NAU POLL: LOTTERY PLAY CLIMBS DESPITE ECONOMY’S DECLINE
NOTE: Subs 11th graf to CORRECT final date to 2004 sted 2008.
By JEREMY THOMAS
Cronkite News Service
PHOENIX (Wednesday, April 16) _ As the state’s economy slides, more Arizonans are trying their luck on the lottery, according to a poll released Wednesday by Northern Arizona University researchers.
“People are facing more difficult economic circumstances,” said Fred Solop, director of the university’s Social Research Laboratory, which conducted the poll. “They’re trying to survive in today’s economy, and they’re hoping that a dollar here or a dollar there will win them some money that will ease that.”
Fifty-five percent of Arizonans surveyed statewide said that they had played the lottery in the past year, up from 45 percent in 2004. A 2003 survey found that 49 percent had played the lottery.
“That’s a significant leap that we’re seeing,” Solop said.
While more people from all income groups reported playing the lottery, the poll found that those from households with total incomes of less than $50,000 are more likely to play the lottery, including state and Powerball drawings, Solop said.
Arizona Lottery Executive Director Art Macias said the lottery’s research doesn’t show the connection Solop suggests.
While overall state lottery sales rose 26 percent from 2004 to 2007, they are up just 2 percent over the past year after a slight downturn the previous year, Macias said. Scratcher sales, which make up a majority of lottery sales, are down 5 percent from the last fiscal year.
“Certainly, economic downturn impacts the lottery just as any other consumer product,” Macias said. “I would even say that it’s a fallacy to equate a decline in the economy with an increase in lottery play.”
Macias said the lottery’s demographic survey of 4,800 players showed that the average player resembles the average Arizonan, about 44 years old with an average household income of $52,000 a year.
The survey also asks Arizonans about other forms of gambling, including horse and dog racing, casinos and on Internet gaming.
Twenty-six percent of those surveyed said they had gambled at in-state casinos, up from 23 percent in 2004. Twenty-two percent said they had visited a Nevada casino, up from 18 percent in 2004.
About two-thirds of respondents reported spending $20 or less on gambling in an average month. Eleven percent said they didn’t spend any money at all on gambling, and 7 percent reported spending more than $100 a month.
The poll, conducted from March 30-April 8, involved 400 Arizona residents selected at random. It has a margin for error of plus or minus 5 percentage points.
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Web Links:
_ Social Research Laboratory: www.socialresearchlab.com
_ Arizona Lottery: www.arizonalottery.com