New Jersey lawmakers unanimously voted to advance a bill blocking the state lottery from selling tickets online during an Assembly committee meeting last week. Local businesses selling tickets in person are likely to welcome the news, although players may be disappointed. The bill hasn’t yet been voted into law, but advancing from committee means it’s close to getting a floor vote.
The New Jersey Lottery introduced the idea of selling tickets online in August 2023 to appeal to the younger generation. However, Assemblyman Sterley Stanley introduced A3759, which “prohibits internet sale of lottery tickets by State Lottery Commission.”
New Jersey lawmakers seem to have reservations about online lottery sales.
Why in-person lottery sales are important to NJ businesses
According to the NJ Spotlight News, there are nearly 7,000 New Jersey businesses that sell lottery tickets. Each and every one of those companies rely on in-person lottery sales.
Making lottery tickets available online for players would be damaging for small business retailers in the Garden State. Eric Blomgren, executive director of the New Jersey Gasoline, Convenience Store, Automotive Association, told the NJ Spotlight News:
“Lottery sales for small businesses have been a cornerstone for the last 50 years They draw in people to purchase other, higher-margin items.
“Allowing the state to sell tickets directly (to consumers) would effectively put our physical retail stores, small businesses, in direct competition with the very same entity that is their supplier, distributor and chief advertiser.”
While the New Jersey Lottery is looking to make sales more accessible to a wider audience and targeting a younger demographic, some still feel online sales would hurt a chunk of retail sales.
NJ does offer online courier services
There is a method for New Jersey lottery players to play online. Customers can purchase tickets online using third-party courier services, which are state-registered.
An employee of the courier will visit a convenient store that sells lottery tickets and purchase your tickets for you, which are then uploaded to an online account. New Jersey currently manages the following courier services:
- Jackpocket
- Jackpot.com
- Lotto.com
- theLotter
Jackpot.com is the state’s newest courier service, which launched in May. In 2023, Jackpocket online casino launched in New Jersey, showing the potential connection between lottery and iGaming.
Neighboring state Pennsylvania has had an expansive online lottery since 2018, and has continued to the grow its gaming offerings since. New Jersey has been slow in enacting a full online lottery service.
The state is expected to have a platform at some point in 2025, which has been pushed back from the original fall of 2024 deadline.
While lawmakers weigh regulation, small businesses continue to benefit from in-person sales. However, there will come a point and time where an online service will become available, much to the dismay of those business owners in the Garden State.
