State lotteries increasingly cede control to huge firms

FILE - A record Powerball jackpot is posted on a Kansas Lottery billboard in Topeka, Kan., on Monday, Jan. 11, 2016. State lotteries spend more than a half-billion dollars a year on pervasive marketing campaigns that deliver hopeful messages, designed to persuade people to play often, spend more and overlook the long odds of winning. But for every dollar players spend on the lottery, they will lose about 35 cents on average, according to an analysis in 2021 of lottery data by the Howard Center for Investigative Journalism at the University of Maryland. (AP Photo/Orlin Wagner, File)