La Fleur's The Roles of Luck

In this episode of The Roles of Luck, Byron LaFleur sits down with Scientific Games’ Ken “Kenny” Andrey to explore how lotteries can create one connected player experience across retail and digital channels. 

Powerball is one of the most recognizable lottery brands in the world, but its future may be much bigger than jackpots alone. In this episode of The Roles of Luck, Byron La Fleur and Robert Tirloni are joined by Matt Strawn, CEO of the Iowa Lottery, to discuss Powerball’s evolution into a global entertainment brand.

On December 24, a lucky Arkansas player won the second-largest Powerball prize. Life-changing, of course, but it also got me wondering what that must have been like for the folks at the lottery, whose Christmas plans were probably interrupted. So today, Sharon Strong, Executive Director, and Karen Reynolds, Director of Marketing, from the Arkansas Scholarship Lottery join us to share exactly how it all went down. Enjoy!

The latest episode of La Fleur's Podcast, The Roles of Luck, is out now! Khalid Jones, Executive Director of the Virginia Lottery, joins Robert Tirloni and me to talk about what it takes to modernize a lottery. We start with one of the biggest forces reshaping every industry right now, artificial intelligence.

Arizona Lottery’s Executive Director, Alec Thomson, and CMO, Chris Rogers, join Byron to unpack experiential prizes that take the brand beyond the ticket. They share lessons on turnkey vs. custom packages, their FY25 holiday campaign that lifted awareness, and why experiential marketing will shape the Lottery’s FY26 and beyond.

James “Jim” Carey Jr., a New Jersey native and former deputy attorney general, has led the New Jersey Lottery since July 23, 2018. Every year of his tenure, the Lottery has contributed more than $1 billion to New Jersey’s public employee pensions. In fiscal 2023, the Lottery also set its sales and contributions records at $3.73 billion and $1.17 billion, respectively. Carey now guides the Lottery through a far different gaming environment than when he joined. In this interview with La Fleur’s Magazine, Carey addresses the increasing competition the lottery industry faces and how the New Jersey Lottery is responding to it.

Byron La Fleur speaks with John Martin, Director of Maryland Lottery & Gaming, covering a range of topics from responsible gaming to the unique challenges of “bulk purchasing” of lottery tickets. The conversation begins with John’s reflections on a recent Economist article, America’s gambling boom should be celebrated, not feared." (https://www.economist.com/leaders/2024/12/05/americas-gambling-boom-should-be-celebrated-not-feared)Byron and John then dive into the idea of bulk purchasing: groups buying up massive quantities of tickets or wagers to capture big jackpots. John recounts Maryland’s real-world experience with a group known as “Black Swan,” which aggressively targeted high-dollar prizes on both scratch-off tickets and progressive fast play games. Their coordinated efforts prompted the Maryland Lottery to implement new “guardrails,” such as daily sales thresholds, to keep play fair for regular customers and protect retailers from large financial risks.The episode also addresses how other state lotteries are handling similar situations. While some might see high-volume buying as extra revenue, there’s concern about fairness, public perception, and the overall integrity of lottery games. Ultimately, John underscores the importance of each lottery deciding for itself how to strike the balance: raising funds for good causes while ensuring players have equitable chances—and a positive experience with the lottery.

In the first episode of The Roles of Luck, host Byron La Fleur interviews Ryan Mindell, Executive Director of the Texas Lottery, discussing his journey to this leadership role. Jessica Parker, editor of La Fleur's Magazine, then reads an abridged version of the story A Local Monster, featuring Shad Barnes, Senior Manager of Digital Marketing at the Oregon Lottery. The episode wraps up with an interview with Scott Kenyon, Deputy Executive Director of Marketing at the Virginia Lottery, on the launch of their new game, Let's Make a Deal.