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riods of adversity. While we are challenged
to do and be our best—I think we’re still
doing a good job.
I’m wondering if the “necessity is the mother
of invention” situation might have prompt-
ed you to discover additional solutions that
you might not otherwise have found and
that ends up making you an even stronger
marketing organization.
T. Cohen:
We were anxious to do any-
thing and everything we can to increase
our bottom line and ultimately our trans-
fer. We’re always strategizing to increase
our player base. In addition to the Lucky
Lottery Mobile, Union Station, and stra-
tegic partnerships—we are hitting hard on
retailer promotions to drive day-time sales.
These activities propel our presence in the
market and further our efforts to seize the
availability of daytime customers. The ex-
perience has given us a stronger, broader,
more robust foundation for future growth.
We now have integrated into our culture an
appetite for innovation and creative think-
ing that may not be here if we hadn’t had to
deal with the challenges presented.
How about products like Fast Play—did it
continue to be a meaningful contributor to
sales after you got back to offering the full
portfolio of Instants?
T. Cohen:
At the height of the instant
ticket shortage, DC Fast Play accounted
for 10% of our total sales. Now, with a
full complement of games, DC Fast Play
holds steady at 4%—a figure we celebrate
as scratcher tickets and DC Fast Play games
are both elements of our instant ticket
product line. Both have seen incremental
increases in sales and profit since before the
disruption. We continue to promote the
DC Fast Play lineup, adding new games to
retain player interest and exciting promo-
tions to extend the player’s experience. We
see this category of games as a growth prod-
uct and are investing accordingly.
We operate in a very competitive mar-
ket. The District of Columbia is positioned
between two Goliath-like state lotteries. In
addition to the existing casinos in nearby
Baltimore and our immediate suburbs,
MGM Casino is building a mammoth
sized gaming structure just outside our bor-
der. Prior to 2010, our neighboring states
did not sell Powerball. When they did, the
cross-sell negatively impacted DC Lottery
revenue as commuters who lived in those
states and worked in DC were now able to
purchase in their state of origin. But, again
our ‘small but mighty’ lottery is sharpen-
The recent Best Practices study—that named us
among the top ten lotteries in the nation—
confirmed that we were doing some things right.
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