Media Blitz Paves Way for Lotto Start-Up

California Lottery officials will launch lotto, the state’s latest venture into legalized gambling, on Oct. 14, trumpeted by a $3.5-million advertising blitz that began Monday.

The ad campaign will include television commercials featuring Lakers star Magic Johnson, Dodger outfielder Pedro Guerrero, former football star O.J. Simpson and Oakland A’s baseball rookie Jose Canseco.

Despite the media campaign, and the prospects for record-setting, multimillion-dollar payoffs in lotto, Lottery Director Mark Michalko predicted Monday that initial public response to the so-called Lotto 6/49 game--with odds of 1 in 14 million for the biggest jackpots--will be lower than for the scratch-off games of the past year.

The reason for his lowered expectations is that unlike the scratch-off lottery games, lotto gamblers “actually do have to figure out how to play the game,” Michalko said at a press conference.

But Michalko also predicted that interest in lotto will continue to rise over time. That has not been the case with California’s scratch-off games, in which interest has dropped by two-thirds since its start a year ago. Gambling Californians nonetheless have spent more than $2 billion on scratch-off games since the lottery began.

Michalko estimated that in addition to spending hundreds of millions more on scratch-off games, which will continue to be sold, Californians will spend about $800 million on lotto during its first year.

The combined figure would make the California lottery, now the third-largest behind national lotteries in Spain and France, the largest government-operated lottery in the world, Michalko said.

Complex System

California’s version of lotto had been scheduled to start in September but was delayed because more testing was needed on the large and complex system, Michalko said.

Lotto games in other states have resulted in jackpots of up to $40 million. California’s game, which will have longer odds than games in other states and will draw from a larger population, is expected to produce even bigger jackpots, perhaps some as high as $100 million, officials say.

In lotto, a game similar to illegal “numbers” games, players will pay $1 to choose six numbers out of a possible 49. They can get “play slips” at any of 5,000 stores and establishments that will have special lotto machines.

The grand prize will be awarded to ticket holders who have selected all six winning numbers. Smaller prizes will be awarded for those who select from three to five of the winning numbers. A bonus number also will be available each week that can be used in combination with five of the six winning numbers for a prize.

Each week, the size of the top prize will depend on the number of ticket buyers. If no one selects all six winning numbers, the grand prize will be rolled over into the following week’s game, providing the opportunity for the largest prizes.

The first winning combination will be announced during a television broadcast Oct. 18.