MORE ONLINE LOTTERY ACTION COMING TO THE U.S.

Saturday September 24, 2011 : Online gambling turnkey provider predicts more internet action for state lotteries
 
In an interview with the Smart Money blog this week Richard Baskin, co-chairman of U.S. Digital Gaming, predicted that online lottery activity in US states will grow substantially as more governments implement plans to go online.
 
Baskin's company is interestingly billed as "set up three years ago to assist 10 states move online", although Baskin declined to name the state governments with which US Digital is working.
 
The company, founded by former land gambling execs, has certainly been lifting its media profile in recent months.
 
Earlier this year its name cropped up repeatedly in hearings and online gambling legalization initiatives in New Jersey, California, Nevada and Iowa as the company manoeuvred to position itself strongly in the online gambling legalization arena, offering a slew of relevant services.
 
The company raised around $3 million from outside investors, including prominent real estate developers, Herb Simon, a mall developer who owns the Indiana Pacers basketball team, Vornado Realty Trust Chairman Steven Roth, and Robert Taubman and William Taubman, who lead real estate giant Taubman.
 
This outside investment is on top of around $3 million from Baskin and Richard Bronson, his partner in founding the venture.
 
Individual states obviously see a potentially huge revenue source, as state lotteries are already firmly established favourites with punters, Baskin opined. Americans wager an estimated $66 billion annually in the U.S., according to a survey conducted by U.S. Digital Gaming,
 
By moving online, these numbers are likely to grow, Bronson says.
 
Smart Money reports that Minnesota, which began offering its own online subscription lottery service a year ago, will soon be followed by several states currently making plans to sell tickets. Illinois passed a law in 2009 to set up an online lottery and lawmakers from other states also support moving their lotteries to the web, including California, New Jersey, D.C., Nevada and Massachusetts.