By Alan Johnson, The Columbus Dispatch
COLUMBUS – Changes could be coming for the Ohio Lottery, including adding electronic table poker, online gaming and a greater variety of instant tickets.
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Those are among the recommendations from Spectrum Gaming Group, a New Jersey research and professional-services firm hired by the Kasich administration to produce a business assessment of the Ohio Lottery. The study cost $601,600, according to documents from the Department of Administrative Services.
The lottery, which is 42 years old, should become a “quasi-public” corporation, operating more efficiently and avoiding unnecessary government regulation, according to a copy of the study obtained by The Dispatch.
Spectrum does not recommend turning the lottery private, but it concludes that the current structure, which operates out of the governor’s office, is inefficient, slow to react to market conditions and subject to too much “control and oversight” by several state agencies and state lawmakers. It would be organized much like JobsOhio, Kasich’s privatized economic-development agency, with a board appointed by the governor.
The current structure, Spectrum said, “is one key reason why the lottery — which is generally a strong performer — has missed opportunities to grow revenue. … The oversight structure leads to a very real sense that lottery management is not in control of its own future.”
Lottery spokeswoman Danielle Frizzi-Babb cautioned that the report is in draft form and not yet final.