Powerball Proves Popular

NZ Lotteries Commission

One in three Lotto players are trying the new Powerball game launched two weeks ago, with a resulting boost in Lotto sales, according to the New Zealand Lotteries Commission.

“Sales for the first two weeks of Powerball indicate a successful launch,” said Commission chief executive Ariane Burgess.

“The launch has generated high levels of customer interest and awareness, and Powerball has been well-received by the public. It is early days yet, but we hope this means Powerball will help restore lottery sales and maintain the flow of profits generated for the benefit of the community.”

Mrs Burgess said the launch of Powerball was important as the Commission, in common with many lotteries around the world, had seen a significant softening in sales over the last couple of years.

“Competition in the discretionary income market is fierce,” she said, “with a wide variety of new opportunities for customers to spend their leisure dollars.”

The rapid spread of poker machines in pubs and clubs up and down the country had also had an impact on results, as well as the gradual aging of Lotteries Commission products and an element of brand “wear out”.

The Commission was vigorously addressing all these issues, and Powerball was just the first of several planned innovations, Mrs Burgess said.

“In spite of the difficult environment, we transferred a very respectable $60 million in profits to the Lottery Grants Board for the six months to 31 December 2000 from sales of $303.7 million. This compares to a transfer to the Grants Board of $65 million in a similar period last year, an indication of the difficulties our products have been facing.

“Powerball is a lottery product designed to jackpot, and so it’s very difficult to predict sales accurately over the remaining months of the financial year. However, the successful launch has given us a strong platform to build on,” Mrs Burgess said.

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