The last decade has completely re-written the long-term trajectory of the gambling sector. With the rise of mobile accessibility and internet availability, casino gaming and sports betting have drastically shifted from brick and mortar shops and retail casinos to, well, anywhere the player can connect online.
The global iGaming sector was estimated to be worth around $78.66bn in 2024, up from around $50bn in 2018. This is set to rise to way over $100bn by 2030. Impressive numbers for sure, but all the more impressive when considering that one of the world’s most popular and historic forms of gambling hasn’t been subjected to the same modernisation.
Lottery gaming perhaps goes all the way back to China in around 200 BC, but it is also suggested that Roman Emperor Augstus hosted a lottery to fund improvements to the city of Rome.
And while there have certainly been improvements to lotteries since those ancient times, lottery gaming hasn’t had the rapid development like casino gaming and sports betting.
But this is set to change, as iGP unveiled its iGaming Lottery solution at SBC Summit 2025. iGaming Lottery features secondary lottery markets, where players can bet on the outcome of lotteries around the world; custom lotteries, which operators can use to create lotteries that suit their individual player bases; and raffles, where players can win ‘dream prizes’ through draws within the platform.
Inesa Glazaite, iGP’s Chief Commercial Officer, caught up with iGaming Expert live in Lisbon at the launch of iGaming Lottery, to discuss how this new solution will aim to innovate the lottery sector.
Lotteries for acquisition and retention
She noted that iGaming Lottery is an incredibly powerful acquisition and retention tool, offering cross-selling opportunities to clients.
“As a full-suite platform provider, iGP has been at the forefront of technology and innovation for over a decade,” Glazaite said. “The addition of lottery not only complements our offering, it strengthens our position as a market leader with a complete stack of iGaming verticals. We’re proud to give our clients new revenue streams, stronger ways to engage players, and the ability to bring excitement with more than $1 billion in jackpots available every month.”
As Glazaite explained, iGaming Lottery comes with insurance for payouts up to €100 million, while its secondary lottery market has up to 70 different international lotteries within its portfolio.
She noted that all three aspects of the iGaming Lottery solution can help support retention, acquisition, upselling, seasonal marketing and even cross-selling.
“The secondary lottery allows our operators’ players to bet on real lottery outcomes. What you could do here is use it for retention, because players like to come back on the websites to check if the jackpot was won,” she said.
“Custom lotteries are the perfect way for our partners/operators to create lotteries, such as, combining a lottery with events at midnight and calling it Midnight Lottery. Our operators can time when they would like players to make a deposit just to check the outcome of a lottery. At the same time, we can place a casino game on the screen, we can also see what live sports events are happening.”
She added: “Raffles allow operators to also create additional custom lottery tickets so players can win their dream house, their dream car, or dream holiday.”
These tools all include encouraging players to come back onsite to check results, therefore offering the chance for operators to upsell or cross-sell with casino games or sports bets.
Lotteries for younger players
iGP has promised to innovate in the lottery space and open up the vertical for newer players. One key aspect of the product is the ability for players to use cryptocurrencies to play the lottery.
Glazaite noted that this should help operators in their quest to reach a younger audience and modernise their operations in a futureproof manner.
She explained: “We want our partners to not just reactivate existing players, but we want them to attract new ones and to want them to attract young players. For our partners, this is about more than revenue. It’s about futureproofing. Younger players want modern features like cryptocurrency payments; traditional players want the familiarity of lottery. iGaming Lottery delivers both, strengthening our position as a true full-suite iGaming provider.”
“Lotteries attract a completely different demographic. Some of these players never touch casino games, yet they spend money every week on lottery tickets. Now operators can capture that audience, bring them onsite, and introduce them to new experiences. With over $1 billion in jackpots available globally every month, the excitement is unmatched.”
“Players may hesitate to try a new casino, but when they see a lottery they’ve known since childhood, it builds confidence. That trust makes it easier to acquire and retain them.”
A global proposition
Some online gambling products are perfectly suited to a certain region or market, such as crash games which have been popular in African and Latin American markets, or horse racing which is more popular in mature markets.
But lotteries feel more ubiquitous. As a traditional and historic form of gambling, lotteries carry a sense of familiarity among players globally, offering operators all over the world the opportunity to reach new players.
Glazaite noted that iGaming Lottery is set to gain strong traction globally, with Europe and Latin America standing out as early growth markets.
“It’s more of a global solution,”she said. “In different continents, players have different demands. We have over 70 different lotteries in our portfolio so we can tailor our output to the locale of the player.”
Another huge positive of having the lottery within an operator’s portfolio is the authenticity of the vertical as a cornerstone of gambling.
As Glazaite noted: “For example, if I speak about Latin America, the lottery would be popular with everyone, especially for the older generation who grew up with it as a big part of their culture.
“And now imagine when we see something that we have played years and years ago, and our parents did the same. It is going to be something familiar, something we know, something that we are going to play and trust.
“Because of this, our solution is going to be especially useful for startups. Players are always suspicious about the new websites but then we are going to see something familiar, such as the lottery, it is going to be very interesting for them to take apart from that.”
That is the essence of iGaming Lottery, to drive innovation and new ideas in the lottery sector. As iGP’s CCO noted, it can help operators old and new to attract and retain players and introduce traditional gambling forms to younger players. It, in her view, can improve operator revenue and futureproof them moving forward.
As Glazaite concluded: “iGP always seeks to find new ways to help our partners grow, enter new markets and attract new players. iGaming Lottery fits all these criteria because it will be innovative for the younger generation and will improve the engagement for the rest of the players. This is why we made the decision to have a lottery as an additional product to our portfolio.”
https://igamingexpert.com/features/igp-lottery-gaming-modern-era
