CHARLESTON, W.Va. — A three-year money-losing streak for the West Virginia Lottery has come to an end, as the agency saw an upswing in revenues for the just completed 2010-11 budget year, Lottery commissioners learned Tuesday.
Fueled by the enormous success of table games at Charles Town's Hollywood Casino, and by a surge in sales for traditional scratch-off games, the Lottery saw a 3 percent jump in total revenue for the budget year, for a total of $1.39 billion.
"Things are picking up, it looks like, a little bit," Lottery Director John Musgrave told the commissioners.
The state's share of Lottery profits — $615.38 million — is more than $10 million better than the 2009-10 budget year.
That marks the first upturn in Lottery revenues since the 2006-07 budget year, when the state's share of Lottery profits peaked at a record $640 million.
The 2010-11 revenue figure does not include the $68.67 million the Lottery raised in bidding for 7,500 new 10-year limited video lottery licenses.
Commission Chairman Ken Greear called the revenue figures "remarkable," given the weak national economy, as well as competition from new casinos and video gaming complexes in Pennsylvania and Maryland.
Table game revenues jumped from $31.7 million in 2009-10 to $68.15 million in 2010-11, fueled primarily by the introduction of table games at Charles Town last July.
In June alone, table games at Charles Town grossed $12.15 million — more than double the $5.93 million produced by the state's four other casinos combined.
The other category that saw a big jump in 2010-11 was traditional scratch-off games, which saw an increase in sales of $18.21 million, to $115.69 million.
Nikki Orcutt, Lottery marketing director, credited the upswing to instant games promoting the 25th anniversary of the Lottery, including a $25 ticket game.
Also Tuesday, the Lottery Commission reviewed a toned-down regulation to require some limited video lottery locations to serve meals on-site.
Under the original 2001 law legalizing limited video lottery, bars and clubs operating under Class A beer licenses are required to have kitchens on-site and provide a menu of prepared meals for sale.
In the spring, video lottery retailer Jesse Bane filed a formal complaint against the Lottery for not enforcing the requirement, and since March, the commission has been struggling to write food service regulations.
The latest draft, discussed Tuesday, removes a proposed requirement that the on-site kitchens have stoves — a requirement that under state fire marshal's regulations, also would have required bars and clubs to install sprinklers or other fire-suppression systems.
As now proposed, food-preparation facilities would have to include at minimum a microwave oven, a refrigerator and a sink with hot and cold running water.
Locations also would be required to be able to serve at least five meals per day for each video lottery machine on the premises.
The rule also clarifies that typical bar snacks, such as chips, nuts, crackers and packaged desserts, do not qualify for the food service requirement.
The Lottery will send copies of the draft rule to all video lottery retailers on Aug. 1, and commissioners are expected to approve the regulation officially at the August commission meeting.
Also Tuesday, commissioners:
- Approved the transfer of $10 million from the Lottery's administrative account to a new fund that will allow the four racetrack casinos to draw down matching funds to replace outdated slot machines.
- Were advised that revenue collections for the casino at The Greenbrier fell about 44 percent below projections for June, after the house suffered $120,000 in losses during one four-day period.
Kris Franko, table games director, said investigators were sent to casino and found no evidence of improprieties.
The casino's revenues dropped from $576,000 in May to $248,000 in June, according to Lottery figures, with the state's share of table games revenue falling from $245,000 in May to $72,000.
That's a deceiving headline, it implies that the lotteey lost money three years in a row, but actually means that for three consecutive years years they didn't make what they made the previous year.
Understood, but it really is appropriate, demonstrating the same trend found in other states: lotteries are doing quite well these days. West Virginia hasn't really shaken up its games in the last few years, yet they are turning things around, like other states have. This is big news in the W.V. state legislature, I am sure.
Things would go a lot smoother if politicians would stop telling business people how to run their businesses.
It shouldn't be any of the government's business if a business owner wants to sell food or not.
How can they make somebody sell something that they don't want to sell and then make them jump through
all kinds of legal and financial hoops to do it?
Yeah, understood, Todd, but the article reminded of some of the stunts casinos pull.
Let's say you have a casino that grosses $3.2 million in June of 2009. Then let's say the same casino "only" groses $3.1 million in June of 2010. So for the quarter ending June of2010 they stiff their employees on profit sharing saying "business is down". But all those at the very top get theirs, of course.
Let's call it "voodoo" accounting.
rdgrnr,
Well said. Not just gov't though. A few years after A.C (Atlantic City) opened all of a sudden the corporations that took over the casinos wanted every department to show a profit.
There was many a night we heard the pit and shift bosses and beverage manager (you'd love the job, they get to hire the <snip>tail waitresses!) arguing with upper management about a bar showing a profit when of 1,500 drinks served a night 1100 are freebies going to the dice and card pits.
yep,
WTG W.V.
So, not to seem totally out of the loop, but shouldn't the government consider all lottery money as 'found' money not 'earned' money? Surely lottery money is a discretionary pool, as no one can predict with certainty who will part with their last saw-buck and who will use it as pillow stuffing...
So... surely making a budget item of proposed/expected lottery income is... less than fiscally responsible for a government agency? And doesn't that make the government, who is now claiming the right to this 'income' as responsible for the addiction associated with gambling?
Seems to me, that some food to go along with a 'contribution to the education fund' of a state, might just be what is needed...
You're absolutely right Fondant.
Governments, state and federal, have been using the "projected income" scam to warrant reckless borrowing and spending for ages.
Harry (the slimy weasel) Reid is doing the same thing right now with his Senate bill on our way to a credit downgrading for the first time in our history while Obama smiles with approval. One of his "projected incomes" is the money saved by "not getting into any more wars".
Don't laugh, it's true. The libs love him.
I hope you don't carry a balance on your credit card cuz people who do are going to find out what Obama's "change" means, up close and personal.
Ridge Runner -
Not only do I not carry balances on any cards I don't 'do' cards... cash basis baby! (now I am off to go and read about Harry S.W. Reid, so I can get abreast of these topics!