Fifth Straight Record-Setting Sales Year Produces $986.9 Million in Net Profit
BOSTON, MA (Monday, July 18, 2016) – State Treasurer Deborah Goldberg announced today that the Lottery ended its fiscal year with an estimated $986.9 million in profit, $1 million higher than the record of $985.9 million set last fiscal year. The Lottery is the single largest source of unrestricted local aid to the Commonwealth’s 351 cities and towns.
Estimated sales of $5.231 billion eclipsed the previous record of $5.014 billion set last year by $217 million, marking the fifth consecutive year of record-setting sales. The Lottery’s fiscal year commenced on July 1, 2015 and ended June 30,2016.
“I am very pleased that the Lottery has once again been able to deliver record-setting revenues that will benefit all of our cities and towns,” said Goldberg, who as Treasurer serves as Chair of the Massachusetts State Lottery Commission. “The local aid derived from Lottery profits is crucial to municipal budgets and the funding of important initiatives and services at the local level.”
Treasurer Goldberg cited solid overall performance in the Instant Ticket category, a substantial increase in KENO sales over FY15 and Powerball’s record-setting jackpots in January as primary contributors to the record-setting numbers.
Instant Ticket sales topped $3.6 billion, a $92.4 million increase over FY15. KENO sales rang in at an estimated $905 million, a $54.5 million increase over FY15, due in part to the continued expansion of the number of agents offering the product. January’s run of Powerball jackpots featured a U.S.-Lottery record $947.9 million jackpot on January 9 and a world-record jackpot of $1.586 billion on January 13. Those two drawings alone attracted over $56.8 million in sales in Massachusetts, accounting for much of the $72.5 million increase in Powerball sales for this fiscal year compared to FY15.
The Lottery spent an estimated $103.3 million on administrative costs in FY16. These costs remained at approximately 2 percent of overall revenues, the lowest of any U.S. lottery.
“While the Powerball phenomenon that we experienced earlier this year had a significant positive impact on our final numbers for this fiscal year, we can’t count on having a $1.5 billion jackpot every year,” said Goldberg. “This is another illustration of how the Lottery needs to continue to seek innovation in our product offerings so that we do not become overly dependent on our existing games.”
The Lottery awarded a record $3.842 billion in prizes in FY16. Prize payouts for a given year can fluctuate based on the schedule or rate at which players cash in their prizes. With 73.4 percent of all revenue returned to players in the form of winnings in FY16, the Massachusetts Lottery has the highest payout percentage of any lottery in the country. Meanwhile, Lottery retailers earned $299.5 million in retailer commissions and bonuses in FY16, topping the mark of $286.7 million set last fiscal year.
“These record-setting figures are the result of the team effort by Lottery employees and our expansive network of retail partners across the state,” said Michael Sweeney, the Lottery’s Executive Director. “We’re delighted to see that cities and towns, Lottery players and our retailers all saw some great returns again this year.”
While the FY16 figures have not been formally audited, the Lottery does not expect them to change substantially once that annual review process is complete. Lottery officials anticipate completing the finalized financial statement of operations by mid-September.
The Massachusetts State Lottery was created in 1972 to generate much-needed local aid revenues for the Commonwealth’s cities and towns. Since its inception, the Lottery has returned more than $24 billion in net profit to the Commonwealth. For more information about the state Lottery, please visit: www.masslottery.com<http://www.masslottery.com.