KY Lottery announces record-breaking sales. Here’s how much the games have raked in

Kentuckians must be feeling lucky, as state lottery sales have reached new, all-time highs – topping more than $1.6 billion over the last year – the organization’s board of directors announced Friday.

According to a Kentucky Lottery news release, total lottery sales between July 2021 and June of this year amounted to exactly $1,676,502,000.

That’s an almost 6% increase from sales the previous year, with an additional $90.2 million in sales over fiscal year 2021.

According to Mary Harville, president and CEO of Kentucky Lottery, the revenues raised through the lottery act as a lifeline for several of the state’s scholarship programs.

“The funds we generate go straight back to the Commonwealth to pay for college scholarship and grant programs, including every dime of the popular KEES scholarship ever awarded,” Harville stated in the news release.

KEES, the Kentucky Educational Excellence Scholarship, provides scholarships to students who earn at least a 2.5 grade point average every year they attend a Kentucky high school. The better you do in high school, the more you earn toward college.

“One in five Kentuckians have now received a college scholarship or grant that was paid for directly when someone bought a Kentucky Lottery ticket, and I think the public appreciates knowing how these proceeds directly benefit people in their communities,” Harville stated.

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Record lottery sales are also translating to new highs in available funding for the state programs the lottery supports, like the Work Ready and College Access Program.

According to Kentucky Lottery, total cash transfers to the state were $360.8 million, or $6 million (1.7%) higher than the previous year.

More sales mean more lottery prizes

According to the lottery, the increase in sales means more prizes were awarded over the last year than in any other period of the lottery’s 33-year history.

Player earnings totaled exactly $1,152,007,000 between July 2021 to June 2022. That’s an extra $84.6 million (7.9% increase) compared to the previous year.

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The additional sales have also translated to an uptick in support for several state programs.

Awards for the need-based College Access Program (CAP) in four-year college programs will increase to $5,300, up from $2,900 last year, the release said.

Other need-based scholarship and grant programs funded by lottery proceeds will also see increases. That includes Kentucky’s Work Ready Scholarship.

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Additional lottery transfers to Kentucky have led to an expansion of the Work Ready Kentucky Scholarship program. This initiative helps residents who want to earn two-year degrees or certificates for in-demand career fields.

Although it initially covered four semesters of classes, more money has allowed it to expand to now continue until a student has earned 60 credit hours or completed their associate degree, whichever comes first.

Lottery’s Instant Play games experience fastest growth

Scratch-off tickets remained the largest individual game category, finishing the fiscal year at $963.5 million. That amounts to a $1.8 million, or a 0.2%, increase from the previous year.

The category of sales that experienced the fastest growth were Kentucky Lottery’s Instant Play games, which are playable online.

These types of games have been growing consistently over the last six years, but especially in the last two years. Sales of Instant Play games finished the fiscal year at $226.1 million, or an additional $107.4 million. That represents a 90.6% increase compared to the previous year.

Altogether, internet sales for the year comprised 15% of total Kentucky Lottery sales, the release said.

Big Powerball jackpots drive lottery sales

Bigger prizes of course mean more sales, with sustained jackpot runs playing a key role in how Powerball and Mega Millions sales unfolded during the year, according to the release.

Powerball sales for the year were up 16% ($9.8 million) from the previous year and totaled $71.1 million.

Kentucky Lottery credited this to a pair of jackpot runs during the year, most notably the $685 million jackpot in October 2021 and a $630 million jackpot in January.

The Mega Millions game, conversely, did not see the same large jackpots, only breaking the $400 million mark twice during the year.

This led to a 30% (or roughly $15 million) decline in annual sales for the game from the previous year, finishing fiscal year 2022 with $35.5 million in sales.

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