The Tennessee Education Lottery (TLE) has confirmed a contribution total of $485.6m for all lottery-funded education programmes in the 2022 fiscal year.
The figure is a significant one in the lottery’s history, surpassed only by last year’s record annual transfer of $499.9m, which had beat out the previous record set in FY2019 ($447.1m).
Since the lottery’s inception in January 2004, nearly $6.5bn has now been contributed to education programmes such as scholarships and grants.
TEL President and CEO, Rebecca Paul, commented: “The lottery continues to be a valuable source of funding for the nationally recognised education programmes we help fund.
“In addition to our Board of Directors and the entire lottery team, I’m grateful for the support from our players and the network of more than 5,000 retailers throughout the state.
“We remain committed to our mission and will continue to introduce creative games, foster Corporate Social Responsibility programmes including responsible gaming initiatives, and provide superior customer service to our players and retailers.”
Gross ticket revenues for the period of July 1, 2021 – June 30, 2022, were more than $2bn, while players won more than $1.2bn during the same period, including a $20m Mega Millions jackpot winner.
Furthermore, two instant-ticket players won $3m each and 29 additional winners scored $1m or more. More than $17.8bn in prizes have now been won since the lottery began selling tickets 18 years ago.
Additionally, lottery retailers earned $132.3m in commissions during FY2022, bringing the total figure to $1.7bn.