Lottery hits jackpot fatigue
Plus: City council member advocates for honey-flavored whiskey; Stocks decline in 3Q; Rezoning filings examined; HOA cracks down on illicit flag-flying; DaBaby lends a hand to 'Coach Prime'
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As massive Powerball and Mega Millions jackpots become more common, more players are saying ‘meh,’ N.C. lottery officials say
by Tony Mecia
The $1 billion Powerball jackpot that someone is hoping to win tonight sounds like a lot. But N.C. lottery officials say that as the number of huge jackpots has spiked in the last couple of years, potential players are becoming harder to attract.
At a meeting last week, officials described a phenomenon in which ticket sales for large Powerball and Mega Millions jackpots are increasing less sharply than they did previously. Since July of 2022, there have been 11 drawings for jackpots of $1B or more, compared with just one such drawing in the previous three years.
“It’s a little bit harder to get people excited about a jackpot,” said Randy Spielman, the N.C. Education Lottery’s deputy executive director of product development and digital gaming.
A slide he showed Lottery Commission members on Wednesday said the surge in billion-dollar jackpots in the last 18 months is “beginning to impact players’ responsiveness to large jackpots.” The last two big jackpots generated about half the ticket sales compared with previous similar jackpots, he said.
Another official said that on the day of a July 2022 Mega Millions jackpot of $830M, North Carolinians spent $10.1M on tickets. When the Mega Millions jackpot reached $820M a year later, in July 2023, same-day ticket sales were only $3.7M.
Ticket sales still rise when the jackpots are huge, which officials attribute to favorable media coverage. The N.C. Lottery Commission also starts running more ads when jackpots exceed $500 million to let potential players know and “to get them excited about it,” said Terri Rose, the commission’s deputy executive director of brand management and communications.
In North Carolina, the surge in big jackpots caused sales of Mega Millions tickets to more than double last year, compared with a year earlier, and Powerball ticket sales rose by nearly 30%. Combined, they constitute less than 10% of the state’s lottery revenue; nearly 70% comes from scratch-off tickets.
The N.C. Education Lottery had record sales last year ($4.3B) and for the first time surpassed $1B in annual funding to education, officials said.
Interest rates fueling large jackpots: The recent increases in eye-popping jackpots stem in large part from higher interest rates. That’s because the advertised jackpot amount is the sum of payouts over 30 years. With the yields on annuities higher now than in previous years, that sum is higher, too. Most winners, though, take the payouts in a single, lower lump sum.
Powerball and Mega Millions have also changed the games in recent years to make them more difficult to win, which means prizes roll over to the next drawing and increase.
Odds of winning a Powerball jackpot are 1 in 292.2 million. Odds of winning Mega Millions are 1 in 302.6 million. Regardless of the jackpot amount, the odds of winning stay the same.
All you have to do is pick six numbers correctly. The next Powerball drawing is tonight, with an expected jackpot of $1.04B. The next Mega Millions drawing is Tuesday, with an estimated jackpot of a paltry $300M.
Today’s supporting sponsor is the 2023 Novant Health Charlotte Marathon:
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Quotable: City Council member presses Mecklenburg ABC chief on availability of Jack Daniel’s Tennessee Honey and Coole Swan Irish Cream
An exchange at last Monday night’s Charlotte City Council meeting between council member LaWana Mayfield and Mecklenburg ABC chief executive Keva Walton, who was updating the council on ABC operations:
Mayfield: How do you decide which locations get which products?
Walton: We are getting better at data analytics — what sales are being driven where, how much volume, like any other retailer. … It’s principally based on sales.
Mayfield: It’s interesting that your current model is based on sales, because if the location closest to me doesn’t have the product that I want, and I have to go across town, the sales are going to be based off of that location.
Or if I were to go online to do a search — so I’m going to be very specific: Jack Daniel’s now has a Tennessee Honey in a can form. Myers Park is one of the few locations in Charlotte that has that. If the Wilkinson Boulevard location, the Brookshire location [and] the Mount Holly location are the closest locations to me, there’s no way for me to go on ABC’s website to find this particular product.
Walton: Are you looking for the bottle or the can?
Mayfield: Just the can.
Mayor Vi Lyles: I think you just got it on the shelf. [laughter]
Mayfield: No, I had that on the lake this weekend. [laughter]
Walton: What I would say to you is there are very few products we can’t get. … We will take a look — somebody over there has got that down. We will look at Jack Daniel’s Honey in a can.
…
Mayfield: After visiting Ireland a number of years ago, there was a very specific Irish drink that I could only get from Ireland, because nobody sold it here. For many years, I was able to order it, and then that was changed, where we no longer could get orders. … I had to go across state lines in order to find it. … How do residents encourage you all on certain products and brands? …
Walton: A lot of that has to do with what is listed at the state level. Chances are, we could get that by special order. There really is no product we can’t get. …
Mayfield: So I’m going to tell you to add Coole Swan — to whoever the magical person is over there writing things down — onto that list. There is an opportunity, if we are looking at our neighboring partners, what products they are having that we might not have. If I need to go across the state line, or to Frugal [MacDoogal], then that’s sales that I’m not able to participate and utilize right here. … I don’t want a special order. I just want to be able to walk into the store and get what I want to get.
Taking Stock, sponsored by Topsail Wealth Management
Friday was the last trading day of the third quarter. Matthew Snipes of Topsail Wealth Management provides some insights on the markets — and advice for investors:
All three of the major equity indices were down for the quarter: The S&P 500 finished down 3.65%, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was off 2.6%, and the Nasdaq fell 4.1%. Fixed-income markets also saw another quarter of losses as rates continued to rise.
Inflation continued to decline over the past quarter. At their last meeting for the quarter, the Fed left the current target of 5.25%-5.50% unchanged. Released on Friday, the Core Personal Consumption Expenditures Index rose 3.9% year over year in August, down from 4.3% in July.
The Fed has signaled additional rate increases are still on the table, and rates could stay higher for longer. Expectations vary for when we will see rate cuts; the likely catalyst would be a recession or a soft landing.
U.S. stock market performance has been “top-heavy,” with only a handful of large-cap stocks driving 2023 returns. U.S. valuations are high, and when compared with international markets, the spread continues to be historically wide.
What investors should do now:
Make sure every bit of your cash is working for you. Money market yields are over 5.2%.
Timing all markets is difficult, if not futile. Review your asset allocation and ensure you are appropriately allocated.
How local stocks of note fared last week (through Friday’s close), and year to date:
Hot rezonings 🔥 of last two months: condos, apartments, signs and more!
Back by popular demand today we have The Ledger’s regular look at rezoning petitions in Charlotte! Yeah!
There are fewer rezoning filings since Charlotte’s Unified Development Ordinance took effect earlier this year — just 16 in the last two months. And many of the ones that are filed contain fewer details about developers’ plans compared with the pre-UDO days.
But there’s still useful information — so we’re sharing them all with you from August and September. Residents like knowing if something’s up near their homes, and real-estate types like to follow this information closely, too.
Rezoning petitions filed in the last couple months include plans for:
condos in the Cotswold area
senior apartments near I-485 by the Whitewater Center
increased heights at a big development in SouthPark
signs atop a prominent uptown skyscraper
amendments to Charlotte’s Unified Development Ordinance
And more!
Here’s the map of the sites that are the subject of rezoning requests from the last two months:
This feature is available only to The Ledger’s paying members (🔒), so if you want to check it out, you’ll need to join.
You might be interested in these Charlotte events
Events submitted by readers to The Ledger’s events board:
SATURDAY: Women Thrive Conference – A Day Long Entrepreneurship Summit, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., First Baptist Church West, 1801 Oaklawn Ave. The Women Thrive Conference invites you to spend a day learning how to take your business to the next level. Whether you're just starting your business or are looking for ways to grow, you'll walk away with actionable insights. Sessions will include marketing, securing loans, web design and more -- all led by topic experts. Tickets are $300 and include 8-10 sessions led by experts, a conference workbook, access to our special Facebook group, breakfast, coffee & pastries, lunch, and parking.
SUNDAY: Swim Across America - Charlotte, 12-3:30 p.m., YMCA Camp Thunderbird, Lake Wylie, S.C. The seventh annual open water charity swim will be held at Camp Thunderbird on Sunday afternoon, Oct. 8. The event welcomes swimmers and volunteers of all ages and skill levels. Proceeds support cancer research at Levine Cancer and Levine Children's. Register or donate today!
◼️ Check out the full Ledger events board.
➡️ List your event on the Ledger events board.
In brief:
Taco Bell employee shot: An employee at an east Charlotte Taco Bell was shot and taken to the hospital with life-threatening injuries on Saturday night, after a drive-thru customer became angry over receiving what he said was incorrect change, police said. The alleged shooter fled the Taco Bell at 8812 Albemarle Road but was later taken into custody. (WBTV)
Abortion law partially blocked: A federal judge blocked two provisions of North Carolina’s new abortion law from taking effect as a lawsuit proceeds, though most parts of the law — including restrictions on abortions after 12 weeks of pregnancy — are allowed to continue. (Associated Press)
Albemarle settles bribery charges: Charlotte-based Fortune 500 chemical maker Albemarle Corp. agreed to pay more than $218M to settle allegations that it bribed officials in foreign countries. Albemarle said the penalties stemmed from “actions taken by a limited number of former employees and third-party sales representatives” years ago and that it had cut ties with the people responsible. (Observer)
HOA cracks down on flag-flying: Two residents in the Holly Park neighborhood in Indian Trail say their homeowners association has sent them letters about flags that are alleged to violate HOA rules. One resident said he flew a pride flag and another said he flew a Brazilian flag. The HOA says only U.S. flags can be flown in the neighborhood. (WBTV)
McCaffrey sells uptown condo: Former Carolina Panthers running back Christian McCaffrey sold his 3,800 s.f. penthouse condo at Syke Condominiums at 222 S. Caldwell St. in a deal that closed Friday. The sales price of $3M is believed to be the highest-priced condo on a per-square-foot basis ever sold in uptown. (Biz Journal, subscriber-only, with 25 photos)
On the agenda: Charlotte City Council committees today are expected to discuss the Charlotte Area Transit System, the Unified Development Ordinance, federal Covid funding, legislative priorities and enforcement of ordinances related to uptown “quality of life” issues such as public urination and defecation and helping the city’s homeless population.
DaBaby encourages football team: Charlotte rapper DaBaby was a guest of honor at the Colorado Buffaloes football game on Saturday and gave the team a motivational talk at the invitation of coach Deion Sanders. DaBaby told the team about how he deals with adversity: “Just keep going. Just stay down, stay at it. … If you get it early on, it’s going to help you run into it later.” (Sports Illustrated; watch video of DaBaby speaking to players from Sanders’ Instagram account)
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Executive editor: Tony Mecia; Managing editor: Cristina Bolling; Staff writer: Lindsey Banks; Business manager: Brie Chrisman, BC Creative