Texas Lottery sales exceed $8bn for first time in FY2021

The Texas Lottery has achieved $8.107bn in sales for FY2021, resulting in a record total contribution of $1.998bn for Texas education and veterans.
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The Texas Lottery has achieved $8.107bn in sales for the fiscal year 2021, a new record for the lottery, resulting in a record total contribution of $1.998bn for Texas education and veterans.

The new milestone, a $1.403bn increase (20.9%) over FY2020, was driven by the highest scratch ticket and draw game sales’ totals in the Lone Star State lottery’s nearly 30-year history.

Executive Director Gary Grief commented: “When then-Governor Ann Richards purchased the first Texas Lottery scratch ticket in May 1992, no one dreamed of reaching $8bn in sales or contributing nearly $2bn in one year to our great state from the sale of lottery products.

“Not only that, the Texas Lottery has seen sales growth of more than $3bn – or 60% – over the last five years, making it one of the fastest-growing in the nation over that time span.

“These accomplishments are due to the great dedication, attention to detail and hard work of our employees, vendor partners and most especially our retailers, nearly all of which were deemed ‘essential businesses’ and have worked tirelessly to serve their communities during the COVID-19 pandemic.”

FY2021’s revenue transfer of $1.998bn broke the previous record revenue contribution set last year by $315m (18.7%). It included $1.974bn to the Foundation School Fund and $23.4m to the Fund for Veterans’ Assistance, the lottery’s largest contributions to Texas education and Texas veterans.

The lottery has now contributed more than $27.6bn to Texas public education and more than $166m to Texas veterans since the dedication of such funds by the state legislature.

Texas Lottery Commission Chairman, Robert G Rivera, added: “We are thrilled to announce the Texas Lottery once again generated record revenue for Texas education and veterans during fiscal year 2021.

“We want to thank all the players for supporting the Texas Lottery and for their participation in providing these much-needed funds for the Foundation School Fund and the Fund for Veterans’ Assistance.”

Scratch ticket sales for FY2021 totalled $6.617bn, accounting for 81.6% of the portfolio’s total sales, a $1.061bn increase (19.1%) in sales over FY2020. The lottery also reported its best 19 weeks of scratch ticket sales in its history during the period, culminating in a new weekly scratch ticket sales record of $158.7m for the week ending April 3, 2021.

Draw games produced a strong performance during the financial period as well, achieving a record $1.49bn in sales, an $342m increase over FY2020, the largest year-over-year increase since lottery start-up.

Retailer commissions totalled $405.8m, the highest payment to retailers in Texas Lottery history. In all, $434.1m was paid to retailers in commissions, incentives and through the retailer bonus program – a new lottery record, and an average payment of $19,832 for each of the lottery’s retail partners.

The agency paid $5.492bn in payments to prize winners – the highest prize payment in the lottery’s history, and an increase of $968.4m in prizes paid to players from the year before.

The Texas Lottery noted it remained focused on social responsibility throughout FY2021 by enhancing the implementation of its responsible gambling initiatives.

It continued awareness training for retailers, vendor staff and agency employees, participated in the international campaigns for Problem Gambling Awareness Month and responsible holiday gifting and made PLAY RESPONSIBLY campaign information widely available to players and retailers.

The lottery was also certified by the National Council on Problem Gambling (NCPG) and the North American Association of State and Provincial Lotteries (NASPL) for meeting the NASPL/NCPG Responsible Gaming Verification Standards at the Implementation Level.

At the end of August, the Texas Lottery joined forces with Dallas Cowboys to launch a new scratch-off game.