Jackpot: Mass. Lottery logged record revenue, prize money last year

Massachusetts Lottery players were awarded the most prize money in history during fiscal year 2024 as the state agency logged another round of record-setting revenues, officials said Tuesday.

“I am proud of our team’s performance as we faced mounting challenges in the marketplace,” State Treasurer Deborah Goldberg, the chair of the Massachusetts State Lottery Commission, said.

“Thank you to our retail partners and our customers for their continued support of our mission. Because of everyone’s efforts, we are able to provide critical local aid to all 351 communities throughout the state,” Goldberg said.

The Lottery racked up an estimated $6.165 billion in sales revenue in fiscal 2024, up from the $6.148 billion in revenue it logged in fiscal 2023.

Here’s how that breaks down:

Keno had an all-time high of $1.252 billion in total sales, and saw a 2% increase this fiscal year, contributing heavily to those numbers. Draw games such as Powerball and Mega Millions also saw a 3.7% increase over last year, bringing in a record $848.3 million in fiscal 2024.

However, instant ticket sales were down at $4.013 billion, a little under 1% compared to last year’s record-high $4.043 billion, when the Lottery’s first $50 scratch ticket was released.

About 73.4% of the Lottery’s $6.165 billion in sales revenue was paid out to players. That amounts to a record high of $4.525 billion in prizes.

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There were 160 prizes worth $1 million or more won in fiscal 2024, including 141 scratch ticket prizes, 11 Powerball, four from Mega Millions, three from Megabucks, and one from a Holiday Raffle. Three of those scratch tickets were worth $25 million, one was $15 million, and two were $10 million.

After administrative costs, which totaled about 2.2% of sales revenue, the Lottery returned an estimated $1.157 billion in net profit to the state. The money will be redistributed for local aid use in the towns and cities of Massachusetts. It trails just behind last fiscal year’s net profit of $1.193 billion.

Mark William Bracken, the lottery’s executive director, had previously voiced concerns about online sports betting eating into scratch ticket’s bottom line as talks of an iLottery were finalized. Gov. Maura Healey signed legislation legalizing the platform on Monday.

“Thanks to our customers, our employees, and our statewide retail partners, we were once again able to deliver over $1 billion to our local communities,” Bracken said.

“We appreciate Treasurer Goldberg and our commissioners for their guidance as we continue to introduce new ways to engage our customers and support our retailers,” Bracken said.

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The lottery’s brick-and-mortar retailers also had a record year, with $350.7 million in commissions and bonuses earned. An estimated $8.8 billion has been paid out to retailers since the first lottery ticket was sold in 1972.

A total of $155 billion has also been generated in revenue since that time, with $109 billion awarded in prizes and $33 billion returned for local aid to the towns and cities in the state.

The Lottery anticipates its fiscal 2024 figures will be finalized by the end of September and does not expect them to change significantly.