The Massachusetts Package Store Association (MassPack) released a news brief on July 31, 2023, announcing that online lottery is no longer a contender in the Massachusetts FY2024 budget. This decision is good news for local package stores, many of which rely on lottery commissions as part of their sales.

Lottery officials began advocating for an online lottery system due to the legalization of sports betting, as they argue that “sports betting revenues could siphon off revenues from lottery sales”, to which MassPack retorts that, “This has never happened”.

MassPack claims that the state has presented “misleading information” and data based on New Hampshire, Virginia, Pennsylvania, and Michigan, where the state controls alcohol and lottery sales, and therefore does not accurately represent the situation here in Massachusetts, where 100% of lottery retailers are private stores, and an online lottery system would directly compete with these stores.