The Powerball jackpot has now reached $550 million. And that means plenty of Americans will likely be lining up to buy tickets for Wednesday night’s drawing, which is scheduled for 10:59 p.m. EST. But for Brandon Sansone, there’s no reason to head out in such a rush: He can make all his lottery purchases without even looking up from his phone.
Sansone is a regular user of Jackpocket, an app that allows him to order tickets for games like Powerball and Mega Millions. The New York City resident says the convenience factor can’t be beat, especially when there’s a big jackpot at stake and he’s eager to play. “It’s become my new best friend,” he said of the app. Sansone is hardly alone. While lottery apps and online platforms are still relatively new and account for only a fraction of the $105.26 billion that Americans spend annually on lottery tickets, they are nevertheless becoming more popular. And some lottery-industry watchers say they are poised to become a dominant force in much the same way that food-delivery apps have come to define restaurant takeout orders. “People are more comfortable with being able to do everything on their phone,” said Bill Speros, a senior betting analyst with Bookies.com, a gambling site. Certainly, the growth of Jackpocket, the major company in the app/online lottery world, speaks to this change. The private company launched in 2013 …
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