Making the Most of Opportunities in Oklahoma

Now celebrating 20 years, the Oklahoma Lottery’s historic roller-coaster ride is a lesson for the industry in resilience and creativity.

By Patricia McQueen

Published November 18, 2025

Oklahoma voters approved a state lottery in 2004, the same year the state legislature passed the State-Tribal Gaming Act that paved the way for full-fledged tribal casinos throughout Oklahoma. It was into this rapidly-developing casino market that the Oklahoma Lottery began ticket sales in October 2005. It hasn’t always been easy, but the Lottery has raised more than $1.4 billion for education since its inception.

The biggest obstacle for the first dozen years was a crippling 35% profit mandate, with players taking note; after all, they had plenty of local gaming options at the tribal casinos. After a smashing first partial year with $125 million in instant ticket sales, those revenues started dropping. They rebounded briefly, then bottomed out at just under $68 million in FY17 after years of decline. That $68 million was a drop of 34% from FY11, when instant ticket sales were $103 million. In sharp contrast, aggregate instant ticket sales across other American lotteries grew by more than 43% during the same time frame. Rising price points contributed significantly to that growth, but Oklahoma could go no higher than $5 games in order to meet its mandate.                             

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The Lottery finally got legislative relief in 2017, and did something unprecedented in response – replacing the entire stock of 16 instant games with new ones in a one-week time frame in July 2017, across 1,900 retailers. “I kept saying we’re not selling rotten apples and fresh apples all in the same batch,” recalls Executive Director Jay Finks, who was the Lottery’s Director of Marketing and Administration at the time. “Our players just didn’t like our games.”

That changed quickly. Instant game sales shot to $127.6 million in FY18, an almost 88% increase in just one year. They kept growing, reaching $263 million by FY22, thanks to a big boost from COVID along the way. “It was almost unfathomable.” Since then, instant sales have perhaps normalized a little, reporting in at $213 million in FY25, a year when everyone was impacted by external factors such as inflation.

Revenues to education also bottomed out in FY17, at $53 million. They grew to almost $87.7 million in FY24, the highest in the Lottery’s history.

The biggest challenge now is how to move forward. Finks is always hopeful that policymakers will eventually approve iLottery, but in the meantime, other strategies are being implemented. These include improvements in games, attention to detail in the retail environment, digital opportunities for players, and focused and modern marketing initiatives.

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Instant Products at the Forefront

Once the law changed in 2017 and the new instant games were launched, Oklahoma proceeded with a rapid introduction of higher price points; there was no time to follow the industry standard of giving each new price point plenty of time to establish itself in the market.

“We were so late in the game, our players didn’t have the right level of prizing, and we had too many free ticket prizes,” says Finks. Those free prizes were eliminated and a $10 game was added as part of the 16-game relaunch. In fairly short order came $20 and $30 games, and the state’s first $50 game was introduced in 2022. Then came the $100 Deluxe Gold in early 2023; it was just the second American lottery, after Texas, to introduce a game at that price point.

“We saw the industry thriving on higher price points, so we decided to get the games out there and let the players decide.” They responded with enthusiasm. “We’ve been able to grow our audience, and our sales, with better games.”

Deluxe Gold was an immediate success, and while over time weekly sales of the $100 game were small, they were “unbelievably consistent.” There was clearly a small segment of the player base that enjoys going for the big top prize of $5 million. The game recently sold out, and a new $100 game, $5 Million Jackpot, is launching in early December. Finks noted that these games aren’t sold at every retail location – they are strategically placed where there is an audience for the price point, such as high-volume retailers. He also marvels that there was no significant cannibalization of other price points with Deluxe Gold.

He thinks there’s a market for an even higher price point, but he’s not yet sure what that looks like. He’s also exploring the potential of a multi-state instant game, perhaps a regional game, that would share a prize structure with one print run. Beyond even that, perhaps a national instant game is possible. In fact, there are a lot of possibilities – and a lot of challenges. Yet Finks is confident that the industry will be continue to be forward-thinking.

In the meantime, new and innovative games continue to lead the way. For example, the $5 State of Play instant game, launched last spring, was built to celebrate Oklahoma’s landscapes and the many ways people enjoy the outdoors. It includes four distinct ticket designs, each highlighting a different scenic location in the state. “To make each design even more meaningful, we added small visual cues that hinted at the types of activities Oklahomans enjoy in those places, like a tiny hiker on the mesa or a ski boat skimming across the lake,” explains Director of Marketing and Product Development Abby Morgan. The word “Play” in the name reinforced both the spirit of recreation across the state and the fun of lottery play. “This campaign not only performed well but also helped spotlight Oklahoma tourism and the beauty found in every corner of the state.”

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Draw Game Developments

On the draw side, Oklahoma’s portfolio is dominated by multi-state games, with Powerball, Mega Millions, Lucky for Life and Lotto America. Combined, those four games typically account for about a third of the Lottery’s sales, depending on jackpot levels.

Until Fast Play launched in October 2022, the only in-state draw games were Pick 3 and Cash 5. Finks wants to take those two games from one daily drawing to multiple drawings per day, as many other lotteries have done over the years. It would freshen the long-standing games and drive incremental revenue; last year, they accounted for only 3% of sales. He’s also looking at the potential of a one-digit draw game.

There is one challenge to reaching these goals, however, and that’s all the work currently being done on the multi-state games, tying up the resources needed to make changes on the draw side of the portfolio. First there was the change to Mega Millions last April, moving to a $5 price point. Next will be another $5 game, Millionaire for Life, launching in February. What Finks is really excited about is Powerball Xs and Os, an NFL-branded game that launches next September, also at the $5 price point. He’s been a driving force behind that partnership. “We are excited to attach our lottery brand to a powerful brand like the NFL.” He hopes that having these three games at $5, all with different propositions, will help normalize the price point for draw games.

It’s worth noting that Oklahoma adopted the Texas Lottery development of QUICKTICKET, which placed streamlined Powerball and Mega Millions tickets in Dollar General stores. It was a “fun” way to add 500 stores to the Lottery retailer base without a major investment. Sales were poor, however, and the product was pulled from the market last April when the Mega Millions game changed and those tickets would have needed replacing. “I still think QUICKTICKET has a place in the industry, but there just wasn’t the retailer commitment we needed in those stores,” notes Finks. “I also think there are some other interesting things worth exploring in the self-service and self-checkout areas of retail stores, but there has to be buy-in across the board.”

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Moving Forward on Digital

While there’s always hope for iLottery, the Oklahoma team is focusing on other important digital initiatives, both direct to customers and at retail. Some are more obvious, like digital signage and displays at retail – but they can be expensive to implement. One strategy, though, not only encourages players to move to digital interactions with the Lottery via the mobile app, it also saves a considerable amount of time and effort, and even money.

It’s simple – just remove paper playslips from stores. For nearly three years, these have been a thing of the past in Oklahoma. “I’m really surprised that more lotteries haven’t followed suit,” says Finks. Because the national games have changed or are changing soon, it’s a no-brainer to just discontinue this remnant of the past. Especially when only 15%, or even less, of total plays have numbers selected by players.

When Oklahoma originally removed playslips from retail locations, there were only a few complaints. Players learned, and adapted. Removing playslips was also a way to encourage more players to embrace the digital age. If they want to create a playslip, they can do so on the Lottery’s mobile app. That, in turn, exposes more players to the Oklahoma Lottery brand. And by downloading the app for that purpose, they also have easy access to more features and promotions.

The Lottery also removed the plastic play stations from retail stores in another nod to digital. “Those did a great job, but at some point you have to think hard about them,” says Finks. They typically house a poster or other information – which has to be designed, printed, and distributed by the sales team. It may take three or four weeks to get something in the stores. “If it’s a time-sensitive promotion, something gets missed.”

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With digital equipment, ads and promos can be changed instantly. Some of the equipment is already in place – on advertising screens at the terminals and on Scientific Games’ SciQ units in select Oklahoma locations. But there’s also potential for digital screens hung from the ceiling or placed elsewhere in the store. “We can change the message on those screens in realtime, and you can’t do anything like that with paper, or a cooler cling, or the old kind of traditional point of sale. It’s customization that provides a bigger picture.”

He’s explored the idea of digital play stations, which can be cost prohibitive. Some of the early models are just a more expensive play station – offering the same places for playslips and other items with a digital advertising screen added. But if they include a ticket checker and interactive tools for players, especially how-to-play tutorials, “they’ll probably start to be a little more viable.”

Still, Finks would rather invest in options that not only provide a digital experience, but also provide more active engagement that includes actual ticket purchases. Historically the lottery industry first embraced vending machines for grocery environments, where they have played an important role. Yet in Oklahoma, “the grocery market is pretty light, and dominated by Walmart and Target,” where self-service hasn’t been as dominant. Several years ago, the Lottery began placing the machines in high-volume convenience stores. “We were seeing incredible results, and this was before COVID. Then we saw an explosion of self-service during COVID. Today, all of our top chain retailers have our self-service units. It’s an integral part of the mix.”

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Marketing Brings It All Together

Building a more attractive game portfolio set the stage, but a lottery also needs effective marketing programs that help spread awareness of those products. The Oklahoma Lottery has really upped its game in that regard. “Over the past few years, our marketing strategy has evolved into a highly digital, data-driven ecosystem designed to engage players wherever they are,” explains Morgan.

There is heavy reliance on the mobile app and Players Club platform, which serve as central hubs for scanning tickets, earning loyalty points, and entering promotions – driving millions of interactions every year. Social media has become one of the Lottery’s strongest channels, with short-form video, AI-enhanced creative, and real-time trend adaptation helping reach younger audiences and growing overall engagement at record levels.

This year the Lottery team is leaning heavily into emerging creative tools like AI animation, 3D design, and custom video production to elevate the look and feel of the brand without increasing costs. “These investments, combined with a more agile social media approach, have led to strong engagement gains and more efficient campaigns, helping us connect with players in fresh and meaningful ways.”

Engagement is also a goal with promotions that include more interactive and experiential campaigns – everything from “Choose Your Own Adventure” prize packages to high-energy “Mystery Prize” events, as well as seasonal giveaway series like the “Let Us Cover Christmas.” In-store digital signage and displays, along with retailer partnerships, still play a vital supporting role, ensuring messages stay consistent from the digital space to the point of purchase.

Morgan notes that a recent campaign, The Thrill, represents a new creative milestone for the Oklahoma Lottery. “Built around our Money Nights $10 Scratcher, we flipped our usual process by developing the full campaign world first, and then designing the ticket to match that modern, high-energy vision.” The goal was to create something sleek, youthful and immersive, the kind of experience younger players would naturally gravitate toward. “To bring that world to life, we partnered with One Set Studio, utilizing their cutting-edge extended reality (XR) technology to create environments that felt like true augmented reality.”

The campaign also featured a cameo from one of Oklahoma’s biggest influencers, along with extensive behind-the-scenes content to deepen engagement on social media. “Best of all, every element – from the actors to the production crew – was powered entirely by Oklahoma talent, making The Thrill both a state-of-the-art campaign and a homegrown celebration of creativity.”

The commercial for the State of Play ticket series was also created using the XR studio, demonstrating the remarkable flexibility of the technology. “It allowed us to film an Oklahoma outdoor landscape one day and transform the set into a modern nightclub the next,” explains Morgan. “This approach gave us cinematic visuals, full creative control, and the ability to showcase Oklahoma’s beauty in a way that felt both immersive and modern.”

In fact, the Oklahoma Lottery is focused on continued modernization and forward-thinking across every part of its business, from product development and design to fresh digital experiences that meet players where they already are. A major part of this evolution is the Lottery’s upcoming Digital Services RFP, which will reshape the website, mobile app, CRM, and loyalty platforms into a more unified, user-friendly ecosystem. “This initiative will give us the tools to deliver smarter promotions, better personalization, and a more seamless experience from retail to digital – positioning us for the next generation of player engagement,” emphasizes Morgan.

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The Path Ahead

Clearly there are a lot of exciting things going on in Oklahoma. The 2017 profit mandate change has had far-reaching impacts beyond simply discussions of increased sales and revenues for education. It helped change the narrative in the state, with the Lottery first receiving authorization for debit card purchases, and then credit card approval after that. Prior to 2018, players could only use cash for lottery purchases. “Our credibility in the eyes of the government increased considerably,” notes Finks.

Yet there was so much more. Players have better games to choose from, of course, but perhaps even more importantly, retailers have responded to increased sales with an eagerness like never before. “Our retailers have made more money with lottery in the last few years than they did in the first dozen years of lottery operations. As a result, our ability to create leverage with our retailers has been incredible.” They are much more willing to add things like self-service machines, SciQ units, digital signage, and more, all because lottery is now one of their more profitable product lines.

Today, Oklahoma is not immune to external challenges such as inflation; instant ticket sales were down 5.1% in FY25. Total sales were down 13.8%, thanks also to weak jackpot runs compared to the previous year. On the bright side, there has been a bit of a rebound in the first part of FY26. The recent Powerball runup to $1.787 billion certainly helped, but not to be discounted is the effort being made to continually improve Oklahoma’s own products and the industry’s efforts to enhance the national portfolios.

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Finks is also taking a much closer look at the retail environment. Oklahoma has seen massive growth on the corporate side, but not the independent side, for example. “Are we making sure we have the right equipment in those corporate stores to handle that traffic?”

There’s also an examination of the total number of retailers selling lottery and retail performance across the board. “Poor sales performers are often poor advocates of our brand. We’re making a very renewed effort to examine whether we spend a dollar to pick up a penny.”

He still hopes iLottery will come eventually, but in the meantime, engaging with customers using other digital tools is at the top of the to-do list. “We will keep looking at new ways to expand touchpoints to engage with customers in the retail environment.”