Iowa Lottery Ticket Sales Soar
Wednesday July 13th 2011Last week we brought the news to you that the Minnesota Lottery had been halted due to a government shutdown that began on 1st July. Although this is not good news for Minnesota, which like many states it heavily relies on the revenue brought in from its lottery games, one other state has benefited from the shutdown. Iowa Lottery ticket sales soar as players from Minnesota venture across the border into Iowa to play the Iowa Lottery as an alternative.
Lottery retailers across the Iowa border area have seen ticket sales double and in some cases even treble as players from Minnesota travel to play the Iowa Lottery. In fact, because these players have to travel, many have been purchasing $200 -$300 in lottery tickets at a time to prevent them from having to travel too often to take part. This is something that Iowa Lottery retailers are not used to seeing. Of course, often those who enter a store to buy lottery tickets often purchase other items from the stores so retailers have not only seen the increase in ticket sales but also on other items too.
Minnesota also borders North and South Dakota and although there have been no reports yet of increases in lottery ticket sales for the state, it wouldn’t be surprising if they are seeing the same kinds of increases in ticket sales as the Iowa Lottery is.
North and South Dakota, Iowa and Minnesota participate in MegaMillions and PowerBall games too, so those who do travel to buy lottery tickets with the Iowa Lottery have almost the same games to choose from that are offered by their homes state.