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BC Gambling Study Shows Mixed Results

Posted on February 21st, 2011

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A Gaming Watch study conducted by Research and Incite Consultants concerning the British Columbia Lottery Corp done in September 2010 is revealing some interesting shifts in British Columbians’ actions towards gambling. For one, fewer British Columbians are playing BC Lottery Corp games. There is also a documented increase in anti-gaming sentiments and a corresponding decrease in faith in programs aimed at curbing gambling addiction problems. The survey reached out to 3000 households via phone calls at the rate of 750 per quarter and 58 per week to poll citizens regarding their sentiments pertaining to the role that BCLC plays in British Columbian society. The study is actually commissioned by BC Lottery Corp and is part of an ongoing measure to give performance feedback to BCLC in all aspects of the gambling business and to provide an early warning system for potential challenges and opportunities.

The study overall reveals a mixed bag of positive and negative feedback that are sure to keep BC Lottery Corp executives busy over the next few months. While a very solid eighty percent of British Columbians have taken part in at least one BC Lottery Corp game in the last 12 months with at least 20% of those with internet connection accessing the BCLC.com website in the last 30 days, the same set of respondents also allude to concerns that gambling causes social problems especially in perennial gamblers. There is also a steady stream of negative public perceptions as evidenced by reports claiming that “casinos are targeting senior citizens” or of irresponsible gamblers “leaving kids in cars.”

The demographic is also highly divided in their opinion of BC Lottery Corp and gambling in general. Younger people, out of all other social groups, give the highest approval ratings for BC Lottery Corp. The corporation’s recent moves to cut funding for charities and increase the weekly wallet limit on PlayNow.com, BC Lottery Corp online gambling site, have also been instrumental in fueling increased negative perceptions regarding the company’s reduced support for worthwhile causes with only 40% of British Columbians claiming that they know which specific projects BCLC money goes to.

There is, however, a continuing decline in criticisms regarding retailer integrity issues as the media has lost interest over such reports that previously dominate British Columbian media outlets. As a result, citizens now find the system more trustworthy in terms of the fairness with which the bingo and lottery games are administered.

The negative feedback are highlighted when compared to results from last year. Quarter-to-quarter comparison also shows an interesting trend as BCLC numbers sharply declined during the Vancouver Olympics presumably due to public support for the games. A steady rebound in numbers is now observed but consistent with the overall study, these numbers are still a far cry from BC Lottery Corp’s strong performance a year ago.

Overall, there was a significant drop in BC Lottery Corp games participation covering the quarters from 2009 to 2010 as compared to similar periods in 2008 to 2009. This observation seems to be true both for frequent and infrequent players creating the situation where “each game is competing for a declining share of wallet.” Sales in Lotto 6/49 and 8/49 games dropped as the sales trend for Lotto Max is starting to go up. BC Lottery Corp executives attribute the overall lower participation due to a universal decline in casino visitors for the fiscal year 2009-2010 as opposed to “a cannibalization from other BCLC games.” The report seems to indicate that fewer citizens are finding time to visit their favorite casino spots hence the decline in overall BCLC sales.

The BC Lottery Corp has commissioned these studies since the early 1990s. With the introduction of PlayNow.com, new avenues of analyzing performance data is now available but as of this writing, the PlayNow.com section is still not made available to the public. The complete study results for BC Lottery Corp were obtained under the Freedom of Information Law. The BC Lottery Corp has been providing support for the Canadian province since it first established operations.