- Third party lottery app Jackpocket has announced a sponsorship deal with ESPN.
- Jackpocket becomes the exclusive sponsor of the ESPN New York Sports app.
- Jackpocket is available in Arkansas, Colorado, Minnesota, Montana, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Ohio, Oregon, Texas, and Washington, D.C.
Jackpocket’s growth has been really impressive and particularly since their niche involves them getting state lotteries to part with cash and control. The first licensed third party lottery app in the United States, Jackpocket has a presence in 11 US states plus the District of Columbia. Not surprisingly, the app benefited greatly from the recent ‘Mega Millions’ jackpot hysteria and became the top free app on Apple’s App Store. They’ve also hit one million individual users that have ordered winning tickets through the Jackpocket platform.
While gaming businesses entering into partnership deals with professional sports team’s is yesterday’s news, Jackpocket has been one of the few to clearly benefit from the deals they’ve made. They’ve signed deals with several NBA, NHL and NFL teams. They’ve also partnered up with WynnBET in the state of New York. Their most significant partnership arrangement could be the one brokered with the Circle K convenience store brand. As you can no doubt surmise, Circle K moves a ton of lottery tickets. I’m still not clear on the Jackpocket business model and where they make money aide from a service fee on customer deposits. At any rate, here’s how the service works:
The Jackpocket app provides users with a secure platform to order official state lottery tickets that are then fulfilled on their behalf at a licensed lottery retailer we partner with. When you place an order, we send you an email confirmation that includes all the details of your order. Then you receive another email once we’ve secured the ticket for you that includes the ticket serial number. We also send a high resolution scan of your paper ticket — front and back — for you to view in the app. The email receipt and ticket image are assurance that your ticket was purchased. Your paper ticket is securely stored in a locked, fireproof vault. If your ticket wins a small prize, we’ll credit your Jackpocket account and you can send the winnings to your bank account. If your ticket wins a large prize, we’ll arrange to have the winning ticket delivered to you in secure fashion so you can claim your prize directly from the state lottery.
Jackpocket has announced another big partnership deal in a lucrative lottery market. They’re now the exclusive sponsor of the ESPN New York sports app. Here’s the 411 of the arrangement from the press release:
ESPN New York is the home for all things New York sports, including play-by-play action for the city’s major professional teams. This partnership is Jackpocket’s largest sports broadcasting promotion, after announcing previous deals with local NYC teams like the Mets and the Jets.
Through this new partnership, Jackpocket will receive access to special ESPN events and experiences related to the New York sports scene. For instance, Jackpocket will receive eight VIP invites to the Yankees’ manager Aaron Boone’s cocktail event and “Q & A” at the New York Athletic Club.
In addition to giveaways and VIP experiences, Jackpocket will also be promoted by ESPN New York via live reads by popular on-air personalities like Michael Kay, Rick Dipietro, and Peter Rosenberg. Additionally, Jackpocket will receive a tile on the homepage of the ESPN New York app along with a click-through to download the Jackpocket app.
Tying themselves to the ESPN brand–even if it is on a regional basis–definitely raises the profile of the Jackpocket app. Could they become the ‘official lottery app of ESPN’ as in the entire ESPN network? It wouldn’t be a huge surprise.
Jackpocket Founder and CEO Peter Sullivan–who I’m starting to consider one of the sharpest guys in the gaming industry–is no doubt pleased to associate his brand with ESPN:
“Our new partnership with ESPN New York couldn’t come at a better time as the summer sports season heats up. ESPN is an iconic brand, and their popularity in the tri-state area is something local fans always rely on for the best and most thorough coverage of New York’s famed sports teams.”
ESPN New York had some pleasantries for Jackpocket courtesy of their Market Manager with the decidedly New York-esque name Vinny DiMarco:
“We are excited to partner with Jackpocket. Adding the Jackpocket tile to the ESPN New York App creates an intersection of sports and gaming, while providing a unique and convenient way to serve our fans. We look forward to the future of the partnership as it continues to evolve with event activation and content integration.”
It takes some big balls to find traction in the state lottery business–and particularly when the business model requires states giving up revenue and control. In many ways, they’re fighting a similar fight to the innovators in the sports betting industry. There’s clearly demand for the product, but they’re forced to fight a never ending battle against state politicians and regulators. These ‘gatekeepers’ have little interest in innovation, nor in rolling out the red carpet for an up and coming company that to at least some extent ‘changes the game’. Instead, their primary interests are diametrically opposed to those of the consumers in their state. More often than not, they shape gaming policy in such a way as to serve the interests of financial benefactors and legacy corporate (and in some cases tribal) gaming providers.
