Lottery Board wise to hold off on Georgia partnership
The new Tennessee Lottery Board made the correct decision in declining — at least for now — an offer from the state of Georgia to enter into a lottery partnership.
Georgia lottery director Rebecca Paul approached our state lottery board with a deal where lotteries in the two states could collaborate in a number of ways, including sharing such things as supplies.
In exchange, Paul said she and her staff could get Tennessee’s lottery online at least three months ahead of schedule.
The offer was tempting. An earlier kickoff would mean more revenue, perhaps as high as in the $40 million to $70 million range.
Board members decided that Georgia wasn’t offering a specific-enough proposal, and that our state needed to study the impact of such a partnership.
In other words, might it be counterproductive for Tennessee to be in league with Georgia, when the two lotteries could be in competition along their shared border? Would Georgia benefit more from the deal, if it were calling the shots?
In the meantime, our state lottery officials should stay the course in developing the infrastructure to run Tennessee’s game on its own. While many people are anxious to get the lottery up and running — and high school students are already counting on those lottery-revenue college scholarships — the people in charge much ensure the best bang for the buck.
And they must continue to exercise vigilance that the lottery is run under the highest standards of ethical behavior to ensure the integrity of the game.