Ohio enters Big Game

by Matt Hutton
Staff Writer

Big Game officials announced yesterday they will allow Ohio into the seven-state lottery.

Ohio applied to join the Big Game Monday despite a lawsuit filed by Ohio church groups and anti-gambling activists to stop the state from entering a multi-state lottery.

But Ohio cannot sign a contract with the Big Game until a state law allowing Ohio to join a multi-state game goes into effect March 14, said Mardele Cohen, an Ohio Lottery spokeswoman.

Rev. John Edgar, representing the Columbus South District of the United Methodist Church in the lawsuit said, “It’s a serious mistake of Gov. Taft and the lottery commissioner to move forward while there is a lawsuit pending.”

The lawsuit claims joining a multi-state game is unconstitutional because the lottery will not be run by Ohio. The Big Game is run by an out-of-state organization and not by the state of Ohio.

Edgar said it is clear the Big Game is not consistent with the Ohio Constitution, which states only Ohio can run any lotteries played in the state.

The group suing the state filed an injunction last week to keep Ohio from joining a multi-state game before the case goes to trial.

The Franklin County Common Pleas court will decide whether to grant the injunction request within the next month, Edgar said.

Barring the possible injunction, Cohen said the Ohio Lottery plans to start selling Big Game tickets at the end of May. Drawings are held Tuesdays and Fridays at 11 p.m.

“We believe it will be generating $230 million in sales with $41 million being profit going to lottery profit education fund,” Cohen said of Ohio sales.

The Big Game produced the largest jackpot in history —$360 million in May 2000, Cohen said.

Ohio will share responsibilities with the seven other states involved in running the game — Georgia, Illinois, New Jersey, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan and Virginia, Cohen said. The specific responsibilities Ohio will take have not yet been decided.

“One of the reasons we went with the Big Game is because it is going to be the organization generating these huge jackpots,” Cohen said. “They’re adding about 30 million people between Ohio and New York, and we expect to see $200 or $300 million jackpots two or three times a year.”