Despite setbacks, NC lottery start still on schedule, leader says
Friday, February 24, 2006 posted 05:11 PM EST
RALEIGH, N.C. - The North Carolina Education Lottery remains on schedule to start selling tickets March 30, despite weeklong delays in getting an official logo and an ad agency, the lottery's chief executive said Friday.
"It's probably slowed us down a little bit, but we're on track," executive director Tom Shaheen said after a lottery commission meeting where he laid out the aggressive schedule needed to begin instant-ticket games. Powerball, the multistate numbers game, is set to begin May 30.
Last week, it appeared that the lottery commission had signed off on a logo and had hired a Charlotte advertising firm to produce television, radio and print ads for the next three years.
But the logo of fireworks - one commissioner thought it was a palm tree - got shelved because of copyright concerns and the ad agency withdrew because its parent company wouldn't post a $500,000 bond. The lottery commission scrambled earlier this week to hire a runner-up ad agency at a higher price and signed off on a new logo.
By Friday, the logo featuring a lighthouse, mountains and a shooting star was on lottery letterhead, and Shaheen said ad firm Wray Ward Laseter would present its final plan for commercials to the lottery Tuesday. The ads should arrive on the air the week before ticket sales, he said.
Shaheen said he expected the first television ads to highlight how lottery ticket proceeds will benefit state education programs, while radio and print ads would focus more on the lottery's arrival.
According to the lottery law, the primary purpose of the ads can't be to induce people to play the games and they can't depict the lottery as a way to resolve economic or personal problems. Some lottery commissioners asked to see the ads before they run to ensure they meet these and other strict guidelines.
Shaheen warned commissioners they could miss deadlines and lose money if they reject them for aesthetic reasons.
"If we've got to stop, then we have no commercials," Shaheen said. "If we turn back, we've just wasted your money."
In a compromise, two commissioners will review drafts of prepared ads for the near future.
More than 3,000 retailers out of 5,800 applicants have been approved to sell lottery tickets, according to Sam Hammett, the lottery's deputy executive director for sales. Most are grocery and convenience stores, although some are restaurants, lounges and even tax preparation offices, he said.
Lottery vendor GTECH Holdings Corp. is installing computer terminals and satellite dishes necessary for retailers to validate tickets. Ticket dispensers will be distributed beginning March 9, while three-hour training classes for retailers begin March 6.
And there's still the work of any startup business, such as buying furniture and installing equipment in six lottery offices from Wilmington to Asheville.
High-level lottery officials are working seven days a week leading up to the kickoff. Shaheen said he logged in 75 hours last week alone.
"It's standard operating procedure," he said.
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