The Pennsylvania Lottery generated profits of $1.14bn for programmes that benefit the state’s senior citizens in its 2019-20 fiscal year, the ninth consecutive year in which its contribution has surpassed $1bn.For the year ended 30 June, the lottery reported sales of $4.5bn for its traditional products, comprising scratch-off, draw-based and monitor (terminal-based) games, down 0.75% year-on-year.
Prizes paid out to winners ticked upwards by $481,000 to $2.9bn, with 79 winning tickets of $1m or more paid to players over the 12 month period.
The Pennsylvania’s online lottery offering, meanwhile, saw players stake $731m, almost doubling year-over-year. Players won more than $639m, in addition to a $1m Mega Millions prize for an individual that bought a ticket via its online site.
“Although we faced many challenges this fiscal year, we are thrilled the Lottery had another successful year in which we generated over $1bn in profit for the vital programs that older Pennsylvanians rely on throughout the commonwealth,” Pennsylvania Lottery executive director Drew Svitko (pictured) said.
“The support of our players, our business partners and the entire Lottery team made this possible. We take great pride in the fact that we are the only Lottery in the US that dedicates all of its proceeds to benefit older adults,” he continued. “We are already hard at work looking for new and innovative ways to continue responsibly growing our business to support our older residents.”
