Minnesota Lottery to suspend all online games this weekend
Lottery to withdraw products after bill passed into law earlier this year forcing it suspend digital offering
The Minnesota Lottery has begun to wind down its online offering, with the last of its eScratch games being pulled from the site this weekend. [private]
The lottery was forced to pull the shutters down on its digital business after state Governor Mark Dayton allowed a bill to pass into law earlier this year blocking the lottery from offering online games.
From today the lottery will stop selling online tickets for Mega Millions and Gopher 5 draws, and on Saturday all remaining draw games will be pulled including Hot Lotto and PowerBall.
That will be followed by the suspension of all online scratch card sales on Sunday.
Minnesota was one of the first US lotteries to expand its offering into the online space, launching its digital product range back in February last year.
However the launch received immediate criticism from lawmakers in the state who said they had not been properly consulted before the lottery set its egaming site to go live.
Lawmakers passed a bill seeking to block the lottery last year but it was ultimately vetoed by Governor Dayton who said lotto boss Ed Van Petten was operating well within the scope of his authority.
But second time round and amid mounting pressure Governor Dayton chose not to veto the bill and allowed it to pass into law, albeit without his stamp of approval.
It may not be over for the lotteryâs plans for online, with Van Petten previously telling eGR NA he had plans to launch social casino games.