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Arizona Lottery
Shelby Alessi, Director of Marketing
The Arizona Lottery serves as Presenting Sponsor of the Arizona State Fair Coliseum Concert Series, providing brand visibility, PR opportunities, and direct engagement with fairgoers. Its branded Arizona Lottery Ticket Van serves as both a point of sale and experiential marketing hub, with prize wheels and giveaways such as VIP concert tickets. The Lottery also participates in community-focused programming, including “Friends 62+ Day,” when it provides promotional Bingo Scratchers and Fast Play coupons for the State Fair’s Bingo event.
The Lottery’s “spin-to-win” prize wheel, tied to a minimum instant ticket purchase, has been its most effective sales driver. Unique prizes, including concert tickets and free fair rides, add to the experience. Arizona has also found success with visual merchandising inside the Ticket Van, displaying large-format winning Scratchers tickets to spark curiosity and encourage purchases of the “luckiest” tickets.
For the 2026 “State of Wonder” fair theme, Arizona plans to showcase products unique to the state, including State Forty Eight and Loteria Scratchers, which incorporate regional symbols such as saguaros and monsoons into the playstyle. Rather than promoting a single game, the Lottery uses a minimum-purchase model that allows it to tailor interactions to individual player interests.
California Lottery
Whitney Alderson, Assistant Deputy Director, Marketing
We attend between 15 and 22 fairs, festivals and cultural events across California each fiscal year to build awareness, encourage players to sample different games and create memorable in-person experiences. Our activation includes a large branded selling trailer and modular equipment that allows us to customize our footprint at each event, including tents, signage and our large California Lottery “spin the wheel” units. We also extend our presence beyond the booth with signage throughout the Fair and branded hand fans distributed to visitors.
Our large Lottery wheel has consistently been our strongest promotional engagement. With a minimum $20 purchase, players can spin for a chance to win up to $20 in promotional Scratchers. The wheel’s noise, cheering crowds and photo opportunities attract attention from passing fairgoers and bring additional visitors to the booth. We also use QR-code signage for 2nd Chance registration and information about our games and mission, along with occasional brand ambassadors, selfie walls and other product-inspired photo opportunities.
Our booth also provides a place for players to spend time together. Players typically spend 10 to 30 minutes at the booth learning about games, scratching tickets, sharing winning stories and recommending games to one another.
We conducted consumer surveys throughout an entire fairs and festivals season to better understand player preferences, perceptions of the Lottery and awareness of our mission to provide supplemental funding for public education. The research also helped us evaluate our event program and identify potential marketing opportunities. Among the findings, players particularly enjoyed spinning the wheel and spending time at the booth scratching tickets with friends and family.
Going forward, we are exploring additional interactive ways to educate consumers about our games and mission. The California Lottery has contributed more than $48 billion to public education, and we want to help consumers better understand how their Lottery purchases contribute to California public schools.
Colorado Lottery
Marie Valtakis, Events and Sponsorship Manager
The Colorado Lottery has had a branded building on the Colorado State Fairgrounds for many years, creating a recognizable destination where players can purchase tickets, participate in promotions, and interact with the Lottery. This year, fairgoers received $3 off gate admission on Lottery Day with a non-winning Colorado Lottery ticket, and players who purchased $20 or more in tickets received a spin on a prize wheel.
The Lottery also incorporated Colorado’s 150th birthday into its State Fair activation. Players who purchased $20 of the $5 150th Birthday! Scratch ticket received entry to a birthday party featuring a Colorado Lottery/Colorado’s 150th Birthday bandana, mini cupcake, photo opportunity, and a hat bar where players could personalize a hat with outdoor-themed patches. As part of Responsible Gaming Education Month, the Lottery also offered an interactive activity focused on informed gambling decisions and healthy play, with participants receiving a prize-wheel spin.
Prize wheels remain one of Colorado’s most effective engagement tools. Three wheels of different sizes are displayed together along one wall of the Lottery building, creating a bright, noisy visual that helps draw fairgoers. The wheels correspond to different qualifying purchase levels and prizes, providing an immediate incentive while creating interaction beyond the ticket purchase.
Colorado has also adjusted how the wheels are operated. Players previously spun the wheels themselves, but staff members now operate them from behind stanchions. The change has improved sanitation, reduced damage and wear and tear, and created another opportunity for staff to interact directly with players.
Looking ahead, the Lottery is considering rebranding its State Fair building and potentially adding an “open house” promotion to encourage fairgoers to explore the refreshed space.
Hoosier Lottery
Jason Mueller, Sr. Manager of Public Relations, Sponsorships and Event Marketing
The Hoosier Lottery has partnered with the Indiana State Fair since 1990, with Hoosier Lottery Town and the Hoosier Lottery Free Stage serving as two primary destinations. The annual activation includes ticket sales, prize-wheel giveaways, daily promotions with cash prizes and live music.
At Hoosier Lottery Town, fairgoers 18 and older can purchase Scratch-off, Draw and Fast Play games. Eight Scratch-offs are offered, including the $1 Hoosier Dreams Scratch-off, available exclusively at the Indiana State Fair, which provides a chance to spin the wheel for prizes or win up to $500 instantly. On select days, the Hoosier Lottery Fun Zone features the Big Wheel, Whirl Win and Jackpot Launch for chances to win additional tickets and prizes. The daily “Champions of Play” Happy Hour awards nearly $25,000 in prizes to 98 fairgoers over the course of the Fair. Players receive a Happy Hour drawing voucher for every $10 purchase in any combination of $5 Scratch-offs.
Hoosier Lottery Day, held on the second Saturday of the Fair, is another major engagement opportunity. Fairgoers 18 and older receive a free $1 Scratch-off, helping drive visitors directly to Hoosier Lottery Town and providing an opportunity for additional player engagement.
Live music extends the Lottery’s State Fair presence beyond the event itself. Concert promotion for the Hoosier Lottery Free Stage begins in June, along with a free register-to-win promotion for a myLOTTERY Indiana State Fair Prize Package. The promotion receives more than 20,000 entries annually, extending the Lottery’s connection with the State Fair from three weeks to nearly three months.
The Lottery has also shifted its sponsorship strategy over time. After previously sponsoring an exposition hall at the fairgrounds, Hoosier now focuses its sponsorship efforts on opportunities that provide direct player engagement. In recent years, we partnered with local influencers—including artists, an IndyCar driver, and an Indianapolis baseball legend—to attract crowds and engagement. Looking ahead, the Lottery is considering innovative digital promotions that offer new ways to engage fairgoers.
Iowa Lottery
Kassandra Trenary, Director, Marketing & Advertising
We annually sponsor one day of the Iowa State Fair, aligning it with the Fair’s Veterans Day because Lottery funding supports the Iowa Veterans Trust Fund. Our activation includes a large tent on the Fair’s main street where we sell Scratch, Lotto, and InstaPlay games, cash prizes up to $599, and offer a prize wheel, contests, and gifts with purchase. We also sponsor the Grandstand Concert Series and have a VIP area that we use for second-chance prizes and additional exposure.
Gifts with purchase are a strong sales incentive and typically sell out by mid-day. Concert and college football tickets, athlete meet-and-greets, high jackpots, and new games also help drive traffic. We promote our Fair presence to Players Club members by email before the event.
Some of our largest Fair activations have included a live game show, where winners competed for a chance to win up to $5 million and audience members could win cash prizes, and a Guinness World Record event for the most people scratching a lottery ticket at the same time. We also use prize wheels, drawings, and merchandise, including T-shirts, bags, and other co-branded items.
One of our biggest strategic changes was moving from selling tickets throughout the 10-day Fair to concentrating our sales and activation on one day, while continuing our presence at evening concerts where we host winners. Selling every day was too labor-intensive, and we would not return to that model. We also stopped handing out coupons at the entrance gates because redemption was low, and instead favored a discounted “buy X, get Y” lotto ticket offer.
For future Fairs, we are considering a larger footprint or sales kiosk in the Grandstand concert area and additional co-branded merchandise. We have also produced an Iowa State Fair-themed Scratch ticket using the Fair’s annual look and feel; in the future, we may instead develop a design reflecting our own brand or our longstanding partnership with the Fair.
Kansas Lottery
Stephen E. Ortiz, Director of Sales & Marketing
The Kansas Lottery staffs and manages a dedicated building at the Kansas State Fair in Hutchinson, approximately two and a half hours from our home office. Throughout the Fair, we sell draw and instant games and conduct a $500 promotional drawing at the conclusion of the event, awarding five winners.
We combine ticket sales with an immediate-reward promotion. Customers receive a token for every $20 in Lottery purchases to spin our prize wheel, which features promotional merchandise generally valued from $4 to $15, along with promotional Scratch tickets. Over the years, we have used game shows, trivia, daily drawings and other giveaways, but the prize wheel has consistently been our most effective player-engagement tool.
We also use our sponsorships and loyalty program to create additional reasons for players to visit and interact with us. Through our Kansas City Chiefs sponsorship, we sponsor “Red Friday,” when fairgoers receive discounted $5 admission. This year, we are expanding the activation to include a live remote featuring area sports radio talent and football-focused programming. Following Chiefs Super Bowl victories, we have also partnered with the team to bring the Super Bowl trophies to the Fair, allowing patrons to see and take photos with them. In addition, we purchase tickets to available Fair shows and events that players can redeem through our loyalty program.
The Fair’s distance from our home office has led us to adjust our staffing and operations. Rather than operating two shifts, we moved to a single 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. shift and staff as many shifts as possible with employees who live in the Hutchinson area. Office staff rotates throughout the week to provide additional coverage. These changes have reduced travel demands and the impact on our normal field operations. We also deployed five SCIQ units at the Fair, allowing us to load multiple packs in the dispensers and run end-of-shift reports for balancing, improving operational efficiency and reporting for finance and marketing.
Going forward, we will continue evaluating our staffing model while making greater use of our sponsorships, loyalty program, and media partnerships to drive traffic to our Lottery activation. We see opportunities to create additional reasons for patrons to visit through scheduled promotions, entertainment, sports-related programming, loyalty rewards, and special experiences.
Kentucky Lottery
Susan Simmons, Director, Brand Marketing & Sponsorships
Our presence at the Kentucky State Fair has evolved over the years, from a large indoor ticket-sales space to signage and, more recently, an activation focused on educating Kentuckians about our mission and products. In the past two years, we have moved away from dedicated ticket sales in favor of a fun, relaxed environment designed to create positive, “no-strings-attached” interactions with the Lottery.
Our activation is positioned near the Kentucky Higher Education Assistance Authority (KHEAA), one of our primary beneficiaries, creating a visual connection between our mission and its impact on Kentucky students. We have also focused on Fun Club enrollment. Fairgoers who confirmed an existing membership or signed up on-site received a free T-shirt and other prizes, while new members were automatically entered for a chance to win $5,000. The activation also allowed us to promote the $5 registration bonus for free online play and build awareness of our digital offerings.
This year, we added a second activation near the Fair’s main entertainment stage. Because concert seating was general admission, however, most fairgoers in that area were focused on securing a good viewing spot rather than engaging with us. We learned that high-traffic entertainment areas do not necessarily translate into strong engagement opportunities.
Next year, we expect to focus on the launch of a new loyalty program around the time of the State Fair, using our sponsorship and on-site presence to introduce fairgoers to its new features and player benefits.
Maryland Lottery
Gail Pelovitz, Assistant Director of Communications for Events and Contracts
We have an annual sponsorship with the Maryland State Fair that includes a large on-site presence throughout the Fair. Visitors 18 and older can spin our free prize wheel for promotional items. Our on-site retailer has four Lottery terminals, a stay-and-play area, six monitors displaying Keno and Racetrax, three self-service vending machines, and about 120 Scratch-off facings.
The Fair encompasses three long weekends, with the second Saturday designated as Maryland Lottery Day. This year, Lottery Day included puppy yoga and a catfish eating contest that we sponsored. Through our Baltimore Ravens partnership, retired Ravens players also appear to sign autographs and pose for photos, along with the team’s Poe mascot and cheerleaders.
A highlight of Lottery Day is our stage show featuring 10 contestants selected in advance through our player loyalty platform. All 10 win cash prizes, with two advancing to a final round for the chance to win larger amounts. While the show is a lot of fun for participants and their families and friends, it tends to generate less interest from fairgoers who don’t have a connection to a contestant. We are considering ways to give others an opportunity to participate through an on-site activation.
We also run promotions tied directly to ticket sales. Players who purchase a certain number of our annual Ravens Scratch-offs can receive an entry into a drawing for prize packs that include Ravens fan gear and Scratch-offs. Players can also enter non-winning Scratch-offs purchased at the Fair into a daily drawing for Scratch-off tickets. The visit from retired Ravens players is always particularly popular.
Looking ahead, we would also like to offer discounted Fair admission to visitors who show a Lottery ticket at the gate. The challenge is confirming that the discounted admission isn’t being used for someone under age 18.
Minnesota Lottery
Liz Smith, Assistant Marketing Manager
The Minnesota Lottery offers 19 Scratch games and its full lineup of lotto games at the Minnesota State Fair, along with gifts with purchase and several fair-specific promotions. Non-winning Scratch tickets purchased at the Fair can be entered into a second-chance contest, with $1,000 and Lottery merchandise awarded each day. Fairgoers can also enter a free State Fair Giveaway through mnlottery.com or the Minnesota Lottery app for a chance to win $500.
Second-chance games perform particularly well at the fair, accounting for nearly 40% of Minnesota’s Scratch sales this year. Whimsical and licensed games also attract players, including this year’s Artist Series ticket, Forest Fortune, along with Ghostbusters and Jumanji. We find these games to be particularly approachable for the many first-time players who visit our booth.
Gifts with purchase are another major draw. Minnesota offers multiple gift levels tied to purchases of $10, $20, and, most recently, $40, with items including mugs or cups, bags, hats, T-shirts, and small sling backpacks. The variety ensures there is something for everyone, while T-shirts have become a tradition of their own. The Lottery has offered them for more than a decade and often sees players return each year to collect the newest design.
Minnesota recently moved its free State Fair Giveaway from a printed entry to an online format. Previously, participants had to purchase a State Fair coupon book and drop off a physical entry slip at the Lottery booth. The online entry lets the Lottery reach a broader audience and keep engaging with players after the Fair.
Following the Fair, the Lottery surveys players and staff by email about what they liked and disliked, what motivated them to visit the booth, and what they would like to see the following year. The feedback helps determine future gifts with purchase, the games offered, and other elements of the State Fair activation.
Missouri Lottery
Melinda Wilde, Sales Communications Manager
The Missouri Lottery sets up a selling trailer near the Grandstand at the Missouri State Fair, offering Draw Games and eight Scratchers ranging from $1 to $50. Throughout the 11-day Fair, we offer daily “Buy X, Get Y” promotions based on expected attendance.
Tangible merchandise is especially popular. Our collector T-shirts are the most sought-after items, with one design tied to the annual Fair theme printed in four colors and a different color offered on four selected days with a qualifying purchase. Players regularly return to collect them. This year’s Stars & Stripes bucket hats were also a hit. We generally offer merchandise promotions seven days and Draw Games promotions four days.
A sandwich board promoting the daily giveaway helps attract fairgoers to our trailer. Several visitors each day tell us they came to the selling window because of the featured giveaway even though they have never played the Lottery before. Players receive one merchandise item for every $10 spent and can receive multiples with larger purchases.
We also debut new Scratchers at the Fair before they reach retail later in the month. Based on past sales, we replaced the $30 Scratchers price point this year with a second $10 game. Players responded well to having two $10 options, which also aligned with the $10 purchase requirement for a free gift. We also found that Pick 3 and Pick 4 work better as the “Y” rather than the required “X” in our Fair promotions.
We have also learned that fairgoers prefer easy-to-play Scratchers. Extended-play games that debuted at the Fair were less popular because they required more focus than a number-matching game.
Nebraska Lottery
Jill Marshall, Marketing Manager
We set up our Lottery selling trailer near the main entrance of the Nebraska State Fair, along with a large tent where players can Scratch tickets, enter drawings and spin our Spin & Win Wheel with a $20 purchase. We also have a major partnership with the Fair that includes sponsorship of the State Fair Concert Series.
The Spin & Win Wheel is a major source of fun at our trailer, with players coming to the Fair to purchase tickets and spin. We also offer a $12 Lotto ticket bundle for $10, allowing players to sample a variety of our Lotto games. It is a very popular purchase.
This year, we also held a no-purchase-necessary drawing for a pair of Husker Volleyball tickets, which are extremely popular and hard to come by in Nebraska. We promoted our $5 Creature Features Scratch ticket with a second drawing, allowing players to enter non-winning tickets for a chance to win a full pack of the game. Five winners each received a full pack at the end of the Fair.
At this point, we have not made significant changes to our State Fair strategy or identified anything we plan to do differently next year. We have a system that works well.
Ohio Lottery
The Ohio Lottery is an annual sponsor of the Ohio State Fair, with a fixed retailer location offering all Lottery products and services throughout the event. Inside the Fair’s central activity center, the Lottery also operates a KENO lounge and play area with self-service machines, giving fairgoers an air-conditioned place to cool off, play Lottery games, and participate in promotions.
The Lottery supplements its permanent presence with multiple radio remotes featuring pay-to-play promotions. Non-winning tickets provide access to promotional games such as prize wheels and Plinko, along with prize giveaways. Digital engagement has also become part of the activation. This year, the Lottery offered a mobile scavenger hunt in which fairgoers scanned and collected icons to complete a game board, with completed boards providing entry into a drawing for larger prizes. An instant mobile promotion also introduced patrons to the Lottery’s new Millionaire For Life draw game.
Fairgoers have responded well to both the physical and digital games offered each year. The Lottery recorded its second-highest State Fair sales ever this year, and its physical promotions distributed all of the giveaways allocated for the event.
Ohio evaluates and adjusts its digital experiences each year to increase engagement and changes its featured “Lottery Day” promotion based on annual goals. While planning for next year has not yet begun, the Lottery typically changes several elements of its State Fair program each year.
Texas Lottery
Dana Ross, Promotions Coordinator
Spanning 24 days, the State Fair of Texas is our largest and longest-running sales activation. Our footprint exceeds 4,800 square feet and includes two sales trailers, each with more than 100 Scratch ticket bins, flanking a 20-foot event stage with three digital prize wheels and a digital drop-disk game. Emcees engage attendees with Lottery trivia and information about current games and promotions.
Our core Spin & Win promotion gives players who purchase $20 in Lottery products a spin of the prize wheel, with every player guaranteed to win promotional Scratch tickets. Players who land on the star symbol also get a chance to win additional Scratch tickets through the drop-disk game. The guaranteed prize has been a key part of the promotion’s success.
We supplement Spin & Win with special Draw Game and merchandise offers. In 2026, promotions include bonus Lotto Texas and Powerball Quick Picks with a qualifying Mega Millions purchase, branded umbrellas and windbreakers at designated purchase levels, and a Sunday Cowboys promotion featuring branded merchandise with a qualifying Cowboys Scratch ticket purchase. Each also includes a Spin & Win opportunity.
We have streamlined the activation over the years with clear, menu-style signage, knowledgeable brand ambassadors and emcees who explain promotions and engage the crowd. The process is designed to be simple: players purchase tickets, receive a Spin & Win token and take it to the stage to spin the wheel. While we continue to improve traffic flow and the player experience, our overall strategy has remained steady for many years, consistently increasing or maintaining sales.
Washington’s Lottery
Jessica Roswell, Marketing Operations Manager
Washington’s Lottery participates in the Washington State Fair and three regional fairs: Lakefair in Olympia/Thurston County, the Spokane Fair and the Central Washington Fair. At Lakefair and the Washington State Fair, we use our trailer for a multi-day presence selling Scratch tickets and draw games. Players earn prizes with a minimum $10 Scratch ticket purchase, with higher purchases qualifying for higher-value prizes.
At our one-day Spokane and Central Washington events, players earn entries into a $500 drawing for every $10 Scratch ticket purchase and a prize-wheel spin for every $20 purchase. Wheel prizes include Scratch tickets and additional drawing entries. We see players reinvesting winnings in additional purchases for another opportunity to earn a prize or spin the wheel.
One of our strongest early-season drivers is our annual “Fair T-shirt,” with regular players returning to add each year’s shirt to their collections. This past year, we collaborated with our Scratch team on a shirt tied to the summer Sasquatchin’ Bucks ticket. It was a huge hit and sold out quickly. We find that shirts connected to fun tickets or Washington “flavor” help drive interest and keep our brand in front of players throughout the year.
We also use our annual Seahawks ticket to drive Sunday sales, with special promotions that include game tickets through our team partnership. Players can also submit non-winning tickets into the second-chance drawing at the event. At one-day events, we primarily use our prize wheel, although we have also used Plinko and a wind tunnel. The sound of the wheel attracts prospective players and becomes a conversation starter, including with people who may not know our products.
We have also adjusted the amount of time we spend at each location to maximize exposure, sales, and player connections while balancing events around the state. Following the success of Sasquatchin’ Bucks and its matching shirt, we are exploring the next opportunity to connect a fun Scratch ticket with a T-shirt or other premium item to drive sales and engagement.