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N.C. lottery is off target |
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Dec 25, 2006 - North Carolina's lottery sales have tumbled since July, and the game's director predicts that -- under the best scenario -- the lottery will generate $75 million less for education than projected in the current state budget. The sales of numbers games, such as Powerball and Cash 5, are up slightly since July, but scratch-and-win ticket sales have plummeted. Scratch, or instant, tickets are supposed to provide the growth in lotteries nationally. But in North Carolina, sales shrank from $52 million in July to $38 million in November. "We are not on track at this point," said Tom Shaheen, the lottery's executive director. Shaheen said he has no clear explanation for the downturn but he theorized that sales could suffer because consumers are spending more on gas, there has been no big Powerball jackpot to drive up playing, and North Carolina placed a lower limit on prize money than other states. By Mark Johnson
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