Virginia lottery targets young adults

As the Virginia Lottery turns 20, the sweepstakes is looking for more ways to get younger people into the game.
The agency said it is exploring more Internet ventures and placing lotto games inside popular coffee shops to target a younger crowd, said Paula Otto, executive director of the Virginia Lottery.
Otto took the director's job earlier this year but has spent the last 10 years teaching mass communications at Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond.
She said teaching gave her keen insight into the minds of college 20-somethings.
Combine that with research done by the Virginia Lottery and, she said, they may not be opposed to the lottery, but they don't play.
"I'm more interested in expanding the number of people playing the lottery than asking the people who already play to pay more," said Otto.
In the last 10 years, the Virginia Lottery has helped to raise nearly $79.5 million dollars for Prince William County Public Schools, according to figures from the agency.
For public schools in Manassas and Manassas Park, the lottery has raised more than $11.2 million combined.
Otto said that raising money for schools is nice, but people don't necessarily play the lottery just because a portion of the money goes to benefit education. The lottery faithful play to just win.
One of the most popular games has been the Pick 3 scratchers, Otto said, as regular players seem to have no problem forking over five bucks to scratch and win.
It seems in today's technology-rich world, however, scratch-and-win tickets aren't as exciting as they used to be.
Now the Virginia Lottery is considering testing a game popular in Canada, where a player can purchase a lottery ticket at a store and then go online to see if it's a winner.
Otto said the added computer element spices up game play and targets a whole new generation of lottery players.
"It might be a horse race that you play, it might be the roll of the dice, the shuffle of some cards, but it makes it a little more interactive than just buying a piece of paper and just scratching it off," said Otto.
The lottery has also struggled to find an audience in Northern Virginia, she said.
"People in Northern Virginia don't pull off from their commute to buy a cup of coffee and a newspaper," said Otto.
Because of traffic and lack of time, the agency has a harder time reaching customers here than in any other portion of the commonwealth.
For the past 20 years, customers at the Handy Dandy Market in Woodbridge have had no problem finding a lotto ticket.
The store was one of the first Virginia Lottery retailers in the commonwealth and remains one of the busiest.
"We were hesitant on taking the lottery," said Joe Roadcap, owner of the Handy Dandy Market. "We didn't know if the amount of work would be worth the little bit of money."
After selling two $2 million winning tickets at their store, one a scratcher ticket and one a regular ticket, Roadcap said they quickly changed their minds.
The store, which was described by Otto as a "lottery store that sells other things," was purchased in 1961 by Roadcap's father, Bobby Roadcap. He operated the store until his death in July.
Shortly after, the Virginia Lottery recognized the store as a major contributor to their early success.
"We just hope we have more million-dollar winners from this store," said Roadcap.
In its 20-year existence the lottery has more than $20 billion in sales, making Virginia the third-highest state for lottery sales, said Otto.
With the exception of Florida, Virginia also holds the title of having the first lotto in the south, said Otto.
After much debate the state legislature approved a Virginia lottery in 1987, initially to raise money for transportation projects.
"I think a lot of people were looking to Virginia to see if a lotto would be successful," said Otto.
Due to an advertising restriction placed on the agency, the lottery has never added games that have gained popularity in other states, like Keno, said Otto.
They are not allowed to advertise big cars or use statements like "you have to play to win" or "this will change your life."
The multi-state Mega Millions game, Virginia's answer to Powerball, is geared to about 25 smaller states with larger populations, including nearby Maryland.
Otto said though the agency regularly has "border squabbles" with surrounding states like North Carolina, West Virginia and the District of Columbia, all of whom sell Powerball; they have not hampered the lotto's success.
The Virginia Lottery celebrated its 20-year anniversary Sept. 20.
Uriah A. Kiser is a staff writer at the News & Messenger.