Public Gaming Magazine November-December 2015

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44 // PUBLIC GAMING INTERNATIONAL // November/December 2015
see Education Lottery Corporation all also
performed strongly, reporting H1-on-H1
increases in sales of 8.7%, 7.5%, and 7.1%
respectively. Similarly, sales at the Con-
necticut Lottery and Canada’s Ontario Lot-
tery and Gaming grew by 6.3% and 6.2%
respectively over the same timeframe. Fram-
ing the series of positive results reported by
the participating North American lotteries
was the improving U.S. economy, which
saw real gross domestic product—the value
of the goods and services produced by
the nation’s economy less the value of the
goods and services used up in production,
adjusted for price changes—increase at an
annual rate of 3.7% in the second quarter
of 2015; this according to the U.S. Bureau
of Economic Analysis second estimate.
In the Asia Pacific region, the situation
was more nuanced. Relative to Q2 2014,
sales for Q2 2015 in Asia Pacific moder-
ated, with the result that participating Asia
Pacific lotteries recorded an aggregate first-
half on first-half increase in sales of 4.6%,
down from an aggregate first-quarter on
first-quarter increase in sales of 14.3%. The
moderation in sales was most notable with
respect to the mainland Chinese lotteries,
with the China Sports Lottery recording
a half-year on half-year increase in sales
of 6.2%, and the Chinese Welfare lottery
reporting a half-year on half-year increase
in sales of 4.4%. The comparatively modest
positions of the mainland Chinese lotteries
for H1 2015 relative to H1 2014 is appar-
ently attributable to the effect of the 2014
FIFA World Cup, the staging of which led
to exceptionally large sales for Q2 2014
at the China Sports Lottery in particular.
Thus, for example, sales of Guess Lottery
(sports betting) were down by 66.8% in Q2
2015, as compared to Q2 2014. Elsewhere
in Asia Pacific, Australia’s Lotterywest saw
its sales increase by 4.8% for the first six
months of 2015, as against the first six
months of 2014, while Japan’s Takara-kuji
lottery saw its sales dip slightly over the
same timeframe.
The picture in Europe was similarly nu-
anced. Although participating European
lotteries eked out an aggregate increase
in sales of 1.6% for H1 2015, as against
H1 2014, a number of European lotteries
nonetheless recorded stellar double-digit
growth. In particular, the Czech Republic’s
SAZKA a.s., Poland’s Totalizator Spor-
towy, and Hungary’s Szerencsejáték Zrt.
recorded half-year on half-year increases in
sales of 30.1%, 28.5%, and 21.6% respec-
tively. The growth in sales at these lotteries
was occasioned by a confluence of factors.
At the Czech Republic’s SAZKA a.s.,
for example, the main engine of growth
was the Eurojackpot multi-jurisdictional
game, which SAZKA a.s. joined in Q3
2014. An increase in the price point of
SAZKA a.s.’s flagship lotto game Sportka
also affected sales figures. On the other
hand, an incredibly high jackpot of HUF
5 billion on Lotto 5/90 (Ötöslottó) at the
end of May 2015 resulted in a high sales
income at Hungary’s Szerencsejáték Zrt.;
moreover, this very large jackpot had a
knock-on influence on other games such
as instant games and Szerencsejáték Zrt.’s
Joker game. At the same time, relatively
high prizes in the January 2015–April
2015 period stimulated the sales of the
Hungarian lottery’s Tippmix (sports bet-
ting) game. The results from the central
European lotteries were all the more
impressive given Europe’s continuing
lackluster economic performance, which
saw seasonally adjusted GDP rising by an
anaemic 0.3% in the euro area (EA19) and
by a lukewarm 0.4% in the EU28 during
the second quarter of 2015 (according to
Eurostat). Offsetting these positive results,
however, was the performance of Italy’s
Lottomatica, the third largest lottery in
the world. Sales at Lottomatica contracted
over the period January–June 2015, as
against the corresponding revenue period
in 2014; given Lottomatica’s position as
Europe’s largest lottery, this inevitably
impacted upon the performance of the
European region as a whole.
In Africa, the state of affairs was also quite
complex. Overall, African lotteries partici-
pating in the WLA Quarterly Lottery Sales
Indicator reported an aggregate increase
in sales of 1.3% for H1 2015, as against
H1 2014. At one end of the scale, Ghana’s
National Lottery Authority continued its
strong run from the first quarter, report-
ing a first-half on first-half increase in sales
of 33.7%. At the other end, sales at the
Mauritius National Lottery contracted
sharply over H1 2015, as compared to H1
2014. The performance of the Mauritian
National Lottery for the period in ques-
tion was adversely affected by budgetary
measures taken to ban Quick Win cards
on the one hand, and by a prohibition of
advertising of the lottery on the other, with
the ban on quick win games resulting in an
exceptional inventory writeoff. In addition,
the restructuring of company operations
resulted in downsizing that led to an ex-
ceptional severance payment. Set between
these two extremes was the performance of
lotteries in Morocco, with Loterie Na-
tionale reporting a first-half on first-half
increase in sales of 7%, and La Marocaine
des Jeux reporting a first-half on first-half
increase in sales of 6.9%.
The World Lottery Association (WLA) is a
member-based organization to advance the
interests of state-authorized lotteries. Our
vision is for the WLA to be recognized as
the global authority on the lottery business,
to uphold the highest ethical principles,
and to support our members in achieving
their vision for their own communities.
The European Lottery Association
(EL) Reports that Stakeholders
and Policy-Makers Agree on the
Importance of Co-Operation to
Ensure the Sustainable Financing
for Grassroots Sports
At a debate on sports funding hosted by
EL at the European Week of Sport today,
participants highlighted the importance of
grassroots sports to the European economy
and society, and spoke of the need for
co-ordination between the diverse funding
models for grassroots sport in Europe to
ensure a sustainable future. The European
Week of Sport was created with the aim