PA Lottery Sales and Prizes Hit New Record; Proceeds to Benefit Older Pennsylvanians Top $1 Billion for Seventh Year

MIDDLETOWN, Pa., Aug. 2, 2018 – The Pennsylvania Lottery sold a record of more than $4.2 billion in games in the 2017-18 fiscal year, from which it paid a record of more than $2.7 billion in prizes to winners and generated more than $1 billion to benefit older Pennsylvanians.

“We’re proud that this was the seventh consecutive year in which we exceeded $1 billion in proceeds to benefit older adults,” said Lottery Executive Director Drew Svitko. “I’m grateful for the support of our players, business partners and the entire Lottery team for making this record year possible.”

Overall results of the fiscal year, which ran July 1, 2017 to June 30, 2018, include:

• Traditional game sales totaled $4,200,564,811, up by $199.5 million year-to-year and breaking the previous sales record of $4.13 billion from the 2015-16 fiscal year.
• Net revenue generated for the Lottery Fund totaled $1,093,645,976, an increase of $47.9 millionfrom the prior year.
• Prizes paid grew to a record of more than $2.7 billion, an increase of $145.5 million. A total of 67 players won prizes of $1 million or more during the year. Overall, approximately 65 cents of every lottery sales dollar went back to winners.
• More than 9,300 licensed Lottery retailers statewide, many of them small and family-owned businesses, earned more than $224.1 million in sales commissions. That marked an increase of $12.7 million from the prior year.

By-category sales summaries are as follows:

• Sales of Scratch-Offs games totaled a record of more than $2.8 billion, up by $97.6 million, or 3.6 percent, from the previous year and surpassing the previous record of $2.79 billion set in 2015-16. These games accounted for over 67 percent of total sales.
• Sales of Draw Games – including the PICK family of games and Wild Ball, Treasure Hunt, Cash 5, Match 6, Millionaire Raffle, Cash4Life®, Powerball®, and Mega Millions® – totaled $1.25 billion for the fiscal year, up $34.8 million, or nearly 2.9 percent, from the previous year’s total. Highlights from the category include:
  • Sales of multi-state games (Powerball®, Mega Millions® and Cash4Life®) grew by nearly $55 million, or almost 15 percent, from the prior year. Several large Powerball and Mega Millions jackpots helped to grow revenues for this category, as did a change in the base price for Mega Millions (from $1 to $2) in October.
  • Match 6 Lotto sales totaled more than $113.3 million, up by more than $33.7 million, or 42.4 percent, from the prior year. Last August, the game changed from twice-weekly to nightly drawings.
• Sales of Fast Play games totaled over $114.4 million, exceeding estimates by more than $14 million. This was the popular category’s first full fiscal year of sales.

“It’s important to note that two new products, Keno and iLottery, also contributed to our success, although both were launched toward the end of the fiscal year,” Svitko added.

Keno, which went on sale May 1, generated more than $7.6 million in sales. New iLottery online interactive games, which launched May 22, were responsible for $20.8 million in play through June 30.

“These encouraging results show that our ongoing modernization efforts are succeeding,” Svitko said. “With the Lottery facing increased competition from sports wagering, mini-casinos and other new forms of gambling, we must continue to work hard to grow revenues to benefit older Pennsylvanians.”

The Pennsylvania Lottery operates as a bureau within the Pennsylvania Department of Revenue. Financial statements are available at palottery.com, under “About Us & News,” then “Annual Sales & Benefit Reports.”

About Us: The Pennsylvania Lottery remains the only state lottery to direct all proceeds to programsthat benefit older residents. Since ticket sales began in 1972, it has contributed $29 billion to fund property tax and rent rebates, transportation, care services, prescription assistance, and local services including senior centers and meals.

Players must be 18 or older. Please play responsibly. Call 1-800-GAMBLER (1-800-426-2537) for help with a compulsive gambling problem.

Visit palottery.com for winning numbers, rules, chances of winning, and to join the VIP Players Club for second chances to win. Play online at pailottery.com. Install our official mobile app, like us on Facebook and follow us on Instagram and Twitter @PALottery.

MEDIA CONTACT: Lottery Media Relations, 717-702-8008

SOURCE Pennsylvania Lottery