NC lottery director says lower payout could hurt sales

Wednesday, March 08, 2006 posted 09:19 PM EST

(Raleigh, NC-AP) March 8, 2006 - Don't assume that the new state lottery will keep North Carolinians from heading out of state to play other games.

The game's executive director says the law requiring the North Carolina lottery to return at least 35 percent of all ticket sales to state education programs could inhibit sales and ultimately cost the state money.

Tom Shaheen says to meet that requirement, North Carolina will pay out less to winners than neighboring states offer. He says that could mean fewer tickets are sold, and experts say dedicating more money to prizes encourages more people to buy tickets and leads to more money for the state.

North Carolina's first batch of scratch-off lottery tickets will offer more than $79 million in prizes. That's at least $10 million less than what Virginia and Georgia would pay and at least $14 million less than what winners would get in South Carolina.

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