Fever Scratch

Massachusetts loves the Lottery - and the Red Sox. The two will now live together in scratch ticket form. Sales of the Red Sox branded $5 instant win tickets begin on April 11, 2006, the same day as the home opener at Fenway. The $2 games are about as high as Bostonist will reach when dropping some cash on a lottery ticket, but we may be alone in this. Back in January we remember reading about a report by Christiansen Capital Advisors Massachusetts, which quantified the love for the Lottery - residents spend an average of $681 per person yearly on lottery games, ahead of every other state by some $250. Keno and scratch tickets lead lottery sales in 2005 and with the introduction of a Red Sox branded ticket it’s certain the Commonwealth is hoping for some increased revenues.

The ultimate prize awarded in the new lottery game will be season tickets for life. Bostonist finds this to be a particularly enticing incentive. Without reading any fine print it’s nice to dream about the value of the prize; we’re still young and ticket prices are always increasing, just imagine what a pair of bleacher seats will cost when we’re 95. Instead we could be sitting in our lifetime season ticket seats in the grandstand. The odds of winning might be as poor as any Lottery game, but the return for the players seems fairly good, 40 Million $5 tickets have a total of $150 Million in cashas well as Red Sox hats, jerseys, and jackets, bases used in games, trips, and green monster tickets will be awarded. That's $50 Million minus the fee paid to the Sox for the brand - most Lottery games only return about 50% to the players, this is the better (seriously, we didn't mean the pun there) side of 75% return.

The Red Sox won’t make any commission off the sales of the tickets – though it has been reported Fenway Park will become a lottery vendor this season. The story has certainly been catching a buzz around the Hub in the last 24 hours and although we may drop a 5-spot on a ticket our loyalty will remain true to the original Red Sox branded scratch game: Triple Winner. Starting every April for 15 years the Jimmy Fund, Stop&Shop, and the Red Sox have been teaming up to bring the Triple Winner game to Stop&Shop stores. Bostonist likes giving $1 to charity in return for and “instant prize” that’s valued at "$1 or more" when passing throught he checkout counter. Cookies from the bake shop or a roll of Scott one-ply, even if we don’t redeem our prize it’s hardly a gamble.

Photo courtesy the Lottery. State Treasurer Tim Cahill and Boston Red Sox Coo Mike Dee unveil the Red Sox Instant Ticket, presumably they'll also make them in a more portable size.