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Leo DiBenigno Interview …continued from page 14
try. What we didn’t know, what we have discovered,
is how truly resilient that game is,
even in the shadow of Powerball. There are
still weeks in which our Lotto game outsells
Powerball in Florida. That game has the benefit
of twenty years of loyalty and incredible
brand awareness among our players. So, while
there has been some cannibalization, the net
overall increase in combined Powerball and
Lotto sales more than make up for that.
Didn’t you quickly launch a huge state lotto
game right after the introduction of Powerball?
L. DiBenigno: We actually did that before
the introduction of Powerball. We introduced
an add-on game for Lotto roughly nine
months before we joined Powerball. Until
that change, our Lotto game had not been
modified in any way for almost eight years.
We felt that it was time to create something
new for our players.
Do you believe that Powerball has generated
excitement and interest with people who
may not have played lottery before?
L. DiBenigno: I’d like to think so, but honestly
I’ve not seen any evidence to reflect that.
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Any other comments on the introduction
of Powerball?
L. DiBenigno: We are very excited about
the future of Powerball in Florida. Our expectations
have been exceeded in terms of the
impact Powerball has had, particularly for our
On-line games. If not for Powerball, we would
have had a much worse year in terms of transfers
to education. I have to say that Powerball
really saved us this past fiscal year from the
standpoint of transfer to education. The decision
not to join in the past was the right decision
for that time, and I certainly wouldn’t
second-guess that. At the time the decision
was made, I was very confident. In retrospect,
I’m even more happy that we joined Powerball
when we did. It really saved our ability to
continue to transfer money to education, at a
time when it is desperately needed,
Couple other topics…First, how is your
ITVM roll-out progressing?
L. DiBenigno: We are very excited about
the introduction of ITVMs. Florida had IT-
VMs eight or nine years ago. We removed
them, and have had none since then. We
went to the legislature last year for funding,
which was denied at the time. We went back
earlier this year, and it was approved. So, we
are in the process of rolling out 1,000 ITVMs.
They will begin to appear in some of our larger
retailers in late August. We should have all in
place by early to mid October. We think that
ITVMs, while certainly a convenience for our
players and retailers, should also result in an
overall increase in scratch-off sales as well.
We are focusing first with our large supermarket
chains. Tom (Delacenserie) may have
some plans to place a small number in Kmarts
down the road.
As gaming in general expands in Florida
(i.e. the Seminoles and casino gaming), do
you see that as competing against lottery?
L. DiBenigno: I see it competing against
lottery for the gaming dollar spent by players.
But I don’t see it as competition for effort
to raise money for education. So long as the
transfers from slot machines and other gaming
go to education in Florida, whether that
money comes from lottery or other gaming
doesn’t concern me. u