The New Mexico Lottery Marks 30 Years of Creativity

In the Land of Enchantment, innovative games and creative marketing energize this small lottery, even as a profit mandate presents significant challenges.

By Patricia McQueen

Published May 19, 2026

If you ask anyone at the New Mexico Lottery, bigger isn’t always better. After all, you can’t get much better than earning the nation’s top honor for instant games four years running. You can’t get much better than strategically securing annual advertising buys that allow for maximum flexibility and the ability to shift campaigns on the fly. And it doesn’t get much better than having a cohesive unit of some three dozen employees, where just about everyone knows what everyone else is doing and business keeps humming along.

All this and more comes together to raise money for student scholarships – more than a billion dollars since inception in April 1996, helping more than 161,000 New Mexico students attend public colleges, universities and technical colleges.

“As a smaller lottery, we’ve had to learn how to do more with less,” explains Chief Executive Officer David Barden. Perhaps what stands out most during his tenure – he took the helm in early 2014 – is the creation of an in-house marketing and advertising department, under the guidance of Director of Advertising and Marketing Wendy Ahlm. He’s proud of the cost-effectiveness and efficiencies the move has generated, especially given the award-winning results. 

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Efficiencies are critical in an environment where there’s a 30% profit mandate. “It has really impeded the ability of the Lottery to maximize profits for students, and that trickles down through everything we do,” emphasizes Barden. Most importantly, it impacts the marketing and advertising budget and the instant game payouts. “We need to be very frugal and have to balance our books every month to provide that 30% to the Lottery Tuition Fund.” One notable consequence is that, from time to time, $20 games must be temporarily removed from the market to make the numbers work.

FY25 was a challenging year throughout the American lottery industry, with the lack of large jackpots in Powerball and Mega Millions. It was particularly difficult in New Mexico. The 50% payout in the national games goes a long way towards helping the Lottery meet its 30% mandated return, offsetting at least to some degree the higher payouts of instant games. Without strong sales in the national games, instant ticket payouts had to be reduced later in FY25, and players noticed. Instant ticket sales declined towards the end of the year, even though they were up on an annual basis.

The need to find even more efficiencies was a driving factor in selecting a new vendor partner to manage both the instant and draw side of the business. Having a single full-service vendor was deemed the best path forward for New Mexico. Scientific Games began its new contract on March 22, and the company now also handles customer service, warehousing and lottery sales reps.

All the while, the Lottery has also leaned hard into responsible gambling, now with a focus on healthy play and a dedicated employee to manage these efforts. Healthy play is now part of all Lottery messaging, and TV and radio campaigns have been produced. “Years ago, our RG efforts started by making sure a notice was on the tickets and in our ads,” explains Ahlm. “Now, it’s part of the pulse of the Lottery to make sure that our players are keeping it fun.”

Award-Winning Games

Lottery staffers are also having fun, especially when it comes to releasing new games that become industry standouts. Sometimes instant games are home-grown, and sometimes the ideas come from industry partners. Yet it’s a lottery’s own vision for a game that can make all the difference in the world. The New Mexico team saw the potential of some of these games to tap into local culture and they were a runaway success. “We’re lucky because New Mexico has so much local flavor," says Ahlm. "We really embrace that and our players connect to it.”

In fact, this small-but-mighty lottery is the first ever to win the NASPL Buddy Roogow Innovation Award for Best New Instant Game for four years straight, from 2022 through 2025.

It started with HGTV’s My Lottery Dream Home in 2022; New Mexico was the first to offer the branded game. Next came the ORO family of games in 2023, celebrating the state’s history with the precious metal. A pre-launch contest solicited original songs from local musicians with the winning song featured in the advertising campaign. The Lottery’s TV ad for ORO won a NASPL Batchy Award in the “under $25,000” category. It featured unique stop-motion animation in a painstaking process created in-house by Ahlm. The 2024 game winner was Guy Fieri Flavortown Fortune!, and New Mexico’s implementation included partnerships with local restaurants and offered a recipe contest. Last year, it was Zozobra’s turn, a ticket honoring the annual Burning of Zozobra in Santa Fe, a tradition that has lasted more than 100 years. In another contest, local artists submitted their ideas for ticket art, with images from three artists chosen for production.

An earlier award-winning instant game was Dia de Los Muertos in 2016. One of several lotteries using the Day of the Dead theme, New Mexico’s version featured artwork created by local artist Sean Wells. Director of Gaming Products Karla Wilkinson had seen her work, and it inspired the series for Dia de Los Muertos. Years later, Wilkinson would also be the first to realize the potential of Zozobra when the hype around the tradition’s 100-year anniversary brought it to her attention.

A common denominator with these games? “We work really hard,” quips Ahlm. Actually, it’s part of the master plan. “We are always promoting our games in different ways, but we really look for that big game, something super special that New Mexicans would really connect with. We want it to have somewhat of a homegrown nature with New Mexico flavor, but we’ve been lucky that they also have national appeal as well.”

When the team finds that special game, it gets a lot of love. Importantly, there’s a long lead-in to the actual launch so players know what’s coming – something new with lighthearted entertainment. By the time the game comes around, it’s not that big of a surprise.

The latest “big game” launch came in early April with Legends of Lucha Libre, a $5 ticket with nine different scenes, each celebrating a real-life masked Mexican luchador. “Alchemy3 brought Lucha Libre to us. We fell in love with it immediately,” recalls Ahlm.

From the press release announcing the game: “Lucha Libre isn’t just entertainment – it’s a multi-generational cultural staple that perfectly reflects New Mexico’s vibrant heritage. The sport’s iconic, colorful masks are symbols of local pride and community values that mirror the New Mexico Lottery’s own bright, fun, colorful brand.”

To celebrate the ticket, the Legends of Lucha Libre wrestling event was held May 9 at the National Hispanic Cultural Center in Albuquerque. Players could enter to win tickets to the exclusive event, which featured more than 20 luchadores.

Award-Winning Campaigns

That a small lottery with limited resources can create such impactful tickets speaks highly of both Wilkinson and the efficient three-person marketing team with in-house production, along with an annual media buying strategy. Ahlm writes and produces the radio spots. She also writes the TV spots, which are produced together with Jessica Quintana.

For maximum flexibility and minimum cost, all media time is purchased in advance for a full year – radio, television and billboards, to be used when and where needed. A $2 million buy in advance provides about $4 million worth of media time. The marketing and product teams work together to study what game launches are coming up, and explore what other messaging might need emphasis. For example, beneficiary awareness campaigns are periodically included, reminding players that all the fun is for a good cause – college scholarships. And if there’s a big jackpot, everything else is put on hold and jackpot advertising takes over. Ahlm also maximizes 30-second spot messages by airing two 15-second spots back-to-back, effectively getting two ads in one. “We really try to be nimble and efficient”

And since media isn’t married to any specific campaign, they can pivot. “Karla launched a Winner Winner Chicken Dinner game last year. I thought it was hysterically funny, so we created radio and TV spots for the game that played off the chicken term for ‘bucks’ with ‘BOKS.’ It all circles back to the Lottery’s fun brand.”

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With such a small team, Ahlm welcomes a new tool at her disposal – artificial intelligence. “AI has completely changed our universe, and we are learning at breakneck speed.”

She gives a lot of credit to Barden for the successful games and innovative marketing. “He is an incredible leader. He gives us the room to be creative and to really embrace the brand and the product, and to love what we do. He’s open to us trying new things.”

One of those new things helped fulfill one item on Ahlm’s personal marketing bucket list – the ORO stop motion animation campaign. A talented artist in her own right, she crafted all the drawings and then filmed them to get the stop motion result. “That was a lot of detail work, and having the freedom to be able to explore an idea like that is a dream come true.” She has her eye on completing at least one other item on her bucket list for the Lottery. “One day I’ll have the perfect theme and the perfect game that will work for a certain method of creating a TV spot.” She’s not yet giving away her secret idea, though.

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The Game Portfolio

There’s no doubt that the wide variety of instant games allows the entire team’s creativity to shine. The product accounted for 62% of Lottery sales in FY25, or about $92.2 million. That was the highest instant sales since the Covid bounce year (FY21). In addition to the “big game” each year, crossword and bingo games are very popular in New Mexico, with games at several price points. There’s even a $15 crossword in the market. “Our players have grasped onto it,” says Wilkinson. “We have a huge following for any of the extended play games.”

On the draw side, Powerball and Mega Millions combined, in good jackpot years, can generate as much as 35% of total sales, although in most years, those games typically provide about 25% of sales. They are a double-edged sword. As noted earlier, in good years those sales help the Lottery meet its 30% profit mandate because of their 50% payouts; in not-so-good years, there are struggles.

Roadrunner Cash is the Lottery’s own rolling jackpot game that starts at $25,000, at the $1 price point. Fun enhancements to the game are on the radar down the road. “It’s been a long time since we’ve given that game a refresh,” notes Wilkinson. “It’s a good little game.”

The remaining games currently on the market are Pick 3 Plus, Pick 4 Plus and Lotto America. Fast Play was placed on a brief hiatus for the system conversion, but will return soon. The Lottery originally launched the product under the Quicksters brand in 2012; that changed to Fast Play in 2019. It likely will never be a strong revenue producer, at least as long as the 30% profit mandate remains. “Fast Play games are typically offered at higher prize payouts than we can offer now,” explains Barden, which are no more than 50-60%. “That won’t provide the same shine that you might find with Fast Play in other jurisdictions.”

Looking ahead, Wilkinson is excited about the revenue potential of Powerball Xs and Os when it’s ready for launch, and Millionaire for Life is also an intriguing option for a future game addition.

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Connecting with Players

Great products generate player interest, and effective communication really helps cement the player connection. “We really try to talk with our players,” says Ahlm, adding that Communications Manager Vanessa Mellone leads social media outreach and email marketing. Given all the various demands on the small staff, most social activity is limited to Facebook and Instagram. More recently YouTube has been added, especially for paid advertising.

Surveys are another communications avenue, typically offered every other month. They are first released by email and on social media, and then also posted on the website. They are very useful to both connect with players and to gather information. For example, an annual beneficiary awareness survey accomplishes two goals. It measures how many players already know where the money goes, and it’s an important educational tool – just by taking the survey, players learn. That approach is also being taken this month with a Healthy Play survey. A key goal is to measure how much players understand what Healthy Play is and what it looks like, but it’s also important to actually provide helpful information during the survey.

It’s not always easy for the small marketing team to venture out to events for in-person connections with players, but they do what they can. There was a recent night out for an Albuquerque Isotopes minor-league baseball game, and the Lottery also had a presence at the Southwest Chocolate and Coffee Fest in Albuquerque in April, one of the largest events in the state with some 22,000 visitors. There are also simple parking lot events that only require stepping out of Lottery headquarters. The public is invited and there are radio remotes. “It’s important to be face-to-face in different situations with our players,” emphasizes Ahlm. “It’s all part of our overall strategy to find ways to talk to and connect with our players and to provide good customer service. And if they write us, we write them back. Little things go a long way.”

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Retail Developments

Big things go a long way too, and the biggest thing at the moment is the recent system conversion. The Lottery works with over 1,000 retail partners, and the new Scientific Games contract will greatly influence them – and potential new retailers. Besides replacing all the traditional lottery terminals, the existing complement of self-service machines is being upgraded to more modern units. Some stores may also receive the company’s SCiQ units, which Barden believes would be very popular.

It’s about much more than hardware, though. The new contract also provides for some 10 new field reps, who will be serving existing retailers and actively recruiting new retailers.

As with any lottery doing a system conversion in this day and age, when lotteries are typically coming off long-term contracts, Barden is looking forward to a slew of other benefits. “The systems today are more robust and the reporting is better.” He’s excited about being able to show retailers detailed analytical data that will help guide them on improving their lottery sales. “It’s going to enable us to have better, more insightful conversations with our retailers about how they can sell more products and make more money, all while students receive more scholarship dollars. Those analytics are one of the exciting aspects of our transformation. It’s a game changer.”

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Moving Forward

Even with a string of recent game and advertising success, and exciting things in store on the retail front, two big challenges remain for the New Mexico Lottery.

One is the importance of a mobile presence. New Mexico had a mobile app in the past, and a new one is in the works. While that will be useful (and necessary for participating in Powerball Xs and Os), the ultimate aim is to enable users to purchase lottery tickets via an app. “In today’s world, everyone prefers to buy things using their phones,” observes Barden. “They want the convenience to buy whenever they wish, without having to go to a retail location. This clearly includes lottery tickets.” The current regulatory environment in New Mexico isn’t there yet, but he’s confident online/mobile sales will come at some point.

The other, bigger challenge is that 30% profit mandate. The focus of the whole team is on trying to get legislative relief. As the entire American lottery industry saw in FY25, sub-par big jackpot years can have significant impacts on returns to beneficiaries for all lotteries, and those with profit mandates like New Mexico have even more far-reaching impacts. “We need to make sure we have a stable return for the students each year.”

There are certainly examples from other jurisdictions where higher prize payouts have led to increased revenues for beneficiaries – more attractive games drive more sales and offset the additional prize money. “Relief is going to happen,” Barden is convinced. “Getting there is a very difficult path to travel, but we won’t give up.”