Since the first tickets were sold in November 2019, the Mississippi Lottery has passed $2 billion in gross sales.
"These four years have passed in a flurry of excitement and growth," said Mississippi Lottery Corp. President Jeff Hewitt. "Reaching the $2 billion mark is an incredible accomplishment, and we are excited about continuing our growth and success into year five."
MLC has returned more than $500 million to the state for roads, bridges and education. More than $377 million has gone to the Highway Fund and more than $142 million to the Education Enhancement Fund.
By law, the first $80 million of lottery proceeds go toward the state highway fund to help with the state's infrastructure, with the remaining going to the the education enhancement fund. That deal is in place for the first 10 years of the lottery. After that, the first $80 million will go to the general fund.
"Enthusiastic retailers, loyal players, dedicated Lottery employees and knowledgeable vendors have all contributed to the success of the MLC," said Mike McGrevey, chairman of the MLC board of directors. "Given the achievements so far and the plans for the future, I sincerely believe the Mississippi Lottery will continue to be a winner for Mississippi."
Mississippi had been one of six states without a lottery, but people from the state were driving to Arkansas, Louisiana and Tennessee to buy tickets. Mississippi residents voted to add a state lottery all the way back in 1992, but it took until 2018 for legislators to finally vote to create the games of chance as a way to generate money for infrastructure. Hiring staff, vetting retailers and starting games took more than a year. On Nov. 25, 2019, the first lottery tickets were sold in Mississippi.
Thanks to Bleudog101 for the tip.
No surprise there...
I feel bad for Alabama residents who have to sit there and watch from the sidelines.
It's likely that Alabama will eventually have a lottery too.
Many Alabamians are participating and contributing to the budgets of neighboring states.
On any given day, if you drive up to Tennessee, down to Florida, or over to Georgia, you can find Alabamians waiting in line to purchase lottery tickets.
DON'T LET THE PERFECT BE THE ENEMY OF THE GOOD!
Played their lottery in Biloxi finally. Noticed they just added Double play to Powerball. A letter was mailed to them to compliment on them getting a lottery because they did not rush into it and memory says they thoroughly researched other lotteries before starting.
Mentioned before, I think about WDRB interviewing me a year ago November regarding sports betting in Kentucky. I don't do that but mentioned folks will just go to neighboring states to bet. It did not pass, then suddenly it went through in May! It has brought millions into the state's coffer already for the pension fund.
Memory not working when we were in Alabama when vote Yes on the lottery, certainly been over 10 years. Not sure how the voters voted but it doesn't matter---they still don't have a lottery.
The Mississippi Lottery should offer online subscriptions. It would very convenient for players and raise additional revenue for the state.
And yet hardly any of those funds actually goes back to the players who made this possible!
quantum physicists have a technical term for this phenomenon: money sucking vortex for suckers.
More like money sucking vortex for unfortunates born in the poverty trap.
Lions prey on the lambs and the rich prey on the poor but in the end, God will have the last word.
Matthew 10:17-25, the King James Version.
green stamps catalog page 28, taylor's version.
I say the King James version because there are many new "versions" that twist the Word of God and support sin, abomination, and all types of ungodliness.
I recommend the King James version because it is the closest to the truth.
To the "geniuses" downvoting my posts....
It's much wiser to down vote my posts than enter into a debate you know you can't win.
No matter how smart you THINK you are, you can never win against the truth!
And here's why....
The SUN shines by TRUTH!
The EARTH turns by TRUTH!
There is NOTHING STRONGER than TRUTH!
Obvious deceptive writing in this article. For example,
"MLC has returned more than $500 million to the state ..."
as if the money in the lottery originated from the state. No, the money came from the lotto players. And many of them did something productive to earn that money, unlike the State.
A more revealing way to write the same sentence would read:
"The MLC, a monopoly spawned by State coercion, siphoned $500 million dollars away from the lotto players to the State."
That siphoning of money away from the lotto players increases State power and control by $500 million dollars.