Winning With Second Chances - Arizona to Maryland

For many lotteries, second-chance opportunities for players are an effective part of their marketing strategies.

By Insights Online

Published April 28, 2026

Lotteries are about winning – for both the players who support the games and the beneficiaries that receive the profits. For players, every ticket can’t be a winner, but lotteries have long offered “second chances” through drawings and other mechanisms. They help provide additional opportunities to win at no additional cost to the players. It’s no wonder that they have grown in both popularity and scope. Several lotteries now include some or all of their draw games in second-chance promotions, and Fast Play is increasingly mentioned as well.

Second-chance promotions are designed to increase both player engagement and actual sales, and they come in many forms. Some are designed to provide extra cash – always appreciated by players – and others offer experiences that money can’t buy. Sometimes there’s a choice between a cash prize and a trip or other prize, and winners often take the cash (“Cash is King”), but the incredible experiences now offered by lotteries, either on their own or in conjunction with vendor partners, are different. And a number of lotteries have developed partnerships with local sports teams to offer exceptional VIP experiences – sports and lotteries are often a perfect match.

The Louisiana Lottery, for example, is now in its 17th year of a partnership with the New Orleans Saints NFL team, and the grand prize keeps getting bigger and better. “What makes this program work year after year is the emotional connection,” says Lottery President Rose Hudson. Winner moments get shared with family, on social media, and in conversation. “Our winners get so excited, and we feed off of that excitement.”

Some lotteries offer both specific second-chance promotions and a loyalty rewards program, with different offers and different engagement strategies. Others, like the Atlantic and Virginia lotteries, phased out a separate second-chance program after a robust rewards program was implemented. A rewards program typically offers perks for every ticket purchased, whether it’s a winner or non-winner. Still, there are overlaps and each lottery makes the choices that are right for its particular programs and players.

We asked lotteries about their second-chance strategies and goals, and for examples of successful promotions. Their edited responses follow. As always, we thank those who were able to participate, whether they included a brief summary or went into considerable detail. We are happy to share anything our members are able to provide, and we encourage everyone to read through all the responses. You never know where your next great idea will come from! 

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Arizona Lottery

Our approach to second chance is unique in that we prioritize inclusivity; we don’t actually use the term “second chance” because both winning and non-winning tickets are eligible for entry. This ensures that every player, regardless of their initial ticket outcome, has a reason to engage with our digital platform.

Our strategy is built on three main pillars:

Strategic Alignment. We typically feature one major promotion per quarter, precisely timed to align with our most significant ticket launches, such as our Multiplier families or Holiday suites.

Prize Diversity. We balance our prize structures to appeal to a broad demographic. This includes life-changing rewards (at least one ~$1 million prize annually), high-frequency lower-tier cash prizes, and high-interest experiential rewards like our Hawaiian Holiday or Luke Combs promotions.

Always-On Value. By integrating both Scratchers and Fast Play into our promotional ecosystem, we maintain a consistent value-add for the player that extends beyond the retail counter.

Our primary goals are to drive retail sales, increase player registration, and foster long-term digital retention. We have found that the most successful strategies move beyond a “set it and forget it” model. Specifically, two tactics have consistently exceeded our benchmarks. Moving toward a progressive jackpot model (where the prize grows as tickets are entered) creates a sense of community momentum; it encourages players to check back frequently, driving “stickiness” within our app or web portal. And incorporating undisclosed Bonus Weeks during a larger campaign creates a sense of urgency; these limited-time windows provide a clean lift in engagement and allow us to re-energize the campaign during periods that might otherwise see a mid-promotion dip.

The 2025 Merry Millions campaign is our most successful recent example, significantly outperforming our previous Hawaiian Holiday promotion across all key metrics: +23% more tickets, +12% more players, and +25% more retail spend. There were a number of reasons for the success of our Merry Millions promotion, which had record-breaking retail impact, contributing $13.2 million in retail spend, representing 12.3% of total platform spend during the period. The progressive jackpot started at $400,000 and scaled to $1,000,000; this structure, combined with monthly draws, drove deeper engagement rather than just broad participation, with ticket submissions growing at double the rate of player growth. Our marketing reached 332,099 players with a delivery rate of 99.39%. The email campaign achieved a 17.60% click rate – more than double the Arizona average of 8.30%. We identified that Power Players (8.7% of participants) and Core Players (44%) drove a combined 79% of submissions. However, the promotion was also highly accessible to casual players; lower-priced tickets showed the strongest growth, specifically a 46.41% retail lift for $3 tickets. Finally, the campaign acted as a massive acquisition engine with proven retention. There were 60,184 new registrations, and 21.67% of those new members remained active two weeks after the campaign ended, demonstrating the long-term loyalty value of these promotional structures.

Arkansas Scholarship Lottery

The Arkansas Scholarship Lottery’s (ASL) loyalty program, The Club, offers two ongoing second-chance opportunities for players, and partners with vendors for licensed second-chance promotion drawings.

Play It Again offers players cash drawings three times a year with prizes that range from $250,000 to $500,000; every non-winning scratch ticket is eligible for Play It Again entries. Points for Drawings offers prizes that include, but are not limited to, gift cards from major retailers, outdoor packages, televisions, Apple tech bundles, kitchen items, and luxury accessories. Players may enter these prize drawings with points they earn from entering winning and non-winning draw tickets and non-winning scratch tickets into The Club.

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So far in FY26, The Club has held 19 different prize drawings. In addition to these ongoing programs, we constantly consider games and review research for second-chance promotions offered by vendors. The licensed second-chance promotions selected for Arkansas receive significant, targeted promotional support; our most recent is the Jurassic World promotion.

Our goal for second-chance opportunities is to keep players engaged and excited about the lottery. These programs provide added value to lottery play by offering prize drawings for non-winning tickets. Focus group research indicates that the most effective tactics to promote these programs is through The Club app and emails. The ASL marketing plan includes advertising support through digital display and social media to promote these ongoing programs throughout the year to attract infrequent, lapsed, and new players. As of March 31, The Club membership has increased by over 24,000 new members in FY26, demonstrating success in not only engaging existing members, but attracting new players. This has brought The Club membership total to over 396,000.

The gift cards from major retailers (like Amazon and Walmart) are a recent addition to our Points for Drawings prizes; a recent drawing awarded two winners $5,000 each in gift cards. The number of entries for this drawing was over three times our average prize drawing of similar value, points per entry, and duration. The ASL will continue to offer these gift cards based on the success generated by this drawing.

Atlantic Lottery

As a regulated and responsible lottery and gaming provider, Atlantic Lottery is always working to deliver new games, contests and promotions for our players to enjoy. We were proud to kick off 2026 with the launch of our new AL Rewards program, designed to offer our players an elevated experience and deliver meaningful value for their play, both in-store and on alc.ca. AL Rewards replaced 2Chance, Atlantic Lottery’s previous second-chance program, which ended last year. After 15 years of draws and prizes, players told us they were ready for a change, so we phased out 2Chance to make way for something new. This new program supports Atlantic Lottery’s long-term efforts to modernize the in-store experience and further integrate the retail and online sales channels for a better player experience, in accordance with our strategic business plan.

AL Rewards allows players to earn and redeem points based on their play and other activity on the games they already know and love. Players earn points on lottery, Scratch’N Win, sports, breakopen and online games, which can be redeemed for play on alc.ca. The number of points earned varies by game type, and 1,000 points is worth $1 of promo cash for play on alc.ca.

The integration of our healthy play strategy is a core part of AL Rewards, which creates new ways for Atlantic Lottery to encourage and support healthy play, expanding on the already world-class features and resources available to our players. AL Rewards members can watch videos and take quizzes to learn more about making healthy play a part of their routine, earning them additional entries into monthly prize draws. The program does not require them to change their existing play routine or volume to participate.

British Columbia Lottery Corporation

Every year we support the launch of our Christmas Scratch & Win tickets with a popular second-chance contest called Tech the Halls. The tickets feature a contest code that can be entered online for the opportunity to win cash prizing or an entertainment system. Christmas is an important season for us, representing 25% of total annual salesS and this year will be this popular program’s fifteenth year.

We use second-chance contests as a fun and engaging way to thank our players and provide them added value. It is a way of providing players an opportunity for additional entertainment with another chance to win something. Our key objectives for Tech the Halls include creating an engaging and interactive online experience, driving growth and loyalty for our Scratch & Win brand, and enhancing known play/data acquisition. Strategies that have helped us reach our goals include making it easier to enter by allowing mobile device scanning and offering more cash prizing.

Our January 2026 Tech the Halls second-chance contest had just under 100,000 participants with over one million tickets entered, representing a total ticket value of over $4.8 million. In a recent player survey, 98% of our players said that they will likely participate in Tech the Halls again and another 93% said that they were highly likely to participate in second-chance contests offered outside the holiday time frame. We are evaluating opportunities to add more throughout the year given their ongoing success.

California Lottery

California players can enter second-chance drawings with their non-winning Scratchers and winning or non-winning SuperLotto Plus and Fantasy 5 tickets. We offer ongoing weekly drawings for these games, along with three or four second-chance bonus draw promotions throughout the fiscal year. Our second-chance program currently has over 9.7 million registered players, and approximately 7.6 million monthly active players who are submitting tickets.

As with most lotteries, our second-chance program serves a few important goals. First, it gives us an opportunity to learn more about our players by moving them from anonymous customers to registered players. Once a player is registered, we can communicate and message these players directly via email, if a player opts in. Second chance also allows us to spotlight specific games via limited-time promotional bonus draws and to re-engage players at various moments in the customer journey. By offering a combination of regular weekly draws with limited-time bonus draw promotions throughout the year, we see consistent engagement with the program by loyal players. We can also drive new registrants and increase casual submissions to second-chance through bonus draws tied to a popular licensed property games or seasonal games.

What is new and really exciting for us is a focus on expanding our second-chance prizing and offering players unique and exclusive experiences. We began experimenting in 2025 by offering different types of prizes beyond just cash. Historically, cash has been king with our second-chance players in California, but we saw an opportunity to test and learn if experiential prizes like vacations, collectible merchandise and unique money-can’t-buy experiences would appeal to California players.

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Last August, we launched our first second-chance bonus draw promotion that included these types of experiential prizes, tied to the introduction of NFL-themed Scratchers games. This was the first launch of NFL-themed instant games in California in over a decade and we wanted to offer a fan-centric second-chance promotion to accompany these exciting new games. Our $10 California Game Day Scratchers suite featured three separate instant games, one for each of the California NFL football teams: San Francisco 49ers, Los Angeles Rams and Los Angeles Chargers. The games were part of a 360-degree sponsorship with each of the teams and also included in-stadium activations, stadium advertising, game-day media placements, an integrated marketing campaign, retail signage, and a wide variety of exclusive second-chance prizes.

The California Game Day 2nd Chance promotion ran from Aug. 18 through Oct. 1, 2025, and invited participants to submit non-winning 49ers, Rams, and Chargers Scratchers for an opportunity to win collectible team merchandise, VIP game tickets, and exclusive fan experiences like pre- and post-game field passes. Every entry also qualified players for the grand prize drawing where three winners received a package featuring coveted tickets to Super Bowl LX on Feb. 8, 2026, and $15,000 cash. There were more than 1.57 million submissions and 76, 280 new registrants during the promotional period – 82% higher than in the weeks prior to the promotion.

We are continuing to evaluate new types of second-chance prizes to understand what appeals to California players beyond cash prizes and sports tickets. At the end of April we are launching JAWS Scratchers for the first time in California, right in time for summer and beach activities. We worked with Pollard to develop a fantastic second-chance promotion designed to incentivize purchases and boost 2nd Chance registrations, while also testing the appeal of experiential travel prizes. By aligning with the growing demand for immersive experiences, this promotion offers players a chance to win a grand prize VIP vacation package for two to Martha’s Vineyard, the iconic filming location of JAWS, along with $20,000 cash and exclusive JAWS merchandise. Our JAWS 2nd Chance promotion also includes a play-for-fun digital extension that injects a moment of surprise and delight into the second-chance entry flow, and offers participants the chance to receive up to 50 second-chance bonus entries. We’re excited to see how players engage with this promotion and we are continuing to evaluate other types of unique and once-in-a-lifetime experiences in our second-chance program in order to engage different types of players and offer relevant and memorable prizes and experiences that can help grow brand loyalty with players.

Colorado Lottery

Second chances create more winning experiences for our players, increase winner awareness, and offer unique, once-in-a-lifetime experiences that can’t be bought, all towards our goals of increasing player engagement and sales. The Colorado Lottery is adding second-chance opportunities to almost every game.

Last October, we listened to our players and made major changes to the scratch second-chance drawing. In monthly surveys, we learned that players wanted more opportunities to win, so we moved from drawings with one extra chance to win the top prize at the end of a game to monthly drawings offering more chances to win $100,000. In addition to the $10, $20 and $50 tickets (which have historically had second-chance drawings), now all active tickets, including $1, $2, $3 and $5 tickets, are eligible for entry into the $100,000 Monthly Bonus Draw, with some restrictions. Players get an entry for every dollar spent.

Additionally, the Lottery offers second-chance prizes that give players a once-in-a-lifetime experience. This coming October, we’re inviting players to get ready, get set, and dash with the new $10 Ultimate Dash Shopping Spree scratch game that launched Feb. 16. Players can win up to $250,000 instantly and a shot at a 90-second shopping spree through a second-chance drawing. Other exciting experiential second-chance prizes that players have resonated with are the Game of Thrones Seven Kingdoms Experience, the Jurassic Park $1 Million Jackpot Challenge, and Denver Broncos and Denver Nuggets season and single tickets, trips to games, and custom VIP experiences.

Our Game of Thrones, Jurassic Park, and Jurassic World second-chance drawings were very successful – the strong licensed property and unique prize that is linked with other lottery jurisdictions has been a successful formula. Custom prize packages built with local sports teams are also highly successful. We focus on offering things that are very hard to get and/or that money can’t buy, like season tickets and VIP experiences.

DC Lottery

DC Lottery offers 2nd Chance contests with select Scratchers and draw games. Prizes can include cash awards of $500,000, as with our Neighborhoods instant ticket, and once-in-a-lifetime experiences. These contests are a particularly effective feature for holiday, licensed property, and high-price-point tickets. Extended play opportunities give players more ways to win, greater incentive to engage, and help maintain game excitement. For new or less frequent players, 2nd Chance promotions offer a sense of reassurance by providing an added opportunity to reverse the outcome of an initially non-winning ticket. They are a great platform for those curious about trying our games. However skeptical or risk-adverse, the additional opportunity to win makes that first step feel more comfortable; 2nd Chance contests help reduce the perceived risk while encouraging participation and continued interest.

The goal of 2nd Chance contests is to increase player engagement by sustaining player interest and creating buzz around the product and prizing. A great example was the 2021 Powerball’s First Millionaire of the Year 2nd Chance contest that culminated in the New Year’s Day award of $1,000,000 to a local player, Carlos Mabry. With local and national news coverage, these mentions garnered millions in reach and earned value for DC Lottery, introducing the excitement of our games to new audiences and affirming confidence in our games for established players. Industry data shows unfamiliar as well as loyal players enjoy additional opportunities to win, and these promotions often serve as motivation to explore and invest in more games.

Bracket Cash 2024 and Bracket Cash 2025 rank as DC Lottery’s most popular 2nd Chance contests to date. Capitalizing on the competitive excitement of the NCAA basketball tournament, these promotions garnered more than 500,000 entries combined. The 2024 promotion secured more than 312,000 entries as players vied for $120,000 in total prizes.

More recent examples of successful 2nd Chance promotions include Extreme 500X Fortune, our first-ever $50 Scratcher, and the Washington Commanders Scratcher promotion (offering 2026 season tickets with Club seating, team gear, parking pass, and $5,000 cash). Both were specialty products introduced in 2025. With Extreme 500X Fortune, DC Lottery rewarded players who were willing to try a higher price point by giving them a chance to win secondary cash prizes on non-winning tickets. This approach has been successful so far – the $50 ticket generated more than $4 million in sales in 2025 and brought new players into our 2nd Chance program. For the Commanders ticket, we leveraged hometown affinity and the excitement of partnering with a major NFL brand to connect football fans with DC Lottery. Through the 2nd Chance promotion, the Lottery engaged fans by offering both cash prizes and unique experiential rewards, creating a mutually beneficial opportunity for both brands.

Delaware Lottery

Through our Players Club, we offer second-chance promotions and Points for Drawings. Our goal is to encourage play, and we want players to feel like they are getting more out of every lottery purchase.

Second-chance promotions are typically tied to a licensed property instant ticket. Points for Drawings use loyalty members’ accumulated points to enter various drawings. Points are given to members when they scan any winning or non-winning lottery ticket into their Players Club account. These drawings run consecutively but prizes change as one drawing ends and another launches. We have offered prizes like cash ($100 to $2,500), merchandise (such as entertainment, kitchen and outdoor bundles) and experiences (exclusive NASCAR VIP experiences at Dover Motor Speedway, and entry into national promotions like the NASCAR Powerball promotion). We determine the number of winners and assign a point value based on the cost of the item. In addition to entering tickets, members can complete monthly achievements to earn additional points. The achievements change each month and include the purchase of specific instant games, draw games, and a combination of both.

The NASCAR experiential prizes have been very successful, resulting in thousands of entries. We promote the drawing through social media and retail locations. Giving players a unique opportunity to experience something they typically wouldn’t makes the drawing stand out. For the last two years, we’ve done a linked game featuring experiential trips for our players. Last year’s trip to Napa Valley was linked to the Game of Thrones ticket. It was an amazing trip and the experience of a lifetime for our lucky winner. This year’s trip is linked to our Jurassic Park ticket and features a trip to Hawaii. I think players are beginning to take notice of these types of opportunities in our tickets and see the value and excitement that second-chance prizes can offer them outside of the cash prizes.

Florida Lottery

We routinely have a promotion available in market to generate excitement for our products. New spotlight scratch-off games and game families typically have a bonus-play promotion supporting them, and we create opportunities to support existing draw games with strategically tied bonus plays throughout the year. Prizes range from cash to travel experiences that are decided through player research and interest. Additionally, we use out-of-home advertising (QR codes on signage, GSTV, and CTV) and social media (dedicated static and video posts with bonus-play codes) to build anticipation and drive engagement for our bonus play promotions.

Our goals are to provide added value for players and attract new audiences with unique prize opportunities. In addition to cash prizes, bonus-play promotions allow us to offer prize opportunities not traditionally suited for a game’s prize structure. Experiential prizes are a great example of something that excites players but are difficult to position as winning prizes within a game. By building the experiences into bonus-play promotions, we can deliver a wide range of prizing opportunities and explain them with a high level of detail. This also allows us to maintain focus on players’ primary interest in the core game: cash prizes.

Most recently, we launched our Free Daily Games for a Year bonus play promotion, which ran from Jan. 1 through Feb. 28; it delivered strong results across the Florida draw game portfolio. Compared to a similar promotion the previous year, Cash Pop sales increased by 34.2%, Fantasy 5 sales increased by 17.6%, and overall Pick daily game sales grew by 8.7%. The promotion stood out by offering players multiple instant-win prizes, alongside a grand prize awarded as the cash value of a year of Florida daily draw games. By combining easy entry tied to everyday play with a compelling top prize, the bonus play successfully engaged loyal, habit-driven players while also attracting new participants. It also helped sustain consistent engagement during more budget-conscious periods, reinforcing routine play and driving incremental participation across the portfolio.

Hoosier Lottery

Our general 2nd Chance strategy focuses on maintaining a consistent, always-on opportunity for players to extend the value of their non-winning tickets while layering in targeted, game-specific promotions to drive excitement and incremental play. We prioritize high-visibility scratch-offs and Fast Play games, player appeal, and seasonal relevance, ensuring strong participation and awareness. It’s a great way to promote and extend engagement with our Fast Play portfolio of games.

Prizes are designed to balance aspirational experiences (trips, VIP experiences, etc.) with frequent, attainable rewards (cash, Hoosier Lottery prize packs, etc.) to keep players engaged over time. This approach allows us to sustain ongoing engagement while using limited-time 2nd Chance promotions to support new launches and key sales periods. Our goals center on extending player engagement beyond the initial purchase, increasing retention and repeat play, and capturing valuable data through myLOTTERY participation. We also aim to reinforce brand loyalty by delivering added value and excitement, particularly for non-winning tickets, while creating more opportunities to communicate directly with our players.

The strategies that support these goals are typically tied to core scratch-off and Fast Play games, paired with simple, frictionless digital entry via the Hoosier Lottery app and website. Promotions that feature a mix of high-aspirational prizes (e.g. the Jurassic Park trip to Hawaii) and frequent, smaller opportunities (e.g. a Fast Play chance to win $500) tend to drive sustained engagement over time. Additionally, campaigns that are supported by strong retail visibility, clear value messaging (“extend your play”), and integrated digital and social amplification perform best – especially when they create a sense of urgency through limited-time promotions.

Notable recent promotions were our first to include all non-winning Fast Play tickets, initially last September and again in January. The All Fast Play Games promotion to help drive trial and sales for the category. Our Holiday 2nd Chance promotions typically have higher participation. Pairing gifting (Give the Gift of Play) with 2nd Chance messaging helps reinforce the extended play to our new players that may have received a holiday scratch-off as a gift.

In general, we found through research that our players were less concerned with the size of the prize and instead wanted more opportunities to win – more winners per promotion and more promotions. Strong retail presence is key for awareness at the point of purchase. We also make sure to promote 2nd Chance across our social, web, app and CRM. In-apps and Push Notifications are the largest driver of entries as it helps communicate instantly with our members what promotions are available to them and provides one-click access to learn more and enter.

Idaho Lottery

The Idaho Lottery offers three ongoing scratch game second-chance promotions. Our $1 scratch games offer two $100 second-chance prizes each week. Our $3 Cashword series offers one monthly winner of $300 in Cashword tickets. Similarly, our newer $3 Fruit Explosion also awards $300 to one winner each month. In addition to these ongoing promotions, we also offer second-chance promotions on selected other games from time to time. We use various entry mechanisms depending on the promotion, including one ticket=one entry, spin-to-win opportunities, and codes to enter the digital game experiences.

Since the Idaho Lottery is not able to sell our games online, we have created two digital game extensions for our players so they can participate from their mobile devices, one for Cashword and one for Fruit Explosion. We can also introduce digital games for other games as special promotions, like for holiday games.

Our goals are two-fold. First, to keep engagement levels high with our core player base. Cashword players in Idaho are very loyal, and they play a Cashword extended digital game to earn entries. Second, to continue increasing sales as players enjoy the digital games. Fruit Explosion is similar, but offers a digital experience like playing a popular digital candy matching game.

Second-chance opportunities need to offer something unique in value or experience that is hard to get otherwise. Unique opportunities encourage sampling of the game (or new product) being promoted, while fueling sales. This can also lead to an increase in VIP Club members, which then provides additional touch points for marketing and communication since all our second-chance draws go through our VIP Club. The more unique the experience or prize, the more often we find increased engagement from current and new players.

Some of our most successful recent special promotions include:

Jurassic World. Tying into a culturally successful medium (the film itself), coupled with dynamic and collectible ticket artwork, Jurassic World was an outstanding success as both a game and as a second-chance opportunity. The trip to Hawaii with the opportunity to visit filming locations for the series was an outstanding offer, and a unique experience. Players flocked to it, with 15.3% of all eligible non-winning tickets being entered. The game itself sold 94.29% of its tickets.

Bucks n’ Trucks also had outstanding engagement levels with Idaho’s playing base. This game offered two Ford F-150 Tremors in the game itself, and one as a second chance prize. Entries for the second chance truck were 29% of all eligible non-winning tickets.

A third successful promotion is currently running. Tied to the launch of the new Millionaire for Life, the Idaho Lottery is giving away an all expenses paid, luxury trip to Paris, France, where players can experience the French capitol like a millionaire. The trip offer has certainly boosted sales for the game, exceeding expectations. Although the second-chance trip offer has not yet closed, 10% of all eligible tickets have been entered for Paris. That’s remarkable for a new game. The trip to Paris is managed through Atlas Experiences.

Finally, a quick word on something we utilized with our 35th Anniversary family of games two years ago. We offered a monthly rolling jackpot second-chance prize, where the jackpot amount increases based on the number of tickets entered. Over six months, this promotion offered an average jackpot of $67,694 with a single monthly high of $114,500. All totaled, 17% of every ticket sold was entered into one of the six drawings.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jomK-D9LTY8

Illinois Lottery

Second-chance promotions are central to our product and marketing strategy and have evolved into a critical growth driver across the Lottery’s portfolio. They enhance the value of our games, strengthen player engagement, and help build direct relationships with players. As expectations and competition continue to increase, ongoing research reinforces the role of second-chance promotions in extending engagement and driving incremental value, supported by a consistent, always-on approach.

Our approach is centered on three key pillars: Portfolio Integration. Second-chance promotions are integrated into key sales periods, especially family launches and holiday programs. Our focus is on scalable opportunities that support engagement goals and portfolio performance.

Targeted Game Selection. Prioritize games with broad distribution, strong awareness, and defined roles within the portfolio, particularly holiday programs, family-of-games, and, moving forward, core offerings. These are the areas where added value most effectively drives incremental spend.

Broad Appeal Prizing. Our programs balance frequent weekly prizes with a larger grand prize. This approach sustains engagement and maintains excitement and urgency.

Our second-chance programs are designed to deliver against three primary objectives:

Drive Incremental Sales. By adding value to non-winning tickets, second chance encourages continued play and increases product appeal, extending the typical sales curve trends. Grow the Player Database. These programs drive CRM growth by increasing registrations, email opt-ins, and ongoing engagement. Increase Engagement and Play Frequency. Multi-week promotions with recurring drawings encourage repeat participation and sustained interest beyond the initial purchase.

Recent successes include our holiday 12 Weeks of Winnings and Holly Jolly Winnings. Each of these second-chance programs generated over two million entries and strong engagement during peak sales periods. Weekly drawings and a large grand prize sustain participation, while broad game inclusion maximizes reach. And our Progressive Jackpot Second Chance Programs build on the success of our Fast Play progressive jackpot games, as we introduced a second-chance model tied to validation-based sales. Essentially, for every ticket purchased and then validated (redeemed for prizes), the second-chance jackpot grows in correlation with the value of the prizes claimed. For example, when a player cashes (or validates) a $1 winning ticket/prize, the jackpot increases by approximately $0.01; when a $500 prize is claimed, the jackpot increases by $5. This approach increases excitement, reinforces repeat play, and delivers a clear, easy-to-understand value proposition for players, driving increased sales and entry participation in the weeks leading up to each of the three jackpot drawings. Currently, our Gems game family offers a growing second-chance jackpot.

Looking ahead, we see opportunities to further integrate second-chance promotions into digital experiences and loyalty-driven mechanics, creating a more connected and engaging player journey.

Iowa Lottery

We have ongoing second-chance promotions with a variety of prize options, from cash to merchandise to exclusive experiences, to appeal to the wide variety of players.

Some promotions are determined by partner contracts and involve demographic-centered events such as football, basketball, racing, concerts or trips – all considered prizes that “money can’t buy.” Having both a cash-centric and experiential second-chance promotion overlapping or in proximity to each other has been an ongoing successful strategy. Specific games or product choices for second-chance promotions are typically based on availability of tickets, licensed properties, or the popularity of tickets.

Our goals are to increase ticket sales, drive more entries into second-chance promotions, sustain current VIP Club members and keep them engaged, and attract new members. Strategies that have reached or exceeded our goals are promotions with unique and exclusive experiences that can’t be attained by the average person, or high cash prizes. Iowa has no professional sports teams, but sports promotions are always popular. For example, an Indiana Fever game in Iowa City drove new members to our VIP Club. And we offered NBA game tickets a for pre-season game and included a meet-and-greet with Celtics star (and former Iowa Hawkeye Player of the Year) Luka Garza.

Some of our most successful recent second-chance promotions include The Gift That Keeps On Winning, a holiday cash-centered prize promotion involving nine different non-winning ticket options for entry. This promotion saw 597,915 total entries from 21,547 unique players. A cash-centered prize with multiple ticket price points for entries continue to contribute to our success for second-chance promotions.

Jurassic World was another top contender with 122,116 total entries from 9,527 unique players. This second-chance promotional prize included a trip to Hawaii with another chance to win more money during the onsite game show, and many other perks, plus $2,500. Part of the excitement of this promotion was the fact it started when the newest movie launched, and also included two different ticket entry choices.

In 2025, the highest unique entries compared to overall entries was our Prize Zone promotion, Concerts Wild, with 24% unique entries from total entries. This promotion included several ticket prize packages to various concerts held in Iowa. Second place was another Prize Zone promotion for a prize package to the four-day Knoxville National sprint car races, coming in at 21% unique entries. The 2025 promotions with the highest number of new loyalty VIP Club registrations were Jurassic World (4,138), The Gift That Keeps On Winning (3,483) and Pac-Man (2,620).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=51PAnQH1aOQ

Kentucky Lottery

We recognize that players value different aspects of second-chance promotions – some prefer cash prizes, others seek unique experiences, and many simply want the best odds of winning. Our strategy is to incorporate all these interests while attracting new players to join the Kentucky Lottery Fun Club for more ways to win. We maintain an ongoing second-chance promotion that includes both terminal-generated and scratch-off games. For the last several years, we’ve also allowed winning tickets to be entered into promotions. We supplement with targeted cash and experiential promotions that support specific games, seasons, or price points. This approach allows us to stay flexible and focus on growth opportunities throughout the year.

We evaluate second-chance promotions using several key performance indicators. While sales remain a primary metric, we also assess total entries, unique participants, new Fun Club registrations, and the percentage of new members who entered the promotion as their first activity. In addition, we monitor web traffic to promotional pages, social engagement, and email open rates to gauge overall effectiveness and promotion interest. We have found that the most successful promotions are ongoing second-chance programs with multiple drawings or those that recur annually or quarterly. This consistency increases player familiarity and overall participation.

Our Scratch + Draw Second Chance, introduced this fiscal year, has been one of our strongest performers. By including all retail tickets and requiring both a scratch-off and a terminal-generated game (draw or Fast Play) for a full entry, we’ve driven strong engagement and the page is one of the most visited pages on our website. Its broad eligibility and easy event integration have contributed to its success.

We also refined our naming strategy for promotions with cash prizes under the consistent “Stuff Your Wallet” theme. Since its launch last November, this series has continued to gain momentum. Entry volume for the second promotion doubled compared to the first, with two weeks still remaining in the current campaign. Consistent branding and clear prize expectations have helped build recognition and participation.

From a community engagement perspective, we have an ongoing sponsorship with the Kentucky Derby Festival to select the annual Festival Fanatic, who gets a front-row seat for all the festival events, including pushing the button to launch Thunder Over Louisville, North America’s largest fireworks show. This year we selected our winner from a Pick 3 and Pick 4 second-chance promotion.

Loto-Québec

Our general strategy for 2nd Chance promotions is to be always-on. We offer monthly promotions (with no downtime) where all draw lottery and scratch tickets are admissible to enter. We use a different prize structure each month but always give out a total of $10,000. We also do sporadic promotions targeted on specific products; for example, on our most popular holiday scratch ticket Célébration, or on a brick-and-click product like Roue de Fortune. These strategies are worked in partnership between the products and promotions teams, and the prize varies per promotion.

Our 2nd Chance promotions are very popular with customers because they allow them to enter additional draws for the same initial cost; for us, a main objective is to obtain customer recognition. The majority of our sales are made anonymously at retail locations. With 2nd Chance, our customers create an account and enter their retail tickets each month. Using an always-on approach enables us to have a more complete view on their purchases.

The Lotto Max Dream Big promotion offered nationally was one for the books. We had an impressive participation and number of winners from Québec. The grand prize of $1 million probably made it very attractive for our customers who are used to having access to a $10k prize structure. Our annual Célébration promotion is also very popular year after year. Giving customers the chance to earn a TV entry spot for the annual gala is quite interesting. This is the 2nd Chance promotion that has the best participation rate (around 65% of tickets purchased are entered in the promo).

Louisiana Lottery

Second-chance promotions at the Louisiana Lottery are intentionally tied to specific games, often connected to a licensing agreement, and are selected with today’s player in mind. As our player base evolves, so does our approach. Modern players aren’t just looking for another shot at cash – they’re looking for experiences. They want moments they’ll remember, stories worth sharing, and prizes that mean something beyond face value. That insight has shaped how we build our second-chance offerings, and we’ve found the most resonant promotions are those that blend experiential prizes with cash rewards. Whether it’s a once-in-a-lifetime trip, a VIP event, or a branded experience tied to a popular license, pairing that kind of prize with a cash component tends to drive the strongest engagement. It’s not a one-size-fits-all program – we’re selective about which games we attach second-chance opportunities to, and that intentionality shows in the results.

Our second-chance program serves two core objectives: driving ticket sales and building genuine loyalty among our players. A second-chance drawing gives a non-winning ticket a reason to matter, and that changes the relationship a player has with the game. We also participate in MUSL second-chance promotions, including the NASCAR program, and in 2024 we were proud to have a national winner come out of Louisiana.

Historically, our second-chance entries have been submitted by mail to a P.O. box, but that’s changing in a meaningful way. Soon players will be able to enter second-chance drawings directly online. The convenience factor alone is significant, but the larger opportunity is what comes with it: players will need to be members of Club Lotteaux to participate, which gives us a richer picture of who our players are, what games they enjoy, and how they want to hear from us. It transforms second-chance from a one-way transaction into the beginning of an ongoing conversation, one where players feel more in control of their experience, and we’re better equipped to serve them.

Our longest-running and most high-profile second-chance program is our partnership with the New Orleans Saints, now in its 17th season. Players enter non-winning Saints-branded scratch-off or Fast Play tickets for the chance to win a tiered prize structure that includes suite access, gameday experiences, autographed memorabilia, and the crown jewel: a full season ticket package with pregame field passes and a VIP minicamp experience at the Saints’ practice facility. New for the 2025-26 season is the Saints VIP Prize Experience, an elevated grand prize event that takes the concept even further. Six finalists, drawn across three second-chance drawings, will be invited to the Ochsner Sports Performance Center for a high-energy, elimination-style cash competition with a guaranteed $100,000 prize in the final round and a top prize of $1,000,000. Every finalist walks away with at least $5,000. The experience includes a stay at Caesars New Orleans, a private bus ride with a Saints legend, a walk through the Saints locker room, and a post-event press conference modeled after what the players themselves experience. It’s not just a prize. It’s a production, and that’s precisely what today’s player is looking for.

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As the Louisiana Lottery celebrates its 35th anniversary, we’ve built a second-chance promotion around that milestone as well. What’s notable about this approach is that it uses second chance not just to support a game, but to tell a broader brand story – connecting players to the history and significance of the Lottery itself. Featuring five denominations of tickets, some with multiple scenes, we’re bringing back nostalgic tickets and player favorites, including Play OH! and Louisiana Treasures. Additionally, our collaborative team member product development workshop produced two tickets: Say It Louisiana and Taste of Louisiana. The lineup is rounded out by It’s a Louisiana Thing!, which is a celebration of all things Louisiana – bayous, streetcars, zydeco, brown pelicans, and blue crabs. Non-winners of any of these tickets may enter the second-chance drawing for a share of $35,000 in cash each quarter.

To continue the celebration, $5 Ultimate Dash Fast Play and $5 Ultimate Dash scratch-offs launch April 27, featuring top prizes of $100,000 and an ultimate second-chance experience. In partnership with Scientific Games, we’ll conduct two second-chance drawings, with four semifinalists winning a trip to Chicago to participate in the Warehouse Dash for the ultimate 90-second shopping spree. Additionally, a Bonus Prize Round will give one winner the opportunity to win a minimum of $50,000 and up to $500,000.

Licensed brands, strategic alliances, and even anniversary moments are a natural opportunity to deepen loyalty, and tying a second-chance drawing to that narrative gives players a stake in the celebration.

Maryland Lottery

Typically, our second-chance strategy is initiative-based and centered around marquee instant ticket launches that receive high-level advertising support. The criteria we look for is a licensed property, theme or prizing that will attract new or lapsed players without alienating core players. Additionally, games that cultivate a player community, like our Baltimore Ravens scratch-offs, are attractive to offer as a year-over-year program to reach new players and keep them engaged on an annual basis.

Second-chance promotions that offer cash prizes are always popular, but our FY26 holiday promotion brought back the warehouse dash prize, which includes a trip and an experiential element that we know is a player favorite. For FY27, we’re planning a holiday promotion that will include luxury trip prizes, and we’re looking forward to leaning into the “dream vacation” message in our marketing. The goal is to offer a premium prize to our players and elevate our brand by association.

We’re always mindful of sales so that we continue raising funds for Maryland’s good causes, but we also do a lot of thinking about responsible, sustainable growth. So there is always an effort to appeal to a broad cross-section of people when we curate our product plan. It’s a balancing act: We want to offer games and promotions that core players anticipate, but we also want to create experiences that the market didn’t realize it wanted until those opportunities came along, because that further engages core players and also reaches a new audience. Licensed properties and second-chance opportunities are often the best tools to achieve both of those goals.

Our annual Ravens and holiday-season promotions are consistently the top performers, both in terms of total entries and unique participants. However, the FY26 effort that was the most unique was Unlock the Cash, which was a first of its kind in Maryland. There were two entry vehicles, a $5 scratch-off game and a $5 Fast Play game. The player journey for prize fulfillment was very different from traditional second-chance promotions. The payoff was a live event where multiple players had chances to win variable prize amounts, based on choices they made at the event. They could win anywhere from $5,000 to $25,000. We are planning to build on this game-show type experience, and we think there is a lot of potential in this type of promotion going forward.

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Winning With Second Chances - Massachusetts to Wyoming