Louisiana Lottery Has Best Year Ever, Contributes Over $184 Million to State Treasury for 2019

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The Louisiana Lottery Corporation ended its fiscal year with more than $526.6 million in revenue, making 2019 the Lottery’s best year ever in its 28-year history. Resulting transfers to the state treasury for K-12 public education were more than $184.3 million, up over $12.3 million from last year and exceeding budgeted transfers by more than $21.2 million. 

“The Lottery team is proud to have topped the half-billion sales mark for the second time in our history,” said Lottery President Rose Hudson. “We will continue to work hard and challenge ourselves in the new year to fulfill our mission of maximizing revenue for the state of Louisiana.” 

Scratch-offs continue to be the top seller in the Lottery’s game portfolio, ending the year at $225.5 million, up approximately $8.4 million from last year.  

Sales of Mega Millions and Powerball, the Lottery’s most popular draw-style games, experienced a $22.7 million increase in combined sales from fiscal year 2018 due to large advertised jackpots, including the record $1.537 billion Mega Millions jackpot hit in October. 

In addition to state coffers, local businesses that sell Lottery products also benefited from the Lottery in fiscal year 2019 with total retailer compensation of more than $29.1 million, which includes sales commission, incentives for cashing winning tickets and bonuses for selling winning tickets.

Fourth quarter figures for fiscal year 2019 show Lottery revenue totaled $124,663,133 with $43,632,102 being transferred to the state treasury.

The Louisiana Lottery ranks second among state lotteries in percent of revenue transferred to its government. By law, at least 35 percent of Lottery proceeds are transferred to the state treasury and dedicated for K-12 public education. Roughly 53.7 percent of sales fund prizes, 5.6 percent is paid to retailers and less than 6 percent is used to operate the Lottery. 

The Lottery's total fiscal-year state transfers were $184,318,132. Since the Lottery began operations in 1991, more than $10.4 billion in revenue has been generated, primarily from ticket sales. More than $3.7 billion has been transferred to the state treasury.

Lottery ticket purchasers must be at least 21 years of age. The Lottery encourages anyone with a gambling problem, or friends of anyone with a gambling problem, to call toll-free 1-877-770-7867 for assistance. Recent financial statements and historical treasury transfers can be found on the Lottery’s website, louisianalottery.com.