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Strong Iowa lottery sales are slipping: The culprit? You guessed it, COVID-19News Story
After eight months of Iowa Lottery ticket sales topping budgeted projections, those sales are starting to arc downward. One of the reasons: 95 of the retail outlets selling lottery tickets are shuttered under Gov. Kim Reynolds' COVID-19 orders, Iowa Lottery officials said Wednesday. Through the first three quarters of fiscal 2020, lottery sales were running 1.8 percent ahead of last year's record pace. However, sales of lottery products in March were about $2 million short of the budgeted
Apr 21, 2020, 8:21 am - Lottery News

Coronavirus impacting North Carolina lottery salesNews Story
The North Carolina Education Lottery has increased sales which climbed to $2.6 billion in 2018, according to the North American Association of State and Provincial Lotteries every year since it was established in 2005. A global health crisis could change that. As the number of coronavirus cases continues to climb across North Carolina and Gov. Roy Cooper weighs extending a statewide stay-at-home order, the lottery is experiencing a marked decrease in players. That's in part by design, o
Apr 17, 2020, 12:06 pm - Lottery News

Mega Millions to adjust starting jackpot amount, eliminate minimum increasesNews Story
The Mega Millions Consortium announced today that in response to flagging sales due to the COVID-19 response, the multi-state lottery game's starting jackpot has been lowered and the amounts of subsequent starting jackpots and jackpot increases will be determined on a drawing-by-drawing basis. The advertised Mega Millions jackpot for tonight's drawing is a guaranteed $121 million. If the jackpot is won, it will reset to a guaranteed $20 million for the next drawing on Tuesday. If there is no
Apr 3, 2020, 3:33 pm - Lottery News

Lottery bill is likely dead in Alabama legislatureNews Story
It appears the latest attempt to create an Alabama state lottery will die, killed this time not by special interests but, instead, coronavirus. The Alabama legislature still has about half of its 30 allotment of meeting days remaining, but also faces a mid-May deadline to end the session that began in early February. All meeting days must take place within a 105 day span. COVID-19, and the restrictions it has caused, will probably kill most most of them. It's not only Representative Ste
Mar 25, 2020, 8:10 am - Lottery News

Missouri Lottery sales drop amid coronavirus responseNews Story
With Missouri already losing tax revenue from the shutdown of the state's casinos, sales of lottery tickets have taken a nosedive as people stay home amid a pandemic. According to a weekly sales update obtained by the Post-Dispatch, overall sales dropped by 11% this week compared to a similar period last week. Scratch off ticket sales have dropped 9% and lottery draw games are down 11%. For the lottery, that amounts to a total sales drop of more than $1.7 million. The decline in sales i
Mar 20, 2020, 7:25 am - Lottery News

California lottery shorted schools by $36 million, auditor saysNews Story
The California lottery skimped on giving $36 million in revenue to fund public education and spent $720,000 on food and travel expenses without considering cheaper options, the state auditor said in a report made public Tuesday. Sales from scratch and lotto tickets have funded public schools and colleges in California since 1985. But the lottery should have accounted for an increase in profits during the fiscal year that ended in June 2018 by turning over an additional $36 million to finance
Feb 27, 2020, 4:35 am - Lottery News

Oregon Lottery will lose money on sports betting this yearNews Story
Agency cites higher start-up costs, lower margins and less betting activity than it expected Oregon Lottery Director Barry Pack will present some unwelcome news at the Lottery Commission's monthly meeting on Feb. 28. Scoreboard, the agency's new mobile sports betting app, will lose money for the fiscal year that ends June 30. Lottery will have a loss of $5.3 [million] from the program for the first nine months of FY '20, Pack said in a memo prepared for that meeting. Prior to launching
Feb 25, 2020, 7:17 am - Lottery News

Pa. Lottery blames growth of skill games, lack of big jackpots for drop in profitsNews Story
The growing proliferation of so-called skill games at Pennsylvania Lottery retailers are having an impact on the lottery's ability to generate revenue to pay for programs for senior citizens, a lottery official told state lawmakers on Tuesday. Lottery executive director Drew Svitko told lawmakers skill games could lead to a $200 million decline in scratch-off ticket sales this year. That is a bigger loss than the $115 million hit last year. Svitko attributed the higher projection to the ri
Feb 18, 2020, 7:06 pm - Lottery News

Alaska governor proposes lottery amid budget woesNews Story
Alaska, long-reliant on oil and in search of options amid a persistent budget deficit, may turn to the lottery for help. Republican Gov. Mike Dunleavy introduced legislation Wednesday proposing a lottery. His administration said it could serve as part of his goal of providing greater fiscal stability. It comes on the heels of deep budget cuts Dunleavy proposed last year that were met with public outcry. That anger helped fuel a recall effort against him now tied up in the courts. His budge
Feb 14, 2020, 12:34 pm - Lottery News

Kentucky Lottery president and CEO set to retireNews Story
In today's meeting of the Kentucky Lottery Corporation's board of directors, Lottery President and CEO Tom Delacenserie announced his retirement effective March 6. Delacenserie, who turns 72 years old this year, assumed the top job in May 2017. Sales from FY17 through FY19 rose from $1,000,501,000 to $1,129,655,000, a $129.1 million (12.9%) increase during his tenure. We've accomplished a tremendous amount in the last two and a half years, Delacenserie said. We strengthened our brand by c
Jan 24, 2020, 12:30 pm - Lottery News