Lotto CEO Jason Delamore at his home near Riverhead where he and his wife own Lavender Hill. Photo / Dean Purcell
Mid-afternoon and near the house and gin distillery, the paddock with its olive trees and lambs looks like the kind of place you might want to buy if you won Lotto.
Lotto chief executive Jason Delamore’s Lavender Hill property in northwest Auckland has freshly shorn alpacas within sight of the Sky Tower. The working farm has about 2000 lavender plants, 400 olive trees, 200 lemon trees and a bed and breakfast. It keeps Delamore busy when he’s not at his day job.
It should be a big year for Lotto NZ, Delamore says. He’s a newcomer, in the job a year after working for companies including Contact Energy and Auckland Airport.
“We’re in the middle of replacing our core gaming system, which is a big digital transformation that we’ve got under way,” he tells the Herald in an office upstairs near the gin still.
He says the MyLotto website and app should get a big revamp. “That’ll be completely modernised and with a real focus on customer experience.”
Delamore says Lotto won’t be launching its own online casino.
“But we want to get match-fit for that competition which is heading our way.”
Economic volatility doesn’t affect Lotto much. One suspects it’s a recession-proof industry. And when people hear $30 million or $50m must be won, things get frenzied, and that drives much of Lotto’s financial performance.
“We’ve just come off our biggest year ever ... but it’s driven mainly by the number of large Powerballs that you have every year.”
In December, the Government said Lotto NZ granted $434m to the community in the past financial year, an increase of 15% from the previous year.
Delamore believes responsible gaming is widespread, with average ticket values barely going up. There’ll probably always be critics - and maybe dreaming of a Lotto jackpot is no substitute for hard work and saving or investing, but the lottery system returns a fair bit of money to the community.
He says after Lotto takes care of operating expenses, salaries for about 200 employees, and prize payouts, it has levies and taxes. Then all the profits - about 26% of revenue - go back to the community.
“We’ve kept our opex pretty flat over the years and, you know, from a productivity and performance perspective, we keep an eagle eye on that because every dollar that goes to opex is a dollar that’s is not in the community.”
Lotto NZ is governed by the Gambling Act, not funded by taxpayers, but funded purely through the games. The Lotteries Commission is a Crown entity and its purpose is to make profits for distribution by the New Zealand Lottery Grants Board.
And yes, Delamore is allowed to buy a Lotto ticket but admits it would be “quite awkward” if he won.
“Employees are allowed to play Lotto, so you can play Lotto digitally like anyone else on your phone. But if you go into a retail shop, you’ve got to be recorded as what’s called a staff purchase.”
Lotto NZ doesn’t have a domestic lottery competitor, but like many industries is competing for eyeballs or attention and discretionary entertainment income.
And that market is likely to get more crowded.
“There’s a lot of offshore online gambling today. Estimates are around $700 million a year goes offshore ... And the Government’s regulating their environment and offering up to 15 licences in 2026.”
It’s often the Wild West out there, so Delamore says the Government is trying to channel people out of uncontrolled sites, and into licensed, more controlled sites.
He says these sites might pick up some gambling harm prevention obligations, and pay levies or taxes, but at this point there was no indication they’ll be required to put money back into the community.
Lots of people are chatting, grumbling, or freaking out about artificial intelligence. Will it be a revolution, is it hype, or will it just become another labour-saving or scamming tool?
Delamore says Lotto NZ already uses some AI, mainly in its call centres, and has an AI tool to help with gambling harm and predictive behaviour.
“We’re bullish about it rather than pessimistic.
“We see it as an ideal tool to help us with productivity, whether that’s helping with the marketing campaign or helping automate responding to customer queries.”
Delamore says New Zealand is well ahead of most other lotteries in terms of how many players are digital customers.
“So we’re about 46% digital, 54% retail. And in the world of lotteries, that’s super high.”
In case you wondered, most of the scratchies are made overseas, where a US manufacturer works to a design sent from New Zealand.
It’s unlikely Kiwis will see anything like Spain’s El Gordo, where the top prize can exceed $1 billion, or some of the gigantic US state lottery jackpots.
“We don’t have the population to support those ... but we will be doing more work on our Powerball game to make sure it stays relevant for people,” Delamore says.
The odd massive Powerball prize keeps people very excited, but he says it’s important to also craft a system poised to give many small prizes to people.
When a big one is landed, winners often fly to Auckland.
“I’ve met a few winners. We have a winner’s room that people can go into ... coming to us and going to the winner’s room is part of a special experience.”
Delamore said he once met a person who won $37m.
“It’s life changing, that’s multi-generational life-changing money if you get it right.”
The payment is usually a one-off direct deposit to a bank account.
“You end up liaising with their bank and it goes into an account that the bank sets up for them, tax-free,” Delamore says.
Lotto NZ provides a winner’s book that discusses financial wellbeing, and refers winners to financial advisers.
Despite legends of people squandering millions, Delamore says most Lotto winners don’t do that.
“We’re just starting some more research around this to get some numbers, but ... a majority of people have a successful story when they win large. You’ll hear about the ones that don’t because that’s what makes the media, but by and large, people have a good outcome.
“We always say to people getting the right advice as soon as possible is super important.”
On the global economy and Trump, Delamore says New Zealand should focus on doing what it can do best, not worrying about leaders abroad who come and go.
He says Lavender Hill has had a family from Colorado repeatedly visit over the years.
“They love New Zealand. They love Kiwis. They love the food and the wine and the experiences, and we just need to make sure we’re delivering that.”
He says his side gig keeps him focused. When he’s done with his Lotto duties, there are always tasks on the farm - making gin, keeping an eye on the lavender and olives and farm animals, and trying to ensure any guests have a special experience.
“Kiwis are used to jumping on a plane because it’s eight hours from anywhere. It’s part of the psyche, right? But for people in Europe and the States the thought of spending 11 hours on a plane is just a strong concept. So you have to be pretty appealing, to make an effort.”
Sunflowers can help supplement farm incomes or fundraising efforts for growers.