(Photo Mark Ou/ Flickr)
Provincial lottery agencies are trying to make the lottery appeal to a younger demographic, the Canadian Press reported today.
The Interprovincial Lottery Corp. and its select agencies are grouping together to create a lottery game similar to Lotto 6/49 for people under the age of 35.
The average age of lottery customers is 52 and there are only 13 per cent of buyers who are under the age of 35, the report notes. Lottery agencies are putting their heads together to make lottery tickets “more attractive to the video-game generation,” reporter Steve Lambert writes.
The lottery corporation fears that its business is at risk of decline and is looking to the younger generation to boost sales.
“If we do not attract younger players … to play lottery games, over time the lottery business is at risk of decline,” the request for proposals states.
Some Ryerson students believe the cost of lottery tickets could be better spent on tuition or community. An informal poll by The Ryersonian demonstrated that students on campus may be more inclined to buy tickets if the game was more entertaining.
Jennifer Pearson, a business management student at Ryerson, joined a lottery pool at work. “I don’t want to miss out on the opportunity of potentially winning money,” she said.
But that is the extent of her lottery experiences. She doesn’t like how students are the targets of this new proposal.
“I don’t think anyone should be encouraged to gamble, especially the younger generation,” she said.
Graduate of the Bachelor of Journalism program at Ryerson University 2014. Aspiring feature writer with a passion for local news. Reporter for the Ryersonian in print, online and broadcast. This is me, and always will be.
