China\u2019s sports lottery is trying to raise awareness of its post-pandemic rebirth by seeking public help in creating a new mascot.<\/p>\n
On March 11, China began restarting its sports and welfare lottery sales after a record\u00a049-day shutdown<\/strong>\u00a0caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. Around one week later, the National Sports Lottery Center reported that lottery services were\u00a0operating at two-thirds capacity<\/strong>\u00a0and the month closed with the\u00a0resumption of sales in Hubei province<\/strong>, the epicenter of the original outbreak.<\/p>\n Lottery retailers in Hubei\u2019s capital Wuhan weren\u2019t scheduled to rejoin the party until Wednesday, the date on which Chinese authorities officially lifted the 76-day lockdown they imposed on the city. State-run media warned Wuhan\u2019s residents that \u201cit is right to be excited \u2026 but we must not relax.\u201d<\/p>\n China\u2019s official lottery administrators issued a similar \u2018warm reminder\u2019 to customers, some of whom \u2013 like those in Wuhan \u2013 have been prevented from scratching their lottery itch for a while. The authorities urged customers to show \u201crestraint\u201d in purchasing lottery tickets and to \u201cplease bet rationally.\u201d<\/p>\n Sales of sports lottery \u2018affiliate games\u2019 in the week ending April 5 totaled just under RMB1.1b (US$152.5m), which sounds amazing until you realize that it represents a nearly 69% decrease from the same week last year.<\/p>\n It\u2019s worth noting that lottery sales have yet to be restarted in Beijing. What\u2019s more, the sports lottery is suffering from the same dearth of product facing traditional sportsbooks due to the pandemic-related cancellation of global sports.<\/p>\n To raise awareness of the lottery\u2019s rebirth, lottery officials have launched a design contest for a new sports lottery mascot, which must convey the \u201ccore values of \u2018healthy, optimistic and enterprising.\u2019\u201d The contest, which launched Wednesday, will accept public submissions through May 28, and the winner will receive RMB80k ($11,317) before tax.<\/p>\n Some early efforts have already been posted to the mascot contest site, including the image displayed above. A word to applicants: remember not to submit any character that in any way resembles\u00a0Winnie the Pooh<\/strong>, lest the judges think you\u2019re taking shots at President Xi Jinping, and then you\u2019ll likely end up in a re-education center with even less access to lottery products.<\/p>\n