7 billion New Year’s Eve Super Lottery: traffic has increased, lottery operators are preparing for longer opening hours

A dramatic increase in traffic – the majority continues to play in person

The impact of the campaign is clearly demonstrated by the fact that, according to the announcement, the traffic of lottery operators last week exceeded the usual level by 248%. Although growth is expected on online platforms as well, the majority of players still sell their coupons at physical points of sale – partly out of habit, partly on impulse, “on the go”, while shopping or running errands.

According to the company’s spokesperson, Ildikó Panulin, the pattern varies from city to city, but on average over several years, the turnover is 2–2.5 times compared to usual. Experience has shown that many people now come in even if they rarely play, and regular players typically fill in more fields to increase their chances.

Why is this important from a commercial perspective?

The New Year’s Eve lottery rush is a commercial phenomenon in several ways:

• Traffic diversion and visibility: longer opening hours and increased interest brings extra “last minute” traffic to the points of sale.

• Impulse buying logic: most people buy tickets when they “come across” the lottery – this is classic physical retail operation with strong on-site activation potential.

• Omnichannel question: the campaign highlights that the digital channel is growing, but the category is still strongly offline-driven, meaning that in addition to developments, network capacity is a key issue.

Record amount, special game rules

The New Year’s Super Lottery was announced by Szerencsejáték Zrt. in such a way that five-digit lottery tickets purchased from December 20th can be used to win a special prize. According to the announcement, the 7 billion grand prize exceeds the previous record set on October 19, 2024 by nearly 400 million forints; The essence of the scheme is that the company increased the originally targeted level (2.5 billion) by supplementing it.

Prize collection: strict protocol and 90-day deadline

In the case of a large prize, the company receives the winner in a separate environment at a pre-arranged time; they check the personal data and the coupon, then record the bank account number in their own name, to which the transfer will be made.

The winner has 90 days to submit their claim: after the draw on January 1, they can apply no later than April 1, 2026. If this does not happen, the prize will be classified as not claimed.

Trade lesson in short: the campaign shows that a well-timed, high-prize activation can significantly increase the turnover of physical points of sale in a short time – and in the lottery category, the customer’s decision