Issue 15 - November 15th, 2017

So I'm at a popular New Hampshire diner with my sons, and the place is festooned with the normal 50's type tchotchke. My oldest, who tells it like it is at all times, says to me "Dad, this place is awesome," (he's 12, what constitutes awesome for him revolves around food and video games) "I mean, so old - I mean, they even have those old-fashioned CDs on the wall."

He actually said these words - old fashioned CDs - it was a proverbial gut punch to his father.

Clearly the younger generations do not wait for the older ones to become prepared, they evolve and either we join in or rage against the dying of the light. And our industry, which provides so much to good causes, has evolved so very little in the many years have existed.

For example, with minor deviations, our industry still uses cash; the world has moved on and given us PayPal, Apple Pay, and Google Wallet. While we obsess about our eventual migration to what equates to the compact disc technology of credit cards, the commercial universe has already expanded and discovered the pay-by-text app Venmo, which sounds like something you need to take antibiotics for...

Now we stand on the cusp of the next iteration of gambling, ushered in by Daily Fantasy Sports. Is the lottery industry going to be involved? Are we going to take a leading role in what may occur with Sports Betting or the Internet? Or are we going to miss this chance to evolve with this new generation of gaming?

Charles McIntyre
NASPL President