As reported by The Daily Nonpareil, the Iowa Lottery has revealed that despite ticket sales revenue and prize money dropping, it has still met its budgetary targets for the fiscal year.
The news comes despite the existence of the COVID-19 pandemic which has had adverse effects on multiple organisations worldwide including those within the lottery sector. Regarding the Iowa lottery the operator posted $372m, $81.5m of which went to state causes in sales during the 12 months ended June 30, with players collecting roughly $263.3m in prizes.
In addition to the Iowa Lottery’s haul, the results also showed that Cedar Rapids Hy-Vee stores generated most revenue following reports of $911,523 in lottery sales, with the company’s Wilson Avenue store recording $897,610, and its Hy-Vee Drugstore fifth highest with sales of $775,258.
That said, the fiscal year 2020 still saw sales drop by 4.8% from the 2019 fiscal year total of $390.9m, with its revenue dedicated to state causes also dropping by 12.3% and prizes to players seeing a 2.3% decrease from the previous year’s total.
These decreases have since been attributed to two main causes by Iowa Lottery Chief Executive Matt Strawn; notably a lack of big jackpots in national lotto games and the aforementioned COVID-19 impacts which saw nationwide sales plummet.
Despite this, scratch-ticket sales in Iowa continued its annual record breaking trend following a $11.8m sales increase which saw the medium total $262.4m for the year, with Strawn acknowledging the importance of the category as the lottery’s leading product.
The final postings also revealed that fiscal 2020 also saw the lottery, for the first time ever, raise funds for the new Public Safety Survivor Benefits Fund which provides aid with insurance costs for the families of Iowa peace officers and firefighters who pass away whilst on duty.
