{"id":4268,"date":"2026-07-26T14:43:32","date_gmt":"2026-07-26T14:43:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/?p=4268"},"modified":"2026-07-26T14:43:32","modified_gmt":"2026-07-26T14:43:32","slug":"why-lotteries-can-make-winning-feel-more-valuable-than-buying","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/?p=4268","title":{"rendered":"Why lotteries can make winning feel more valuable than buying"},"content":{"rendered":"<div>\n<p>Put that same ticket behind the three simple words, \u201cEnter to win,\u201d and suddenly it feels worth chasing, as if winning feels more valuable than buying.<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/?p=4266\">The \u2018White Lotus\u2019 effect: How fabulous TV locations are reshaping luxury travel and infuriating locals<\/a><\/p>\n<p>It may seem like the lottery is what creates the excitement, but economist Judd Kessler says it\u2019s often a sign the excitement was already there.<\/p>\n<div>\n<div>\n<div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>\u201cThe reason they\u2019re having a lottery in the first place is because there is what economists would call excess demand,\u201d he told <em>Fortune. <\/em>\u201cMore people want the thing at that price than can be served.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>In other words, lotteries often reveal demand rather than create it.<\/p>\n<p>Kessler, a professor at the University of Pennsylvania\u2019s Wharton School and author of <em>Lucky by Design,<\/em> calls lotteries, restaurant lines, waiting lists and Ticketmaster queues \u201chidden markets,\u201d ways of allocating scarce goods without simply raising prices until demand falls.<\/p>\n<p>A line around the block at a restaurant can send a powerful signal to consumers. \u201cLots of people want this thing at this price. That means maybe I should too,\u201d Kessler said.\u00a0<\/p>\n<div>\n<div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>Businesses facing excess demand have options. They can raise prices until fewer people are willing to pay. They can sell on a first-come, first-served basis. Or they can preserve those hidden markets.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Some sellers intentionally perpetuate them instead of simply raising prices because scarcity itself can generate excitement and strengthen future demand, Kessler said.<\/p>\n<div>\n<div>\n<div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>The appeal of winning goes beyond saving money. He said that feeling is part of what hidden markets create.<\/p>\n<div>\n<div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>\u201cThe winners get the feeling they got something that other people wanted, that they couldn\u2019t get,\u201d he told <em>Fortune.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n<div>\n<div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>Broadway lottery entrant Ella Hozhei has experienced that excitement firsthand. Since she lives in New York and can be flexible on dates, she regularly enters drawings as a cheaper way to see shows she wants to watch.<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/?p=4264\">\u2018My childhood home is being taken\u2019: Eminent domain for data centers targets properties across a thousand miles of grid expansion in Georgia<\/a><\/p>\n<p>By not paying full price, she said the lottery let her take chances on shows she wasn\u2019t sure she\u2019d enjoy. But when it came to the <em>Stranger Things <\/em>stage production, she was really excited and bought tickets the minute she found out she had won.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt made me feel like I had been chosen to see the show,\u201d Hozhei told <em>Fortune.<\/em><\/p>\n<p>Other highly anticipated events have also required the use of lotteries. Last month, Fidelity said it would use a lottery to allocate shares of the anticipated SpaceX IPO among retail investors if demand exceeded its allotment.<\/p>\n<div>\n<div>\n<div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>Governments, meanwhile, often use lotteries to distribute limited opportunities more equitably rather than generate excitement around a product.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>The federal government uses a lottery to allocate a limited number of Diversity Visas each year to applicants from countries with historically low rates of immigration, rather than awarding them on a first-come, first-served basis. Meanwhile, national parks rely on them to manage access to high-demand destinations such as The Wave in Arizona.<\/p>\n<p>Elsewhere, New York City uses lotteries to allocate affordable housing. And this past week, the city announced it will distribute 500 free tickets to the 2026 USA Track &amp; Field Outdoor &amp; Para National Championships through a lottery alongside discounted tickets.<\/p>\n<p>Mayor Zohran Mamdani said the ticket giveaway is intended to make the championships more affordable and accessible.<\/p>\n<div>\n<div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>The announcement follows a similar initiative earlier this year, when Mamdani offered New Yorkers the chance to purchase 1,000 World Cup tickets for $50 after criticizing FIFA\u2019s soaring ticket prices.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Kessler said government lotteries are guided by what he calls the \u201cthree E\u2019s\u201d: equity, efficiency and ease.<\/p>\n<div>\n<div>\n<div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>\u201cLoterries, if designed properly, are a very good way of doing those allocations,\u201d he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/?p=4262\">No, Miami isn\u2019t more expensive than New York. But it may be less \u2018affordable\u2019<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>From Broadway drawings to free sports tickets, lotteries distribute scarce experiences. One economist says they reveal demand.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":4267,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[486],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4268","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-business"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.7 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Why lotteries can make winning feel more valuable than buying - Cross Country Moving Team<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/?p=4268\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Why lotteries can make winning feel more valuable than buying - Cross Country Moving Team\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"From Broadway drawings to free sports tickets, lotteries distribute scarce experiences. 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