Louisiana Lottery Celebrates First-ever National Lottery Week

BATON ROUGE – The Louisiana Lottery is joining lotteries across the U.S. in celebrating the first-ever National Lottery Week from July 15 to July 21. Each day of the observance, the Lottery will spotlight a way it benefits public services, local businesses, the economy and local communities, while also providing an affordable source of entertainment and exciting moments.  

“The goal of Lottery Week is for the industry to band together to highlight the positive impact lotteries make in our individual jurisdictions,” noted Louisiana Lottery President Rose Hudson. “In Louisiana, we know how to have fun and do good! At least 35 cents of every dollar spent on our games goes to fund K-12 public education– the highest transfer percentage among any U.S. lottery. Since we started in 1991, more than $3.7 billion has been transferred to our state.”

While the million-dollar winners make headlines, the Lottery also pointed out that on average about 66,000 winners claim Lottery prizes big and small throughout the state every day. In addition, more than $570 million has been earned by roughly 3,000 local retailers in cumulative commissions, bonuses and incentives on the sale of Lottery tickets.

A series of videos tell the Lottery’s story through the eyes of those impacted by the corporation’s contributions to K-12 public education, its focus on responsible play, as well as its positive economic effect on winners, business owners and the community at large. These stories will launch daily throughout the observance on the Lottery’s website at www.louisianalottery.com/lottery-week  and on its social media pages including Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

“In true ‘Louisiana Lottery’ style, we cannot celebrate without giving something away, so next week we will also host a promotion on our website for prize packages. To enter the drawing, visitors share their favorite Lottery story,” Hudson added. 

While each U.S. lottery operates under its own legislative jurisdiction, as much as 96 percent of funds generated nationally from traditional U.S. lottery games goes directly back into the economy through prizes, public beneficiaries and retailer commissions. In fiscal year 2018, U.S. lotteries generated $23.4 billion for good causes and transferred $4.8 billion to retailers.  While individual jurisdictions vary, across the industry lotteries return an average of 63 percent in prizes to players, 27 percent to public beneficiaries and six percent to retailers. The remainder supports lottery operations, providing direct and indirect employment opportunities and other benefits. Lottery proceeds fund different programs according to each jurisdiction’s guidelines and are dedicated to a variety of important causes, including education, environmental conservation, elderly care, tourism, economic development and more.

For more information on the Louisiana’s observance of National Lottery Week, visit www.louisianalottery.com/lottery-week.