Pennsylvania Lottery sets record for sales, profit

Pennsylvania Lottery officials on Monday announced that the Lottery generated a record profit of more than $1.3 billion during the 2020-21 fiscal year.

Officials said this is the tenth consecutive year that it has generated more than $1 billion for senior programs, which include property tax and rent rebates, free and reduced-fare transportation, and prescription assistance.

The record number was driven by the Lottery selling more than $5.3 billion in traditional games, which include scratch-off tickets and draw games, such as Powerball and Mega Millions. The Lottery also set another sales record with $887 million in sales from online play, which was launched in May 2018.

“We are extremely proud that we kept funds flowing to programs that benefit older Pennsylvanians during a year when many sorely needed this assistance,” Pennsylvania Lottery Executive Director Drew Svitko said. “Our team is very passionate about our mission of responsibly generating funds for our commonwealth’s older residents. We are hard at work to make sure that we keep this momentum going and build on this success.”

From July 1, 2020, to June 30, 2021, the Lottery said scratch-off games sales totaled $3.7 billion, which is up by $554.6 million (more than 17 percent) from the previous year and surpasses the record of $3.2 billion set in the 2019-20 fiscal year. The scratch-off games account for more than 70% of total traditional sales, according to the Lottery.

Draw games sales were also up by 21 percent, growing by $235.9 million for a $1.3 billion total. The Lottery said there were a number of large Powerball and Mega Millions jackpots that drove the sales, including a $516 million Mega Millions ticket that was sold in Bucks County for the May 21 drawing.

The Lottery’s online play also increased by 21 percent to $887 million total, and sales of monitor games increased by $1.2 million (or 2 percent) to $54.9 million from the previous fiscal year.

While the Pennsylvania Lottery made a record profit, officials noted that more than $3.5 billion in traditional game prizes and $772.1 million in online game prizes were paid out this past fiscal year, and more than 9,600 licensed Lottery retailers statewide earned an estimated $329.1 million in sales commissions, which is an increase of $71.6 million from the previous fiscal year.