- The National Hockey League (NHL) New Jersey Devils have announced a promotional partnership with online lottery app Jackpocket.
- Jackpocket is the first licensed third party lottery app in North America.
- Jackpocket is live in Arkansas, Colorado, Minnesota, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Oregon, Texas, and Washington, D.C
Other than wanting to keep it as far away from sports betting as possible, I have nothing against the lottery. Some people enjoy it and more power to them. Not every has a rudimentary understanding of math, which is a prerequisite if you’re going to willing play anything with a ‘house edge’ of 50% or higher. This is true even if you only play when there’s a ‘big jackpot’. Name an extremely unlikely event, and I’ll all but guarantee you that its occurrence is significantly more realistic than winning the lotery:
THE ASTRONOMICAL ODDS AGAINST WINNING POWERBALL OR MEGAMILLIONS JACKPOTS
Like PT Barnum was alleged to said (but almost certainly didn’t) ‘there’s a sucker born every minute’. And for some strange reason, that ‘sucker’ is likely to be a New Jersey Devils fan. New Jersey Devils fans are five times more likely to play the lottery than the national average. I haven’t seen the data to validate this but that is what we’re told in a press release announcing the NHL team’s partnership with online lottery app Jackpocket. Jackpocket is the first licensed third party lottery app in North America and is available to the mathematically challenged in a growing number of US states. If you live in Arkansas, Colorado, Minnesota, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Oregon, Texas, and Washington, D.C you’re in luck–and we know that’s a concept you believe very strongly in.
Under the terms of the deal, Jackpocket is now the ‘Devils Official Lottery Courier Partner’. Here’s some backstory on Jackpocket from the press release announcing the deal:
With operations in 10 states, including New Jersey, New York, and Texas, Jackpocket’s user base continues to grow rapidly with active users increasing by 96.1% in New Jersey alone in the last year. Jackpocket is now the Official Lottery Partner for the New Jersey Devils, New York Islanders, New York Jets, and Rutgers Athletics. Jackpocket players have won nearly $95 million in lottery prizes to date, including eight individual players who have won prizes worth a million dollars or more, with a New Jersey health care worker winning $9.4M using the app this past October.
As part of the Devils/Jackpocket partnership, the lottery courier will be sponsoring a ‘first goal of the game’ contest–the odds of which are significantly more favorable than playing the lottery:
One such experience is the “First Goal of the Game” social media contest where during all regular season games fans can guess who will score the first goal of each game. Whoever guesses correctly will be entered to win a signed player photo from a current Devils player. Fans can submit their first goal scorer guess here prior to each Devils game.
Jackpocket CEO Peter Sullivan, is pleased to be working with the Devils and drops the fact that the team’s fans are more likely to play the lottery than the average person:
“New Jerseyans, and specifically Devils fans, are more likely to play the lottery than many across the country. Jackpocket is proud to partner with the Devils to bring this dedicated fan base a simple, fun way to play the lottery. We are excited to introduce new in-game activities and experiences to this fan base throughout the coming years.”
Here’s a pro tip for any aspiring publicist–if you’re going to put a purported fact based on some type of statistical analysis in a press release, do us all a favor and at least give us some idea of the methodology. If what you’re saying (or more likely what your client is asking you to say) is not true, that doesn’t reflect well on your professional credibility. If there is some validity to it you’ll no doubt find media types such as myself that would like to know how this was determined and to ‘check your work’. In 2019, the annual national lottery expenditure per capita was $288.06. In New Jersey, it was $434.98 which is the sixth highest figure in the country. 12% of the population plays the lottery at least once a week which works out to a bit over one million weekly players based on New Jersey’s 2019 population of 8.8 million.
Adam Cross, New Jersey Devils Senior Vice President, Corporate Partnerships, is happy to add another sponsor to his portfolio:
“Jackpocket presents Devils and sports fans in New Jersey an opportunity to take their naturally competitive spirit to the next level, from a trusted and celebrated partner. From Devils-themed lottery opportunities, to special Jackpocket-sponsored sweepstakes and exclusive prizes, we are confident Jackpocket will be the preferred, digital lottery platform for Devils fans – who are already five times more likely to play the lottery than the national average.”
The lottery might not be our thing but we’re happy to see any type of innovation in the gambling space. Typically, states do everything within their power (COUGH COUGH NEVADA) to keep their gaming industry in stasis at the behest of their financial benefactors, most of whom greatly want to maintain the status quo.
