PA Lottery Reports Record Sales, Prizes and Benefits Funding

MIDDLETOWN, Pa., July 26, 2016 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The Pennsylvania Lottery set a new sales record of $4.13 billion during the 2015-16 fiscal year, which produced a record of more than $1.12 billion in net revenue to benefit older Pennsylvanians. Winners also claimed a record of more than $2.6 billion in prizes.

"Pennsylvania Lottery players, business partners and employees deserve credit for making these new records possible," said Lottery Executive Director Drew Svitko. "On behalf of the older Pennsylvanians who benefit from each Lottery game sold, thank you."

Highlights of the Lottery's overall 2015-16 fiscal year include:

• Total game sales surpassed the prior fiscal year's all-time sales record by $315.5 million, or 8.26 percent. 
• Net revenues to the Lottery Fund totaled $1.12 billion; marking the fifth consecutive fiscal year the Lottery generated over $1 billion to fund vital senior benefit programs.
• The record $2.63 billion in prizes paid was an increase of $228.2 million over the prior year. A total of 86 players won prizes of $1 million or more during the year.
• More than 9,000 licensed Lottery retailers statewide earned a record $218.30 million in sales commissions, an increase of approximately $15 million from the prior year.

"While it's widely known that the Pennsylvania Lottery benefits older Pennsylvanians, we want to remind winners that they are still our largest beneficiaries," Svitko added. "Approximately 64 cents of every Lottery dollar goes back to players in the form of prizes."

Highlights of sales by game category include:

• Instant games sales totaled $2.79 billion, reflecting growth of $201 million, or 7.76 percent, from the previous year. Instant games accounted for 67.84 percent of all Lottery sales.   
• Sales for terminal-based or draw games – including the PICK family of games, Treasure Hunt, Cash 5, Match 6, Millionaire Raffle, Cash4Life™, Powerball®, and Mega Millions® – totaled $1.34 billion for the fiscal year, which was $114.4 million, or 9.32 percent, higher than the prior year's total.  
• Powerball and Power Play® sales of $357.99 million were $118.15 million, or 49.26 percent, higher than the previous year. These sales were strongly buoyed by a world-record $1.6 billion jackpot offered by Powerball in January 2016. Mega Millions and Megaplier® sales totaled $106.37 million, down $18.56 million, or 14.86 percent, from the previous year.

Reflecting ongoing efforts to operate efficiently, the Lottery's administrative costs again accounted for less than 2 percent of total sales in 2015-16. The Pennsylvania Lottery is a bureau within the Pennsylvania Department of Revenue.

The Pennsylvania Lottery's 2015-16 annual financial statement is available at www.palottery.com, under "About Us & News," then "Annual Sales & Benefit Reports." 

About Us: The Pennsylvania Lottery remains the only state lottery to direct all proceeds to programs that benefit older residents. Since ticket sales began in 1972, it has contributed nearly $27 billion to fund property tax and rent rebates, transportation, care services, prescription assistance, and local services including senior centers and meals. 

Players must be 18 or older. Please play responsibly. Call 1-800-GAMBLER (1-800-426-2537) for help with a compulsive gambling problem.

Visit palottery.com for winning numbers, rules, chances of winning, and to join the VIP Players Club for second chances to win. Install our official mobile app, like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter.

MEDIA CONTACT: Lottery Media Relations, 717-702-8008

SOURCE Pennsylvania Lottery