Tennessee residents give lottery a warm welcome

Amber McDowell

Tuesday, Jan. 20, 2004 | 9:14 a.m.

BRENTWOOD, Tenn. -- More than a year after Tennessee voters overwhelmingly approved a referendum to remove a constitutional ban on lotteries, the first scratch-off tickets were sold across the state.

Four different types of scratchoff games went on sale at 12:01 a.m. today as Tennessee became the last state in the Southeast to offer legal gambling. Tickets cost between $1 and $5 and award prizes up to $1 million.

At a MAPCO convenience store in Brentwood, a crowd of about 50 people counted down the seconds in a festive atmosphere that included a live broadcast by a radio station and free sandwiches.

Walter England bought the store's first tickets and spent $110.

"I'm doing this just to help education," said England, whose wife is in the education industry. "If I win, this might be the last time I play."

The lottery games, with proceeds earmarked for college scholarships for qualifying Tennessee students, is expected to bring in $900 million a year. Online games, featuring the pingpong ball drawings for jackpots, are to begin in March.

Lottery officials expect both kinds of games to draw players from border states, even those that already have lotteries.

In Ooltewah, about 15 miles east of Chattanooga, Steve Ray has been preparing for the games for more than six months. He spent more than $100,000 over the summer to add extra room and a coffee shop to his Neighborhood Chevron so people will have a place to play the games.

"We were going to expand anyway, so when the lottery came in it gave me the incentive to go ahead and do it," he said.

Ray, whose store usually closes at 7 p.m., reopened at about 10 p.m. Monday for a midnight party. Tennessee Education Lottery board member Jim Hill of Chattanooga was one of several local dignitaries expected to attend.

"This is historic for us," Ray said. "The state's over 200 years old. It's about time to have a lottery."

Across the state, Sen. Steve Cohen, who led an almost 20-year push for the games, bought the first tickets sold in Memphis during a celebration at the Blues City Cafe and General Store on historic Beale Street, spending $20.

"I'm extremely proud and extremely gratified to see it happen after all this time," Cohen, D-Memphis, said.

Blues City General Store manager Mark Tedford said he expected not only Tennesseans at the celebration but several out-of-towners who visit his store and adjacent cafe every time they're in Memphis.

"It's going to bring in money, bring in a lot for education, do a lot for the state that people aren't seeing right now. When you look at what other (lottery) states have going on, we just want a piece of it."