The prospects for online lottery draw ticket sales in New Jersey are looking dubious after lawmakers on an Assembly committee unanimously advanced a bill to prohibit the proposal. The 7-0 vote doesn’t mean the bill will become law, but it moves it one step closer to reaching a floor vote.
In August 2023, the New Jersey Lottery Commission approved the online sale of lottery draw tickets like Mega Millions and Powerball. Aiming for a fall 2024 launch, the Lottery said online sales would help attract younger players. However, the move faced opposition from some lawmakers. A few months later, Sen. Joseph P. Cryan introduced a bill to block online lottery sales. Cryan and other legislators feared iLottery would negatively impact small businesses, which heavily depend on lottery sales revenue.
Assemblyman Sterley Stanley introduced the companion bill, A3759, in February. The bill was referred to the Assembly State and Local Government Committee, which transferred it to the Assembly Regulated Professions Committee. The latter unanimously voted in favor of A3759 and referred it back to the original committee. There’s no date set for the next vote.
Trade Organizations Rally Behind The Bill
The November 14 vote by the Assembly Regulated Professions Committee was reached after hearing arguments of several trade groups representing the nearly 7,000 retail businesses selling lottery tickets. They included the New Jersey Chamber of Commerce, the New Jersey Business & Industry Association, and the New Jersey Food Council.
They argued that introducing an online lottery would harm their bottom line by reducing in-store traffic and sales of other items. Mary Ellen Peppard, vice president of the New Jersey Food Council, told the NJ Spotlight News that the online lottery would significantly impact convenience stores. She added:
It’s not just the loss of the sale of the Lottery (ticket), it is all the ancillary sales for somebody that used to go to that store for that ticket. They’re buying their groceries, or a cup of coffee, or fuel, so that is a significant loss.
Eric Blomgren, executive director of the New Jersey Gasoline, Convenience Store, Automotive Association, highlighted that lottery purchases draw customers to buy higher margin items. Blomgren also pointed out the conflict of interest, stating:
Allowing the state to sell tickets directly (to consumers) would effectively put our physical retail stores, small businesses, in direct competition with the very same entity that is their supplier, distributor and chief advertiser.
NJ Could Be Moving Against an iLottery Expansion Trend
Moving against online lottery puts New Jersey against a trend of state lotteries allowing online sales to generate higher revenue. Fourteen states and Washington, D.C., currently offer online lottery in some form. Those include neighboring states Pennsylvania and New York.
Most recently, West Virginia launched its online lottery platform, iPlay, on October 31. It allows players to buy draw games and scratch-off tickets online. Connecticut also debuted its online lottery earlier this year, offering online draw game tickets. The list could grow as Kansas expects to introduce iLottery in 2025. Massachusetts is another state that had plans for a 2025 launch, but that has been delayed until 2026.
Given some states can add iLottery through administrative rulemaking alone, the list will likely grow.
Lottery Couriers Remain a Digital Lottery Alternative
Despite New Jersey’s potential ban on state-run online lottery sales, players can still buy tickets online through third-party lottery courier apps. The state is home to four such apps:
- Jackpocket
- Lotto.com
- Jackpot.com
- theLotter
Lottery couriers act as a middlemen. After the user places a lottery ticket order, the couriers purchase the ticket on their behalf and send them a confirmation. If the ticket is a winning one and the prize is under $600, the prize is paid directly through the app. For larger wins, the lottery courier arranges the delivery of the physical ticket. The player can then claim it in person.
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