From Heraldnet.com on January 3, 2011:

 

WASHINGTON STATE -- When it comes to state lottery, it's all about the winning.

 

A report issued today found a huge jackpot and the economy do more to entice people to buy a lottery ticket than creative marketing campaigns and a good cause for use of the revenue.

 

Lottery has four games with a rolling jackpot amount that increases when there is no winner. For these four games, the jackpot amount was strongly correlated with ticket sales: when the jacpot went up, sales went up, according to the report prepared for the Joint Legislatice Audit and Review Committee.

 

Economic conditions, such as the number of people unemployed, were also predictive of ticket sales for Lottery games. Additionally, the date of purchase was often a significant factor; for example, ticket sales either increased or decreased based on holidays or on the first day of the month.

The study found $12 million spent by the Washington State Lottery on advertising services in the 2009-11 budget cycle "did not appear to increase weekly ticket sales."

 

Nor did it matter that the state Legislature in 2010 redirected the lottery revenues from constructing schools to college scholarships and early education programs. The report found that while ticket sales increased in the 2011 fiscal year "it does not appear that the beneficiary was responsible for the increase."

 

The report will be presented to the bipartisan committee on Jan. 11.