Ontario Readies to Privatize Lotteries
The Canadian province of Ontario is moving ahead in its plans to privatize its lottery. The Chief Executive of the Ontario Lottery and Gambling Corporation, Rod Phillips spoke to The Globe and Main publication outlining the reasons for privatizing the lottery and explaining where the process currently stands.
According to Phillips, the first step of the bidding process is already underway. Although this was not confirmed by the CE, it is believed that one of the groups interested in the 10 year contract is the British national lottery operator, Camelot Group which is owned by the Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan.
Phillips said that the process of privatizing the Ontario lottery, which is the largest lottery business in Canada, would result in huge financial benefits for the province, which faces a $11.9 billion deficit.
In 2010, the OLG brought in $3.2 billion in revenue, $1 billion of which went back into the province.
Ontario Lottery Moves Forward
In the Ontario lottery privatization interview with The Globe and Mail, Phillips said that the current lottery system needs a total makeover, pointing to the fact that the lottery still depends on an aging and expensive-to-maintain closed network of blue box terminals in retail locations across the province.
Phillips said that there was no reason why OLG lottery products could not move online or into the mobile sphere.
"We just can't afford to say to customers in 2013, you have to go where we want you to because some of those folks want to be able to buy a ticket on the internet or pick one up with their Tim Hortons coffee - those are things that are potentially possible," he is quoted as saying in the article.
OLG is particularly hoping to target more women and the 18 - 45 age group. At present, regular players are between 34 and 54 years old.
OLG Seeks Image Changes
In the past few years, the OLG has been plagued by certain events which have badly affected the group's image.
The first was in 2007 when a number of irregular insider wins were publicized, and in some cases lottery retailers were claiming jackpots worth millions of dollars. After careful investigation, it was found that many of these winnings were meant to go to the customers who had purchased the tickets.
Three years later, CEO Kelly McDougland was fired after it was discovered that many OLG managers were reporting personal spending as business expenses.
