(Radio Iowa) – The Iowa Lottery saw an increase in revenue through the first six months of this fiscal year, but its anchor product has been lagging in sales. Chief Revenue Officer Jon Roth says scratch ticket sales were down one-point-seven percent through November, which goes against the national trend. “When we look at the comparison, the industry overall is actually has a small increase of one percent,” he says. Roth says Iowa’s scratch ticket sales are better than other states with Iowa’s same profile.

“When you compare it to those states that are more similar to us, they’re down by three-point-five percent (3.5%), so it is a challenge out there in the marketplace with regards to scratch tickets,” he says. Roth says the new arrangement the Iowa Lottery Board recently approved where the Lottery will share the risk with their ticket vendor is one step toward addressing the lagging scratch ticket sales. He says the arrangement will allow them to look at scratch ticket sales in a different way. “It’s going to be a shift in terms of what we’re what our focus is and then what we’re going to be able to deliver and expand in terms of new offerings and new capabilities,” Roth says.

Scratch tickets are still the to selling product of the Iowa Lottery, but big Lotto game jackpots have been the driver in pushing sales up overall.