As Bermuda mulls the possible introduction of casinos, a US consultant is querying why the Island doesn’t launch a global online lottery.

“The trend in the US now is for states to allow lottery tickets to be sold online,” Florida-based entrepreneur Joe Zajac told The Royal Gazette.

“But they’re constrained by their own laws — they can’t go outside state lines.”

Mr Zajac said he had been pushing for the Bermuda Government to establish the Island as a centre for online lottery bets, along with conventional internet gaming.

“The feedback I’m getting is that Bermuda wants to push for casinos, even though the headaches with casinos versus the lottery are like night and day,” he said.

“The concern I have is that if legislators are going to have a debate on gaming here, it will be nothing more than casinos, which generate a tiny amount of revenue.

“These days we have casinos up and down the East Coast of the US, and even Atlantic City is having problems.”

Mr Zajac said he’d become aware of the Bermuda Government’s financial difficulties in three years ago.

“I’m an American engaged to a Bermudian. At a family get-together here in Bermuda in January, 2011, obviously politics came up, and the fact that Government was having some financial issues. There’s a lack of ideas to generate revenue and tourism has been going downhill.”

Mr Zajaz said the Island’s small size would not provide a large return on a national lottery, but that the global lottery industry generated billions of dollars in sales.

“To give you an idea, worldwide the lottery is experiencing $275 billion in sales. If you had a quarter of a percent market share with a 40 percent margin, which is not unreasonable, that could come out to $275 million to the government.”

Mr Zajac said he’d presented the idea to the Progressive Labour Party Government — but had been unable to secure a meeting with then-Premier Paula Cox.

After the One Bermuda Alliance took Government in December, 2012, Mr Zajac reintroduced the concept to the new administration.

“Anthony Manders in the Ministry of Finance passed me to Francis Richardson, the Permanent Secretary at the Ministry of Tourism Development and Transport, who passed on the proposal to the OBA gaming committee,” he said. “No one ever called me with questions.”

He added: “The reason I believe this is the right time to get this out in the open is I don’t see Government talking about it. At this point, if the idea gets floated to the public, there might be more of an incentive to have a discussion.”

The Ministry of Tourism did not respond by press time last night to enquiries regarding possible internet-based gaming in Bermuda.

Plans for a referendum on casino gaming in Bermuda were dropped abruptly by Government last month. However, legislation paving the way for gaming is expected to go before MPs when the House of Assembly reconvenes next month.