are beginning to understand – sales are increasing week by week. The game is also outperforming the old World Poker Tour by a very large margin. “Cash POP was a good option to get us to the maximum number of draws allowed by law, and it’s a very unique game unlike anything else in our portfolio. We’re very happy with it so far.”
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Heritage Fund Redux
As noted earlier, since 1996 the Lottery has also been tasked to raise revenue for the Maine Outdoor Heritage Fund, helping fund critical conservation and wildlife projects throughout the state. Historically, revenues came from the proceeds of certain $1 instant game tickets, but two years ago the Lottery implemented changes to reverse a declining trend in Heritage game sales. Key among them were a change in the price point from $1 to $3 and updating the games’ look and play styles to be more in line with the Lottery’s whole scratch portfolio.
The dedicated games had always featured animal themes and other visuals that were outdoor related – the Heritage Fund’s management was focused on their brand, and wanted it clear that these tickets were related to the Heritage Fund. Yet sales were sagging and important programs were feeling the pinch.
Lottery officials correctly suspected the reason – some players view these games as “charity-type” games, perhaps having fewer winning tickets than “regular” lottery games. Without even looking at the ticket details, the animal visuals (think bears and moose) were, to these players, a dead giveaway that the Heritage Fund (the “charity”) was getting a disproportionate share of revenue. “Of course that is not true, but that was their perception,” says Boardman. So, instead of being attracted to these games, some players shied away from them.
The Lottery was given the green light to make changes, and the results have been remarkable. The Outdoor Heritage Fund logo is still on each ticket, but it’s small enough that players are no longer trying to avoid these games. Sales have grown from around $2 million annually to $3.6 million in FY22, $5.1 million in FY23, and $5.7 million in the year just ended. Profits to the Heritage Fund surpassed $1 million in FY23 for the first time in 20 years, and reached $1.4 million in FY24. That’s a big improvement compared to barely $500,000 in profits some recent years. “They are very happy with the changes we implemented,” notes Boardman.
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Rewarding Loyalty
As a small lottery, Maine tries to optimize its use of advertising dollars. Marketing Manager Lisa Rodrique, a long-time employee, knows how to pick and choose to make the most of available resources. It helps that she’s been working with the same agency for 10 years, and together they always look for new things. She’s excited about the 50th anniversary campaign, which features a commercial that is totally different than anything they’ve done before.
"As is common with most anniversary celebrations, we wanted to look back at how things have changed over the years." In previous anniversary commercials, the focus was on how the games have changed from $1 instant tickets to billion-dollar jackpots. Rather than go that route, this time the commercials show how winning looks and how that look has changed over time. People can recognize the decades, with iconic items like leisure suits, ThighMasters and Walkmans, along with phrases like “out of sight” and “I totally won.” "It was fun and relatable to everyone in one way or another."
The marketing efforts revolve heavily around the Lottery’s reward program, cleverly titled to take advantage of the state’s abbreviation: RewardME. There are currently more than 150,000 members, and they have a lot of chances to add value to their play. There are regular second-chance promotions for non-winning tickets, and the program also offers players opportunities to redeem points for merchandise or for drawings for a variety of prizes.
“One of our successful campaigns was about people who always want ‘more,’” explains Rodrigue. If you have a non-winning instant ticket, you can still get more by going to the RewardMe site, enter that ticket for a promotion or use your points for merchandise or prize entries. The campaign focused on “getting more” by showing people getting an absurd amount of "more." Twenty scoops of ice cream on a cone, a mountain of cheese on their pasta and a big favorite, a whole bunch of puppies!
An important current goal is to build awareness and use of the Maine Lottery app. It offers robust options including ticket checking and creating mobile playslips, and offers access to all RewardMe features. Yet only about 60% of players entering tickets into the loyalty program are using the app. “It really should be higher than that,” says Boardman, so there’s a real opportunity to get better player engagement through the app. “That will help us reach more of the younger generation who are comfortable with technology,” adds Rodrigue.
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Other Initiatives
Two other Maine Lottery initiatives have proven popular with players. The addition of card readers to the Lottery’s self-service machines has had a significant impact over the past year, with debit card purchasers increasing their basket size. That experience, combined with general retail trends towards self-service, gives the Lottery reason to continue increasing self-service options going forward.
Presently, self-service units are located primarily in grocery stores, although they are also in some convenience stores, especially those at gas stations, and a few are in the service areas along the Maine Turnpike. A vending program with Circle K has been very successful, providing a significant increase in sales in those stores.
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Another popular initiative involves the payment of prizes via wire transfers to debit cards. About three years ago, the Lottery started a program with the payments company Elavon, allowing prizes up to $5,000 to be paid instantly once the paperwork was filed. No more waiting for a printed check that has to be deposited or cashed. The Lottery absorbs the transaction fees so it doesn’t cost the player anything.
“Our players love it, because they’re getting the money into their account immediately, even before they’re out of our office,” says Boardman. “They don’t have to do anything or risk losing a paper check.”
He hopes to renegotiate the agreement with Elavon to have a fee structure on a per-transaction basis, rather than as a percentage of the prize amount. The current $5,000 limit is due to the potential fees on higher prizes. Regardless of the amount, it’s a simple wire transfer, so Boardman thinks it can be reworked to be a fee per transaction. “It’s the same transaction whether the amount is $100 or $10,000.”

Current games:
Instant tickets: Approximately 33 new games launched annually; $1, $2, $3, $5, $10, $20, $25 and $30.
Terminal games: Tri-State Megabucks, Tri-State Gimme 5, Tri-State Pick 3/Pick 4, Powerball, Mega Millions, Lucky for Life, Lotto America, Fast Play, Cash POP
Vital statistics:
Number of employees: 24 full-time
Number of licensed retailers: 1,250
Self-service equipment: 250 full-service vending
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Future Growth
There’s no doubt that FY24 will be a tough act to follow, with that 23% increase in revenue to the state; Boardman would be quite surprised if another record is set during the current year. After all, there are limitations in what the Lottery can do – with the five drawings per day limit per game, that precludes something like Keno. He is hopeful for the eventual approval of iLottery; after all, the state has already authorized tribal-operated mobile sports betting. Education will be the key, to make sure legislators and other stakeholders fully understand what iLottery is, how it works, and how responsible gambling measures are incorporated into the platforms.
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In the meantime, he is still optimistic even if he doesn’t expect another record year. He’s encouraged by efforts by the multi-state game groups and their ability to adjust to market changes. “We ask ourselves every day what else we can offer besides giant jackpots? It’s a tough question, but not one without answers.” Boardman is currently the lead director of the Lucky for Life group, which is in ongoing discussions with the Cash4Life group to potentially come together for something bigger and better. “I think we have a great opportunity with that.”
And then there are multi-jurisdictional progressive Fast Play games, plus the continuing evolution in instant games as prize structures are diversified to meet different player wants and needs.
“Lottery is no different than other products. Different people want different things, so we try to provide them with plenty to choose from so they can find what they are looking for.”
