It’s not often when a completely new segment of draw-based games enters the market and player enthusiasm fuels its expansion across the country. Such has been the trajectory of IGT’s Cash Pop™ game, launched in 2019 and now live in 14 U.S. jurisdictions representing a total population of more than 104 million, over 30% of the U.S. population. In 2024, the Michigan, Maryland, and Maine Lotteries became the latest to offer Cash Pop, with more states to come.
Flexibility has always been central to Cash Pop’s appeal: Lotteries can determine the draw frequency, payouts, price points, and other elements of the game to best suit their portfolio, and players can personalize their strategy and play experience to improve their odds and winnability.
An attitude and usage study among Cash Pop players in six states, fielded by IGT last year, confirmed that the game’s flexibility is one of the primary factors driving its popularity, along with ease of play/understanding and its satisfying winning experience.
With further expansion into new populations and price points, Cash Pop is on its way to becoming a national game.
“This is a very customizable product for players and lotteries. With each rollout—as lotteries tailor the game for their market—the industry is seeing the wide range of possibilities come to life,” says Sarah Walker, IGT Senior Director Draw-Based Games Portfolio Strategy.
With more than a dozen versions of the game now successfully in market, Cash Pop has entered an exciting phase where lotteries are furthering the possibilities by working with IGT to introduce new frequencies, price points, and game enhancements:
- On June 16th, the Georgia Lottery Corporation (GLC) launched an instant-win component to Cash Pop. Neither an add-on nor a promotion, the instant-win feature conceived by the GLC and developed with IGT gives players the chance to instantly win double their base wager on every Pop purchased—for no additional cost. A win message is printed automatically on the bottom of tickets that are instant winners. By playing multiple Pops, players gain the chance to win more than one instant-win prize.
“This is a new and unique prize feature,” explains GLC’s Katherine Cundiff, Vice President of Product Development. “It’s mimicking our successful instant cash Numbers game promotions by adding prizes and improving odds of winning, and our players are responding enthusiastically.”
The “nth” frequency for winning improves with higher base wager amounts, e.g. $1 nth: 1 in 100, $2 nth: 1 in 70, $5 nth: 1 in 65, $10 nth: 1 in 50. Currently offered via in-store terminals and lottery vending machines, the new feature puts money back into players’ pockets at retail, where they can spend it in-store or reinvest in the game if they choose. Through mid-August, the Lottery has awarded Cash Pop instant-win prizes totaling more than $313,000 to 36,132 players.
- Simultaneously, the Georgia Lottery also launched a $10 price point for Cash Pop in both the iLottery and retail channels, an enhancement to its existing $1, $2, and $5 price points. Since launching this new price point, Cash Pop sales have increased by 47.1% versus the same period last year. In Florida, where the Lottery is one year out from its launch of the $10 price point in August 2023, there has been a sustained sales increase of about 46% compared to the year prior to the $10 launch.
- In November, New Jersey will be the first state to launch the $20 price point, an enhancement that tested well in IGT’s attitude and usage study last year. “Cash Pop has been a consistently high performer since it rolled out to New Jersey players in 2019,” said Adam Perlow, Vice President and Chief Operating Officer, Northstar New Jersey. “We expect the new $20 price point to be a significant game in the Lottery’s portfolio, given that both actual game play and our research indicate many of our players enjoy playing at higher price points.”
November will see the North Carolina Education Lottery launch Cash Pop with a draw frequency of five times per day. The Oregon Lottery, due to launch Cash Pop in January 2025, will implement another new way to tailor the game, offering hourly draws 16x per day.
Cash Pop is attracting new, younger adult players, with frequent players averaging roughly 10 years younger than most other traditional
draw-based games.
“We are thrilled to see the continued success of Cash Pop throughout the U.S. lottery industry and are even more encouraged to learn that it is attracting new, younger adult players—with frequent players averaging roughly 10 years younger than most other traditional draw-based games,” says Walker. While sales in many states continue to grow organically as more players try the game and keep playing, IGT continues to work on the product and look for additional ways for lotteries to generate growth through new game features, draw-time optimization, and promotions.
Watch the video to learn more about IGT’s Cash Pop! To add some Pop to your portfolio, contact your IGT account representative.