Public Gaming Magazine January/February 2016

// PUBLIC GAMING INTERNATIONAL // January/February 2016

From the Publisher

By Paul Jason, Publisher

Public Gaming International Magazine

Government-operated gaming operators have always strad-

dled a fence. They perform in a highly competitive, market-

driven environment. They are tasked with generating profits,

or at least channeling profits, from the games-of-chance econ-

omy for the benefit of public service, i.e.

Good Causes

. The

commercial companies in the private sector are tasked with

generating profits for their shareholders. Commercial compa-

nies typically have a board of directors which represent the in-

terests of the company’s shareholders. Their job is to hold the

management of the company accountable for achieving agreed

upon objectives that hopefully include complying with the law,

setting high standards for corporate social responsibility and

consumer protection, and definitely include maximizing prof-

its for the shareholders. Of course, there is nothing wrong with

that. It’s called capitalism and has been the most powerful

driver of productivity and wealth by virtue of its unique facul-

ty for turning economic chaos into equilibrium. The beauty of

capitalism is how it causes an almost infinite variety of factors

to dynamically coalesce into a system that allocates resources,

factors of production, and consumer goods and services in the

most efficient way. It’s quite a miracle, really.

Government-operated lotteries must compete within that

hyper-efficient system in spite of the fact that they are sub-

jected to a whole different set of rules to abide by. There is no

streamlined hierarchy that magically channels external forces

(like competitive pressures) into a rapid response game-plan.

Instead of a board of 10 or 12 directors who set the agendas

and parameters for management to follow to achieve clear

and measurable objectives, Government-Lotteries are held

accountable to literally everyone. After all, the government

theoretically represents the interests of all the people. So ev-

eryone – the body politic, the general public, the media, the

customers/players, the channel partner/retailers, etc. – is in the

position of weighing in on every single thing the Government-

Lottery does. This is not the ideal business model for clari-

fying concrete objectives and the parameters for achieving

those objectives. But, as Meyer Lansky/Hyman Roth said to

Michael Corleone, this is the business we chose. Or, to para-

phrase, this is the environment we operate in and it is our mis-

sion to optimize performance in spite of whatever lack of clar-

ity we may be subjected to. And we couldn’t be more proud

of our mission to achieve results that exceed the expectations

of our stakeholders and, in particular, the

Good Causes

that

Lottery funding supports.

There is a point to this philosophical ramble. The interviews

in this issue have a common thread that, to my mind, reflects

a sea-change within the Government-Lottery sector. It con-

tinues to be a reality that regulatory decisions are the most

critical driver for the entire games-of-chance industry and that

includes Government-Lottery. For that reason, we must con-

tinue to aggressively defend the interests of our stakeholders in

the political/regulatory arenas. But there is a fresh resolve to

compete and win in the market-place regardless of regulatory

confusion, constraints, or even inequities.

Government-Lottery has always straddled this fence, always

operated as both a market-driven enterprise and a public ser-

vice. But, in recent years especially, the fight against regula-

tory actions (or inactions) that have the potential to destroy the

entire model of Government-Lottery (protected markets that

deliver high margins for the benefit of

Good Causes

) became

somewhat top-of-mind. Quite logically of course. That is

why they are still top-of-mind, and will continue to be so. But,

as reflected in these interviews, the leaders of this industry are

training their sites on the fact that we can and will succeed in

spite of regulatory challenges. The focus on elevating our per-

formance as dynamic consumer and market-driven businesses

is being embraced with renewed vigor and enthusiasm. The

spirit of capitalistic competition, the drive to exceed consumer

expectations and lead the industry with innovation and opera-

tional excellence, is taking center-stage right alongside our

mission to always be raising the bar in the areas of consumer

protection, security, and integrity.

Please join us for

PGRI SMART-Tech on April 7 & 8 in New

York City

. See

www.PublicGaming.org

for conference info, up-

dates, and registration and room reservations links. Try to come

a day early and attend the

first-ever i-Lottery Seminar hosted by

the World Lottery Association

, to be held on Wednesday April 6.

Both events are being held in the Park Ballroom at the fabulous

Park Lane Hotel on Central Park South, NYC

. Receptions on

all three night (April 6, 7, and 8) provide lots of time to visit with

friends and colleagues from Europe as well as Canada and the

U.S. Hope to see you there!

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