The gamification of gambling – Axios

Jackpot, a soon-to-be-launched app for buying lottery tickets, announced last week that it raised $35 million in its first funding round, backed by a slew of high profile professional athletes and sports ownership groups.

Why it matters: The gamification of gambling, in all its forms, has become increasingly big business fueled by governments, professional sports and venture capital all eager to usher in a newer, younger group of bettors.

Driving the news: Jackpot, which delivers the convenience of buying a lottery ticket from your phone, is looking to grow states' $100 billion in annual ticket sales.

Meanwhile: Mobile betting is also upending sports gambling, long shunned by professional teams out of fear that it would compromise the integrity of their games.

The result: The market for legal sports betting in the U.S. doubled last year, to more than $52.7 billion wagered.

State of play: All of this continues to draw in younger customers. Just like the trends seen in the online lottery, more than 6 in 10 sports gamblers are 40 or younger.

The bottom line: Gambling is big business. The massive revenues for governments and businesses are hard to resist. And so is gambling, especially when it's made so easy.

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The gamification of gambling - Axios