The agency recently advertised for proposals to outfit the van and decorate it with blazing Lotto logos, turning it into the “Lotto-mobile,” Lottery director Bill Hanson said Friday. It would visit the Puyallup Fair and other big festivals.
Bids on tricking out the van are due Oct. 13, and specs call for such things as awnings, an LCD television, a “jackpot” sign, a refrigerator, air conditioning, and wiring to support Lottery terminals that can print and dispense tickets. The idea is to set up at events where agency employees can explain how the Lottery games work and sell a few thousand tickets every weekend.
“A lot of lotteries have this. They call them lotto-mobiles or lucky vans,” Hanson said. “Almost every weekend there are events out there. We figure with 50 new events with the Lotto-mobile and we make $2,000 in sales (at each stop), we could pay this off fast.”
The Governor’s Office is leery of the proposal, but it’s too late to cancel the vehicle purchase.
“We have concerns,” Cory Curtis, a spokesman for Gov. Chris Gregoire, said Friday. “We need to look into it. It can be a bit tone-deaf in these times to see the state buying up Mercedes-Benzes. From a marketing perspective especially, at these times we have to be thoughtful and careful how we approach these issues.”
Washington’s Lottery sold $491 million worth of tickets last year, up slightly from 2009 but down 5.8 percent from fiscal year 2008, according to the 2010 annual report.
Brad Shannon: 360-753-1688
bshannon@theolympian.com
www.theolympian.com/politicsblog
