Gambling Competition And Legal Weed Hurts Illinois Lottery Sales

Illinois Lottery earnings drop with other types of gambling become available in the state.

It's like anything else. People only have so much money to spend on non-essential items. For example, for a long time, the only way you could legally gamble in Illinois was by playing the lottery. Now, you have slots, casino, and soon to come, sports betting. Plus, don't forget about legal recreational cannabis.

According to chicago.cbslocal.com,

"In the last six months of 2018, the lottery pumped 344 million dollars into the state school fund. In the last six months of 2019, it fell to 280 million. An 18% drop totaling 64 million fewer dollars. And some are forecasting it could get worse before it gets better. Illinoisans use discretionary dollars to spend on the lottery, and a big new lane of discretionary spending emerged. Illinois has surgically focused on casinos and marijuana lately. The choice is do people want to get high or do I want to gamble? When economic times get tight they probably can’t do both."

What do you spend your entertainment dollars on?

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