More Contests, Bigger Prizes Planned for Lottery

More Lotto terminals and more Scratcher contests with bigger payouts are the elements of the new lottery director’s strategy to breathe life into California’s stagnant games.

Lottery Director Sharon Sharp, addressing her first meeting Thursday of the state Lottery Commission, said the lottery has “not been player-friendly and (we must) make winning easy for the customers. . . . The more you pay the players, the more the players buy and the more the state makes.”

The five-member panel approved her plan, which focuses on a cranked-up marketing scheme, boosting the number of scratch-off games and requiring instant payment for some game winners.

The panel must decide the kinds of games, promotional campaigns and prizes. The maximum instant payment is now $25. Sharp’s plan would raise it to nearly $600. Other states pay scratch-off winners on the spot, but “in California you scratch, and you mail in your claim,” she said.

Few Scratcher contests are now offered. Sharp said marketing studies show that players will participate in an “almost unlimited” variety of scratch-off games.

The lottery, crippled by recession and dwindling player interest, has suffered a $300-million revenue decline over the past year. Earlier this year, before Sharp took over, lottery authorities announced plans to reduce the staff by more than 170 positions.