State leaders delayed action this week on which multistate lottery to join, but local retailers remain hopeful for a big game drawing.

Thursday, December 27, 2001

State leaders delayed action this week on which multistate lottery to join, but local retailers remain hopeful for a big game drawing.

"We have lost the edge with Powerball being so close to us," said Tim Gearheart, owner of Tim’s News and Novelties in Ironton. "So, I’m definitely in favor of Ohio joining a game."

Gov. Bob Taft signed a bill earlier this month allowing Ohio to join a multistate lottery such as Powerball or the Big Game to help erase a state budget deficit and boost sagging lottery profits.

Profits from the Ohio Lottery fell for the fourth straight year in June and sales dropped 10 percent despite the addition of a new game last year.

The richest lottery prize in U.S. history was $363 million in the Big Game won in May 2000. Powerball had a $295.7 million jackpot. By contrast, the biggest Ohio Lottery jackpot was $54 million.

The state estimates it can raise about $41 million a year by joining a multistate lottery. Ohio hopes the larger jackpots that the lotteries can offer will increase lottery sales.

For Gearheart, that theory of increased lottery sales seems more than hopeful.

Already, customers who buy Ohio Lottery tickets at stores along the Ohio River frequently travel to Russell or Ashland, Ky., to play Powerball, so a new high-jackpot game could only increase sales.

The Big Game lottery – composed of seven states now like populous New York and Michigan – could spell a "monstrous" number of people playing, Gearheart said.

"That would give us the kind of jackpot to attract even more players," he said, adding that many new ones would likely cross the river to Ohio instead of the other way around.

And, more lottery players should mean more storefront traffic throughout Lawrence County.

"Odds are good that they will buy something else or become a regular customer," Gearheart said.

Although no local sales tax is paid on lottery tickets, if more players spend money on other items in stores then the county will see an overall sales tax boost, he theorized.

The Associated Press contributed to this story.