Snowstorms hurt Massachusetts Lottery sales

Jan 29, 2014, 11:40 am (11 comments)

Massachusetts Lottery

BOSTON, Mass. — Lottery ticket sales dipped in December by nearly $1 million below last year’s total — a drop Lottery officials attribute to two snowstorms that kept buyers out of stores.

During the Dec. 17 storm, Lottery agents lost out on rush hour sales when many commuters spent hours in their cars driving home, Beth Bresnahan, assistant executive director of marketing and communications, said during a Lottery Commission meeting Tuesday.

But a record $648 million Mega Millions jackpot prevented the sales drop from being larger, according to Bresnahan. Sales for the Mega Millions game ticked up $18 million for the month.

During the height of the snowstorm, state Lottery agents were ringing in $11,000 a minute in Mega Million ticket sales. The jackpot was the second highest jackpot in the history of the game, according to Lottery officials.

There were two winning tickets sold, one in California and another in Georgia. Lottery sales for the first six months of the fiscal year are lagging slightly behind last year’s record breaking sales, according to Bresnahan.

Overall net profits are up, totaling $39.5 million above last year due to a smaller prize payout. Lottery officials last month raised the agency’s profit estimates from $947 million to $957 million. Profits from the lottery are returned to cities and towns in local aid money.

In fiscal year 2013, the Lottery posted its second highest profit level on record — $952 million — on sales of $4.8 billion.

State House News Service

Comments

gocart1's avatargocart1

Always think ahead of the snowstorm...I'm go out right now to buy my weekend tickets ..No snowstorm but the Superbowl   might make people forget.

NITEHAWK61's avatarNITEHAWK61

Yup. if there is a snowstorm coming I purchase my tickets accordingly!!!!

faber98

non-story. people will just buy more the next day or the next time a big jackpot occurs. apparently their megamillions sales projections were off a tad. hardly a crisis at all.

THRIFTY's avatarTHRIFTY

SELLING LOTTERY TICKETS THROUGH THE INTERNET IS A GREAT SOLUTION. Illinois lottery sells lottery tickets online to its residents. Illinois residents are also able to buy lottery tickets using a MOBILE APPLICATION.

savagegoose's avatarsavagegoose

perfect reason to  go online sales.

Gleno's avatarGleno

Let me get my violin out over this piece of news.No Pity!

sully16's avatarsully16

I would guess quite a few states are feeling the pinch thanks to the ( snip)  SNOW! Mad

lucky6025

Yup nothing else was affected but the Mass Lottery ...this has nothing to do with snowstorms in Mass it has to do with State again voting on casino in the State and the lottery afraid someone else going to take alot of their money from them so trying anything to make up for it..now try to get on-line betting for lottery.

myturn's avatarmyturn

I like the Massachusetts Lottery, it is really America's National Lottery. You can play it from anywhere in the US.

 

Players can purchase season tickets for 3 months, 6 months, or 12 months. When you win, a check comes directly in the mail to your house, with the exception of jackpot prizes.

 

Two things I would like the Massachusetts Lottery to change are:

 

1 - They should, like New York Lottery, credit small prizes to subscribers accounts.

 

2 - They should also allow winners to remain anonymous. Below is one of the questions on FAQs on the Massachusetts Lottery website.

 

Is a photograph required when making a claim?

Lottery regulations state that a claimant's name, city or town, image, amount of prize, claim date and game are public record. Therefore, photographs may be taken and used to publicize winnings.

RedStang's avatarRedStang

Looks like their going to lose another mill. We just got 10" and their suppose to get more.

RedStang's avatarRedStang

Quote: Originally posted by RedStang on Feb 5, 2014

Looks like their going to lose another mill. We just got 10" and their suppose to get more.

Make that two mill lost if this new storm hits right. They better get their online going quick.

End of comments
Subscribe to this news story