DELAWARE LOTTERY WINS HIGHEST NATIONAL LOTTERY INDUSTRY AWARD

DOVER, DE -The Delaware Lottery has received the highest industry recognition awarded by the North American Association of State and Provincial Lotteries (NASPL) for its Web site home page - delottery.com. The Lottery's win of the prestigious first-place "Batchy Award," and being named finalists for the Batchy in three additional categories, was announced last Friday in Baltimore during NASPL's annual convention.

"We're thrilled to be nationally recognized for advertising excellence in such a competitive industry that includes lotteries in much larger states such as California and New York," said Wayne Lemons, director, Delaware Lottery. "We know that Web sites play a critical role in building relationships with lottery players, and it's a great vote of confidence from our peers that our Web site is so effective."

Along with winning a Batchy for its Web site, the Lottery was one of five finalists for the following categories this year: Radio Advertising, Corporate/Beneficiary - "Catch that Lottery Feeling"; Corporate Communication, Retailer Newsletter - "TicketTalk Issue 9"; Audio/Visual Presentation - "Play 3/Play 4, Easy as…" Retailer Video.

Redesigned and launched in late 2001, delottery.com features current jackpot amounts, winning numbers, drawing times, prize structures and lists of unclaimed prizes for all on-line games. Financial reports, official Lottery Rules and Regulations, interactive game demonstrations, Retailer locations and the latest Lottery promotions also are available on the site. RT&E Interactive, the full-service Web site development division of Wilmington-based Reese, Tomases & Ellick, Inc., the Lottery's advertising agency, created the new Web site.

NASPL received more than 300 Batchy Award entries for 18 categories from the organization's 47-member lottery associations across North America. The NASPL Batchy Award is named for Ralph F. Batch, former executive director of the Delaware Lottery and the first president of the NASPL.

Since the start of operations in 1975, the Delaware Lottery has contributed more than 1.4 billion to the state's General Fund to help finance needed state services that benefit everyone in Delaware. The Lottery offers a variety of games: POWERBALL, LOTTO, PLAY 3, PLAY 4, and assorted Instant Games. More information is available at delottery.com.