CHARLESTON, W.Va. — An new, interactive lottery for mobile devices is being introduced to the state. Officials with the West Virginia Lottery met with commissioners Tuesday to discuss the beginning stages of launching iLottery that will make Powerball, Mega Millions and more available online for users to play at home.
Director of the West Virginia Lottery, John Myers, said that the new way to play will not hinder in-store lottery ticket sales but will help boost them.
“Other states that have done this already, they have seen growth in their store sales as a result of having the interactive lottery available to the public,” says Myers.
Myers said that the aim is to integrate iLottery into the normal procedure of buying and cashing in tickets, and to keep the in-store purchases merging with the online platform.
“We want to continue that and help grow that, and so we think that this is a method that will help us meet public demand, which is to buy those tickets over your mobile device, but to also increase sales for folks that are currently working with us,” he said.
Myers adds that with the insurgence of people already conducting more retail sales online, the transition of the lottery being played online would fit into the direction of how the current scope of retail is going.
“It would be bringing in a new generation of people that are used to buying things over their mobile devices, letting them be able to do that instead, versus going into a store,” Myers said.
Myers said that people will still be able to cash their tickets in at stores in conjunction with being able to through mobile devices.
While lottery officials are still holding trainings and figuring out the details of the new online platform, Myers said that they expect iLottery to not be fully available to the public for about another year.