JACKSON, Miss. — Mississippians are anxious to start playing lottery. State leaders said the first lottery tickets could go on sale in six months.
"We'll get the scratch-offs and the state lotteries fairly soon once they get the board in place and pick the director," State Sen. Philip Moran, a Republican from Harrison County, said.
The board will have five members.
"I've got a board to appoint and it's going to be a very deliberate, methodical process of picking just the right people," Gov. Phil Bryant said.
Board members will have to hire a director, then they will hire a private company to manage the lottery system.
"But we're going to take our time. We want to be very careful (and) do a better job, I think, overseeing gaming than any other state in the nation that has gaming," Bryant said.
Supporters estimate a lottery could generate tens of millions of dollars in revenue every year. That money will be earmarked to help repair crumbling highways and bridges.
"Folks will be able to buy their Mega and Powerball tickets right here in the great state of Mississippi," Bryant said.
Todd,
Been waiting all day for this news!
Of course I want IGT to manage their lottery.
I don't think MM & PB jackpots will increase any faster with them in the mix, but glad for them to play @ home vs another state.
Anyone taking bets on how fast they start making arrests for lottery ticket thefts and fraud in Mississippi?
If you build it, they will come!
The crumbling highways and bridges in other States are making the news. Perfect timing for the Mississippi lottery.
Timing is everything in politics. Congratulations to the lottery players there.
for crying out loud just start it in two weeks or so. there will be some corruption no matter how long you wait to implement it. start off with a gaggle of 1.00 and 2.00 scratch tickets and then add a daily numbers game and go from there. every week add another game or announce the joining of a multi-state game. keep the state's people on their toes wondering what game will they add this week. stimulates interest and sales.
Sure they anxious to start, but in the meantime, it will not stop those who have been going out of state to purchase their tickets, from doing so. It doesn't hurt to have relatives in neighboring states, from helping out till Mississippi gets their game up to speed.
Once the state lotto starts playing then I say good luck and I hope they win the jackpot!
Good Luck
Looks like the Louisiana Lottery will be losing business. When Powerball broke $1billion, there were long lines at the stores on our eastern border.
This is about to be real interesting. The true is everyone is waiting just to see how they handle their lottery.
With both MM & PB being this high, the last thing they want to be asked is " How are you guys going to handle your lottery?" They probably thinking, we should have had this lottery thing up and running years ago.