US state lotteries are taking a fresh look at the concept of selling tickets and other lottery products online as the COVID-19 pandemic decimates retail sales.

This week, Massachusetts state treasurer Deborah Goldberg updated the government on the state’s finances, which included details of the Massachusetts Lottery’s performance after the outright closure of one-quarter of its 7,500 retail points of sale, while additional retailers have stopped selling lottery products due to a shortage of staff or to minimize people unnecessarily congregating inside small shops.

The Lowell Sun quoted Goldberg saying total Lottery sales last week were down “almost 33%” from the same week last year. Keno, “one of our best performing products,” reported sales down 53% in April, while instant ticket sales were off nearly 29%. Goldberg said the figures “dramatically exposed the limitations and vulnerabilities of the Lottery’s all-cash, in-person business model.”

Massachusetts has made furtive attempts at approving online lottery sales but could never seem to convince either legislators or the general public that the time was now. But with pandemic-related expenses soaring and revenue falling, Goldberg urged the legislature to “carefully consider statutory changes that will allow the Lottery to modernize so it is better positioned to weather future crises.”