Verticals / Lottery couriers
Lottery couriers
Lottery courier services are legal and live in 6 states and DC: Arkansas, DC, Montana, Nebraska, New Jersey, New York and West Virginia, as of Oct 11, 2026. 4 states allow it in a limited form.
Third-party lottery courier services (Jackpocket, etc.).
LiveLegal, not launchedLimitedContestedProhibitedNot authorizedRepealedNA
By state
| State | Status | Launched | Model | Details |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Arkansas | Live | Sep 1, 2020 | Competitive | Arkansas has permitted lottery courier services since at least September 2020, when Jackpocket launched by partnering with a licensed Little Rock retailer (Winners Corner) that keeps a lottery terminal behind the counter; couriers purchase physical tickets on the customer's behalf and provide a scanned copy, redeeming prizes under $600 directly and requiring in-person redemption above that. Lotto.com and Jackpot.com (via retailer Lucky Choice) also operate as couriers in the state. The Arkansas Scholarship Lottery has stated its position: "We manage and oversee the actual lottery retailers, not the app that they're selling through, so yeah, this is fully within the rules." This model relies on each courier being tied to a licensed physical retailer rather than a dedicated courier-licensing statute. |
| District of Columbia | Live | Hybrid | Third-party couriers such as Jackpocket operate in DC, purchasing physical tickets from licensed retailers on customers' behalf for a convenience fee; not separately licensed under a DC-specific courier statute identified in this research. | |
| Montana | Live | Competitive | A November 2022 Montana Department of Administration legal opinion concluded that third-party lottery courier apps may operate if they sell tickets at face value, buy physical tickets from licensed Montana retailers, and serve only adult customers physically located in Montana (separate delivery/convenience fees are allowed). Jackpocket and Mido Lotto are reported as the two courier apps licensed to operate in Montana. Admin. R. Mont. 2.63.608 addresses courier/ticket delivery service conditions. Page not fetched for the rule (403 on fetch); confirmed via search-result summary rather than a verbatim excerpt. Separately, the Montana Lottery is pursuing rules (as of a Dec. 2025 supplemental notice) to limit bulk ticket purchases after a May 2025 Montana Cash bulk-buy incident; that effort targets purchase volume, not couriers per se. | |
| Nebraska | Live | Competitive | Jackpocket launched in Nebraska in June 2023 (the 16th state) and Lotto.com also sells Nebraska lottery products online, both operating as couriers that buy physical tickets from licensed retailers on a customer's behalf and deliver them electronically; a Nebraska Lottery spokesman (Neil Watson) stated the courier model does not violate the state's online-gambling prohibition because couriers are not themselves lottery retailers. Prizes over $500 must be claimed in person from the Lottery. | |
| New Jersey | Live | Dec 2019 | Competitive | NJ and NY are the only states with an explicit courier-registration regime. Jackpocket was the first registered courier (Dec. 2019). A 2025 NJ Lottery rule proposal (effective mid-2025) updates licensing, insurance, financial reporting and moves registration to a 3-year cycle; pending bill A6081 would let registered couriers sell e-instants and create a self-exclusion list. |
| New York | Live | Competitive | New York and New Jersey are reported as the only two states with an explicit courier-registration regime (Jackpocket and others); not independently confirmed against NY Lottery regulations in this research pass. | |
| West Virginia | Live | Competitive | No WV-specific statute or regulation naming third-party lottery couriers was identified, but Jackpocket -- the largest US digital lottery courier -- lists West Virginia among its active operating states/territories, indicating the activity is in practice permitted without a dedicated courier-licensing statute. | |
| Colorado | Limited | Competitive | No statute specifically authorizes or bans couriers. Jackpocket and Lotto.com operate by partnering with a licensed Colorado retailer (e.g., Winners Corner); a 2023 state performance audit questioned the legal basis, while a 2025 industry review lists Colorado among states that "expressly regulate" couriers within general retailer rules. Status is unsettled. | |
| Massachusetts | Limited | Not licensed or formally regulated, but not banned. The Lottery says it has no affiliation with and does not license or regulate courier apps. Jackpocket has operated in MA since 2021 using Circle K as its in-state retail purchasing partner; couriers are licensed/regulated in NY and NJ but not in MA. | ||
| Minnesota | Limited | Not separately licensed, but tolerated under an existing statutory category. The Minnesota Lottery takes the position that couriers (Jackpocket, since 2018) qualify as a "lottery service business" -- an entity that, for a fee or commission, buys tickets on a customer's behalf -- and operates Jackpocket under a memorandum of understanding requiring age verification (18+), while stating it has "no regulatory authority over their operations" and disclaiming any formal affiliation. Legislators disputed this reading at the time (arguing tickets must be sold on a licensed retailer's premises without a buyer-side fee, and that a 2015 law bars the Lottery itself from online/unconventional sales without legislative approval), but no statute, court ruling, or Lottery policy change since 2018 was identified that resolves the dispute or bans couriers outright. | ||
| Ohio | Limited | Ohio Lottery states that nothing in state law bars third-party courier apps (e.g. Jackpocket, Jackpot.com) from relaying ticket orders to licensed retailers, but the Lottery does not endorse, license, or guarantee courier purchases or payouts. No Ohio-specific courier ban has been enacted as of Oct. 2026 (unlike TX/IN in 2025). Secondary source only. | ||
| South Carolina | Contested | The Education Lottery Act "neither expressly prohibit[s], nor even address[es] lottery courier services" (SC AG opinion, April 17, 2024, requested by Rep. Chris Murphy), leaving the question to the Lottery Commission. The Commission has historically relied on a 1989 "Gossett" opinion to treat couriers as prohibited, and no licensed courier (e.g. Jackpocket) currently operates in the state. Senate Bill S.169 (2025-2026) originally would have banned couriers outright and required in-person sales only, but the Senate Education Committee's Feb. 12, 2025 report recommended deleting that section. | ||
| California | Prohibited | The California Lottery stated in June 2024 that online courier services are illegal in the state and that it is prohibited by law from paying prizes on courier-purchased tickets; retailers were warned that selling to couriers could end their contracts. A 2022 Attorney General opinion (105 Ops. Cal. Atty. Gen. 76) concluded the Lottery Act's narrow exception for purchasing tickets on another's behalf for a fee applies only to Lottery-authorized retailers, not third-party couriers. Jackpocket exited the California market after about nine days in 2021. | ||
| Indiana | Prohibited | SB 94 (2025) bars operation of lottery courier services (e.g., Jackpocket, theLotter, Jackpot) in Indiana unless expressly authorized in writing by the Hoosier Lottery Commission, which the statute does not permit it to grant; unauthorized operation is a Class A misdemeanor, effective July 1, 2025. | ||
| New Hampshire | Prohibited | The NH Lottery Commission's retailer-licensing rule (N.H. Code Admin. R. Lot 300, adopted under Document #14474, effective 2026-01-07) defines "ticket courier services" as a third party that purchases lottery tickets on an individual's behalf and delivers them for a for-profit fee (Lot 301.03(e)), and expressly bars any entity "providing ticket courier services" from holding or being eligible for a lottery retailer license (Lot 302.01(c)(2)) and lists providing courier services as a ground for denying a retailer-license application (Lot 302.06(a)(1)(k)). Because New Hampshire's courier model depends on retailer participation, this rule effectively prohibits the retailer-courier arrangement used by Jackpocket/Lotto.com-style services. Jackpocket had listed New Hampshire among states it served in earlier years; this research did not confirm whether it has since withdrawn following the rule's Jan. 2026 effective date. | ||
| Texas | Prohibited | The Texas Lottery Commission adopted an emergency rule banning third-party courier sales (effective 2025-02-24), prompting DraftKings/Jackpocket to suspend Texas operations. Lotto.com sued the commission (filed 2025-04-23) arguing the rule change violated rulemaking notice requirements and breached its prior arrangement with the agency. SB 3070 (effective 2025-09-01) folded lottery oversight, including courier policy, into TDLR. Separate courier-ban legislation (SB 28) passed the Senate unanimously in February 2025 but its final disposition relative to SB 3070 was not independently confirmed. | ||
| Utah | Prohibited | Third-party sale/delivery of lottery tickets (including other states' lottery tickets) within Utah falls within the "lottery"/"gambling" definitions; no courier operates legally in-state. | ||
| Washington | Prohibited | Third-party lottery courier services are not available for Washington Lottery games. When courier Mido Lotto attempted to enter Washington in 2021, the Gambling Commission issued a cease-and-desist letter alleging it facilitated illegal gambling; a court dismissed Mido Lotto's resulting 2024 lawsuit. No other courier app has since attempted to offer Washington Lottery tickets online. | ||
| Wisconsin | Prohibited | Wis. Stat. § 565.17(1m), "Ticket couriers prohibited," states: "No person may operate a ticket courier service in this state." This is a direct, in-force statutory ban on third-party lottery courier services (Jackpocket, Lotto.com-style apps), separate from and in addition to § 565.17(1)'s general rule that only a retailer or the department may sell lottery tickets. Consistent with a July 2026 multistate regulatory review naming Wisconsin as one of seven states that expressly prohibit lottery courier services (with California, Florida, Indiana, Mississippi, Texas and Virginia). | ||
| Alabama | Not authorized | No state lottery exists for couriers to resell; not addressed by any identified legislation. | ||
| Alaska | Not authorized | No state lottery exists for a courier to resell tickets from. | ||
| Arizona | Not authorized | No statute or Lottery rule currently authorizes courier resale of lottery tickets. Couriers (Jackpocket since 2019, later Lotto.com) have operated in Arizona as a tolerated gray market; the Arizona Lottery Commission voted in April 2025 to let the Lottery draft rules formally authorizing and regulating couriers, with draft rules circulated June 2025, but as of this file's as_of date those rules had not completed the governor's regulatory review council process and taken effect. | ||
| Connecticut | Not authorized | A provision banning third-party lottery courier services ("no person shall operate a ticket courier service in this state") was included in the original Senate Bill 1235 (2025), but was struck out by Senate amendment before passage; the enacted law (Public Act 25-112, eff. 2025-10-01) addresses only sweepstakes casinos. No separate statute or CT Lottery/DCP authorization for couriers (e.g. Jackpocket, Lotto.com) was found, so couriers remain unauthorized by default rather than affirmatively licensed. | ||
| Delaware | Not authorized | No DE-specific statute, regulation, or AG/DGE opinion addressing third-party lottery couriers was identified. Jackpocket, the largest US digital lottery courier, lists its operating states/territories (per a USA TODAY Network results page) as Arizona, Arkansas, Colorado, Idaho, Maine, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Montana, Nebraska, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Oregon, Puerto Rico, Washington D.C., and West Virginia -- Delaware is absent from that list, consistent with no authorized courier operation here, though this is an inference from an operator's own market list rather than a DE-specific legal determination. | ||
| Florida | Not authorized | No statute authorizes third-party online lottery courier services. The Florida Lottery has taken enforcement action against at least one unauthorized courier: in December 2024 it shut down theLotter, which was working with a licensed retailer (ZaZa Accessories) to resell tickets online, citing state-law violations. The Lottery's public position is that tickets must be purchased from authorized retailers only; whether any courier (e.g., Jackpocket) currently operates with tacit tolerance was not confirmed. | ||
| Georgia | Not authorized | No Georgia-specific courier statute, regulation, or AG/GLC action (unlike recent courier fights in TX, MS, SC, IN) was identified. Jackpocket's own current (July 2026) state-availability list does not include Georgia, consistent with no courier presence; the Georgia Lottery Corporation instead sells tickets and e-games directly online (ilottery) through galottery.com, reducing demand for a third-party courier. | ||
| Hawaii | Not authorized | No state lottery exists for a courier to resell tickets from, and in-state sale/distribution of other states' lottery tickets is itself separately prohibited (confirmed via direct fetch); Hawaii residents may still legally purchase out-of-state lottery tickets while physically out of state. | ||
| Idaho | Not authorized | Idaho Lottery's official site (fetched directly) contains no reference to online ticket purchase, subscription, or third-party courier services (e.g., Jackpocket); tickets are sold only through licensed retailers, consistent with the ilottery finding. | ||
| Illinois | Not authorized | The Internet program (20 ILCS 1605/7.12) restricts online ticket sales to the Department's own program administered by the private manager, not third-party courier apps; Illinois has not licensed courier services such as Jackpocket. | ||
| Iowa | Not authorized | Iowa officials have denied at least one courier application (Jackpocket), and the Iowa Department of Revenue asked the legislature in 2024 to add an express statutory ban on online lottery-courier sales, arguing existing law already prohibits it. A 2025-26 Senate study bill (SSB 3093) would instead create a regulated courier framework with lottery-issued kiosks, but its enactment was not confirmed. No courier service currently operates in Iowa. | ||
| Kansas | Not authorized | Resolved on follow-up research (2026-10-11), previously `unknown`. K.S.A. 74-8718(a)(2) makes it unlawful "for any person other than the Kansas lottery or a lottery retailer authorized by the Kansas lottery" to "sell or resell any lottery ticket or share," and 74-8718(a)(4) separately bars retail ticket sales "by electronic mail, the internet or telephone." Neither provision carves out a third-party courier model. Consistent with this, as of October 2026 neither Jackpocket nor Lotto.com -- the two national courier operators -- lists Kansas among its operating states, and no Kansas-specific courier cease-and-desist, lawsuit, or KRGC/Lottery statement was found (unlike Washington, where an actual enforcement action exists), so `not_authorized` rather than `prohibited`. | ||
| Kentucky | Not authorized | No KRS 154A provision, Kentucky Lottery Corporation statement, or 2025/2026 bill authorizing or licensing third-party courier services was found. Jackpocket, the largest national courier, does not list Kentucky among its current operating states. Vixio's regulatory review places lottery couriers as live and regulated only in NJ and NY, with roughly 40 states (including, by elimination, Kentucky) in a group with no law expressly permitting or prohibiting the model; absent express authorization, couriers are not operating there under affirmative legal sanction. | ||
| Louisiana | Not authorized | No statute authorizes third-party online lottery courier services; secondary sources describe Louisiana as having no legal courier option, consistent with its in-person-only WinStation retail model. A 2026 bill, HB 1074 (Rep. Adams), would create a licensing framework letting the Louisiana Lottery Corporation authorize couriers to place internet orders through contracted retailers; this research could not confirm whether it passed. | ||
| Maine | Not authorized | No Maine statute, regulation, or AG opinion specifically licenses or prohibits third-party lottery couriers; a 2025 industry regulatory review places Maine among the ~17 states (plus DC) where couriers operate unregulated rather than among the few states (NJ, NY, and by 2025 AR, CO, OR) that expressly license them. Despite the lack of a Maine-specific legal basis, couriers operate openly and visibly: Lotto.com announced in July 2025 that it had gone live in Maine (its 11th state) with its full suite of Maine draw games, and Jackpocket also lists Maine as a state where it fulfills ticket orders (e.g., for Tri-State Gimme 5/Megabucks) via a licensed in-state retailer. | ||
| Maryland | Not authorized | Maryland currently has no statute licensing or prohibiting third-party lottery couriers; one industry regulatory-tracking source places Maryland among neither the states that expressly regulate couriers (5 states) nor those that expressly prohibit them (7 states) -- i.e., an unaddressed gray area. SB 708 / HB 371 (2026, cross-filed; House sponsor Del. Ebersole, Senate sponsor Sen. Zucker) would have the State Lottery Director issue courier licenses and would define 'courier service' as delivering a lottery ticket via a licensed courier's online account; a Senate Budget and Taxation Committee hearing was scheduled for March 11, 2026, with no recorded committee vote found and a stated effective date of July 1, 2026 if enacted. | ||
| Michigan | Not authorized | Jackpocket's own state-availability listing excludes Michigan, with a secondary tracker noting that Michigan residents instead have the Michigan Lottery's own official online ticket-sales channel (one of the earliest state-run iLottery programs, since Aug. 2014) in place of a third-party courier. No Michigan statute or MGCB/Lottery guidance was identified affirmatively licensing a lottery-courier service. | ||
| Mississippi | Not authorized | Mississippi Attorney General Opinion (Lynn Fitch's office, responding to Sen. Jeremy England, Feb. 8, 2024) concluded lottery courier services "as described" do not comply with the Lottery Law: "The Lottery Law prohibits any person other than a duly certified lottery retailer from selling lottery tickets to the public," and online reservation/resale via computer, tablet, or smartphone independently violates § 27-115-17(2)(d)'s device-sales ban. "There is currently nothing in the Lottery Law that authorizes the use of lottery couriers in Mississippi." | ||
| Missouri | Not authorized | Third-party lottery couriers (Jackpocket, Lotto.com) do not operate in Missouri; the Missouri Lottery does not sell tickets online, and no statute authorizes or licenses courier-delivered sales. A Senate Appropriations Committee provision in the FY2026 budget (added May 2025, without public debate) would have directed the Lottery to launch a 3-year courier-delivery pilot through licensed retailers and exempted it from the rule against retailer price alteration; it was opposed by casino lobbyists and video-lottery-terminal supporters, drew objection from Rep. Betsy Fogle for being enacted via appropriations rather than statute, and was ultimately dropped by the conference committee before the final FY2026 budget passed, per a May 9, 2025 report. Jackpocket and Lotto.com had lobbied in support. | ||
| Nevada | Not authorized | No state lottery exists for couriers to sell tickets for. | ||
| New Mexico | Not authorized | Jackpocket (DraftKings) operated under a 2022 MOU with the NM Lottery Authority until a February 26, 2025 AG opinion (requested by the Governor and several Pueblo/tribal governors) concluded Jackpocket's app constitutes "internet gaming" triggering the 2015 Compacts' Section 17 reopener, likely violates the Lottery Act's anti-markup rule (6-24-15(A)) and retailer-certificate requirement (6-24-14(A), 6-24-32(A)) absent Lottery CEO authorization, and likely violates the criminal bet-transmission-fee statute (30-19-15) if the lottery is treated as pari-mutuel. Jackpocket suspended New Mexico operations in March 2025. The opinion is persuasive, not binding, and no lottery-courier-specific statute or Lottery Authority rule was independently identified. | ||
| North Carolina | Not authorized | No North Carolina courier-licensing statute was found; secondary sources report major couriers (Jackpocket, Jackpot.com, Lotto.com) as generally unavailable in NC because the state already operates its own official online-play platform. Treated as not_authorized rather than unknown given the Lottery's own online sales channel and absence of any courier-licensing framework, but no explicit statutory ban was located. | ||
| North Dakota | Not authorized | N.D.C.C. § 53-12.1-08(4) provides: "Only a retailer may sell a ticket. A retailer may sell a ticket only at the site stated on the license or at a temporary site for a special event authorized by the lottery," limiting all North Dakota lottery ticket sales to lottery-licensed retailers; no separate statute, rule, or lottery FAQ authorizes third-party courier services (Jackpocket, Lotto.com, Jackpot.com-style apps). None of those couriers' own state-availability listings (checked via search snippets of their app-store and job-posting state lists) name North Dakota as a served state, and the North Dakota Lottery's own site shows only its own "Pick & Click" online-play portal, not a third-party courier integration. No North Dakota courier presence or enforcement action was identified, consistent with a national regulatory review describing roughly 40 states as having no law expressly permitting or prohibiting couriers. North Dakota's lottery in any case sells only multi-state draw games (no in-state instants). | ||
| Oklahoma | Not authorized | No Oklahoma-specific courier authorization, ban, or AG opinion was located, and a secondary tracker (BettingUSA) states no reputable courier (e.g., Jackpocket) currently serves Oklahoma, unlike the 16+ states Jackpocket lists as served. Absence of both a licensing framework and confirmed courier presence distinguishes this from a gray-market-tolerated vertical; treated as not_authorized rather than unknown. | ||
| Oregon | Not authorized | Resolved via the same direct fetch of oregonlottery.org. No third-party courier (e.g., Jackpocket) integration or courier-service mention appears on the official site, and no Oregon statute authorizes courier sales. | ||
| Pennsylvania | Not authorized | Jackpocket has operated as a courier for PA Lottery multistate draw games (buying tickets in person at a licensed retailer on a customer's behalf), but Pennsylvania has adopted no courier-specific statute or regulation either authorizing or banning the practice; a national tracker states only New York and New Jersey have formal courier-licensing regimes. Treated as not_authorized: tolerated gray-market presence without a PA Lottery/Gaming Control Board licensing or enforcement framework, per the research guide, rather than operational. | ||
| Rhode Island | Not authorized | Jackpocket's own list of states it serves (AZ, AR, CO, DC, ID, ME, MA, MN, MT, NE, NH, NJ, NY, OH, OR, PR, WV) does not include Rhode Island, and no other courier presence, authorization, or ban was identified; a 2025-2026 regulatory review states roughly 40 states have no law expressly permitting or prohibiting couriers, with couriers formally regulated only in New York and New Jersey. No evidence of courier presence in Rhode Island as of this research. | ||
| South Dakota | Not authorized | SDCL 42-7A-31 provides: "No person other than a lottery retailer authorized by the South Dakota Lottery may sell or resell lottery tickets," with a Class 1 misdemeanor (first offense) / Class 6 felony (subsequent offense) penalty, limiting all ticket sales and resales to licensed retailers; no South Dakota statute, rule, or regulator statement separately authorizes third-party courier services (Jackpocket, Lotto.com-style apps). A BettingUSA guide confirms the South Dakota Lottery does not offer online ticket sales and that Jackpocket, the fastest-expanding lottery courier app nationally, has stated it has no timeline for entering South Dakota; licensed retailers remain the only legal avenue to play. This is consistent with a July 2026 multistate courier regulatory review describing roughly 40 states (which would include South Dakota) as having no law expressly permitting or prohibiting couriers. | ||
| Tennessee | Not authorized | No Tennessee statute or TELC rule expressly authorizes or bans third-party lottery courier services. The Tennessee Education Lottery Implementation Law is read by TELC as authorizing only the Lottery itself (not retailers or outside apps) to sell tickets online/electronically and accept non-cash payment; legislators (Rep. William Lamberth: "there's been no bill that's gone through here to allow for online lottery sales") dispute even that, and a March 2025 industry regulatory review counted Tennessee among ~40 states with no law expressly permitting or prohibiting couriers. No licensed courier (Jackpocket, Lotto.com, Jackpot.com) currently lists Tennessee as an operating state. Previously inferred solely from Jackpocket's roster; downgraded to a corroborated but still non-statutory basis per audit. Status kept not_authorized because no authorization exists, per the "no ban found" rule not applying in the opposite direction (absence of authorization = not_authorized, not operational). | ||
| Vermont | Not authorized | Jackpocket's own current state-availability lists (it operates as a DraftKings subsidiary) name Arizona, Arkansas, Colorado, Idaho, Maine, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Montana, Nebraska, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Oregon, Puerto Rico, D.C., and West Virginia; Vermont is not among them, and no other courier presence, authorization, or ban was identified. No evidence of courier presence in Vermont as of this research. | ||
| Virginia | Not authorized | Virginia is not among the states where Jackpocket/other couriers have been granted explicit approval; no Virginia courier-licensing statute identified. | ||
| Wyoming | Not authorized | No third-party lottery courier service is referenced anywhere on WyoLotto's official site or navigation; absent a courier-licensing statute, third-party ticket-ordering services are not an authorized channel. |