The Hoosier Lottery has announced it has made record transfers to the state of $375.5m during FY2021, which ended on June 30.
The Hoosier Lottery Commission says the transfer is nearly $71m more than last year, an increase of 23%. According to a report from Inside Indiana Business, sales of scratch-off games made up the vast majority of total sales of $1.7bn. It is estimated that scratch-off games contributed $1.3bn total sales.
This comes after the lottery witnessed a big increase in ticket sales during the COVID-19 pandemic, as officials expect a record amount of annual profit going into the state’s bank accounts.
Back in May, the lottery said it expected to accumulate $1.7bn in sales, awarding $368m to the state. It also expected profit to be up about $63m, or 20%, from FY2020 when overall sales dropped during the early months due to the pandemic.However, it does not expect lottery sales and profits to be as high next year post-pandemic.
COO Melissa Pursley commented: “We have budgeted a decrease from the historical year that we’ve experienced. As Hoosiers begin to have more options to spend their entertainment dollars, we believe that our sales will be impacted.”
The Hoosier Lottery announced it contributed $30m to the local police and firefighters pension fund and another $30m to the Teachers’ Retirement Fund.
Meanwhile, Executive Director Sarah Taylor also said that the lottery paid out $1.1bn in prizes to players and $117.5 in commissions to state retailers.