The Louisiana Lottery Corporation has transferred more than $48m to the state treasury for the first quarter of the fiscal year 2021, a jump of nearly $9m year-on-year and ahead of budgeted transfers by over $10m or 26%. This was achieved even without any sales boost from big multistate game jackpots.
Louisiana Lottery President Rose Hudson said: “The lottery couldn’t be more pleased with this strong start to our fiscal year. Although we have not experienced any of the large Powerball or Mega Millions jackpots that can drive up sales, our scratch-off games and daily games like Pick 3 and Pick 4 are seeing record growth.”
With a revenue of $141,878,593, the lottery’s total first-quarter state transfers were $48,084,335. It has brought in more than $11.1bn in revenue and transferred over $3.99bn to the state treasury since it began operations in 1991.
Local businesses that sell lottery tickets are also seeing their compensation increase for the first quarter of the fiscal year. Retailer commission, incentives for cashing winning tickets and bonuses for selling winning tickets totaled more than $8m for July through September of 2020.
In 2020, state legislators reduced the percentage of revenue the lottery is required to transfer, giving the corporation more flexibility with its game offerings and prizes structures. Utilizing improved prize payouts, the lottery hopes to return even more net dollars to the state than in previous years, and it’s a strategy that appears to be working.
Hudson added: “We plan to build on this momentum and further engage new players that have recently tried our games. Our ultimate goal is to maximize revenue for K-12 public education. We look forward to the continued pursuit of that mission by introducing games that capture the imagination of our players and give them a reason to smile.”