Online Sale of Lottery Tickets to Be Banned in Florida

The lawmakers from the US state of Florida have introduced a new bill that could potentially ban the online sale of lottery tickets, as well as playing gambling games online.

The bill, named House Bill 629, was introduced by Representative, William Cloud Robinson. His plan and the main objective of this bill is to ban sales of lottery tickets online and to allow only the purchase of physical tickets.

The ban would apply to all personal electronic devices, like mobile phones, tablets, laptops, basically everything that can connect to the internet.

New Measures

The bill also mentions something about incorporating new responsible gambling measures. It actually proposes to include warnings that would be written on each and every lottery ment…

…as well as on lottery tickets.

As stated in the bill, each advert and ticket should state: “Warning: playing a lottery game constitutes ambling and may lead to addiction and/or compulsive behavior. The chances of winning a big prize are very low.”

This statement should be written across 10% of each ticket or advert, and the same applies to a television ment, while on the radio there should be verbal warning at the end of each ad.

If this bill becomes law, all these new measures will be incorporated from January 1, 2020, while the new rules regarding lottery tickets won’t be effective for another 12 months.

Florida Not the First to Ban Online Sales

Seems like the Sunny State wasn’t the first to want to ban online sales of lottery tickets. Actually, New Mexico lawmakers introduced their bill this month as well…

…while proposing the incorporation of similar measures.

New Mexico’s Bill H 441 proposes the ban of any sort of mobile gambling or playing of video lottery games. The New Mexico Lottery would also have to stop selling lottery tickets through the self-service device on retail petrol dispenser or automated teller machine.

Sports Gambling in Florida

The president of the Florida Senate, Bill Galvano, is planning to seek legislative approval to regulate sports betting in this state. He confirmed a few days ago that he will soon introduce a new bill that would not only regulate sports gambling but will cover other gambling aspects.

Galvano also said that the bill will introduce new plans regarding taxes, the impact on the pari-mutuels, etc. He believes that the state has to come to an understanding with Seminole Tribes when it comes to handling the revenue…

…because Florida voters agreed last November to put control of the gambling industry into their hands.

Nevertheless, the bill will not be able to become a law until the residents vote for or against it.

Source:

“Florida bill aims to ban online lottery sales”, igamingbusiness.com, February 18, 2019.

“FL Senate president preparing bill on gaming, sports gambling”, Erik Gibbs, calvinayre.com, February 12, 2019.