Public Gaming Magazine Sept/Oct 2021

63 PUBLIC GAMING INTERNATIONAL • SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2021 PULSE of the Industry These news stories comprise a very small fraction of the gaming and lottery news stories posted every day to PublicGaming.com. Too, these stories are the highly edited short versions. You can visit our news website PublicGaming.com and access all of its departments for free, including search to read the full version of the articles. Sign up for our free e-newsletter by sending your e-mail address to sjason@publicgaming.com . Frank Suarez as the new executive director of the D.C. Lottery Frank Suarez comes to D.C. from North Carolina, where he served as the deputy executive director for brand management and communications for the state’s Education Lottery for the last seven years. He previously worked in marketing roles for companies including Yum! Brands Inc., Darden Restau- rants Inc. and Del Monte Foods Inc. Kentucky Lottery sales and winnings records shattered Even in light of unprecedented circumstances due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Kentucky Lottery has posted sales and proceeds numbers that shatter previous all-time records from the Lottery’s 32-year history. These figures are for Fiscal Year 2021 (July 2020 through June 2021): Total sales of $1,586,325,000. This is a 31.8% increase from the previous year, with $382.9 million in additional sales over FY2020. Proceeds to the Commonwealth totaled $354.8 million. This is $76.3 million or 27.4% more than last year. Scratch-off tickets once again were the largest individual game category, finishing the year at $961.7 million. This is a $220.6 million or 29.8% increase from the previous year. The Lottery’s internet sales finished FY21 at $137.1 million, an increase of $92.1 million or 204.6%. Internet sales for the year comprised 9% of total Kentucky Lottery sales. Georgia Lottery annual profits for HOPE Scholarship, Pre-K Programs soar to a record $1.54B The Georgia Lottery raised a record $1,544,954,000 in profits for fiscal year 2021, bringing the total transferred to the State Treasury’s Lottery for Education Account since inception to more than $23.8 billion. FY21 marks the sixth consecutive year that the Georgia Lottery has exceeded $1 billion in profits for education, surpassing the record previously set in FY20 by more than $307.6 million. New Hampshire Lottery Sales Smash Records: $518M In FY2021 New Hampshire's state lottery has delivered more money to education in the past fiscal year than it ever has in its history after shattering sales records. More than $142 million was sent to fund schools in NH from lottery receipts for fiscal year 2021 — the highest amount since 1964. Lottery sales reached $518 million last year due to increased spending by sports betting and players to major jackpot games leading the New Hampshire Lottery to break records and becoming one of the fastest-growing lotteries in the nation. Mega Millions sales were up around 54 percent while Powerball increased nearly 30 percent when compared to last year. KENO 603 increased 65 percent when compared to the previous year; and more than $520 million was spent on sports wagers. Arizona Lottery breaks sales record for 3rd year in a row The Arizona Lottery has broken its sales record for the third year in a row after $1.439 billion in tickets have been sold. Lottery officials say its a 31% increase over last year. Approximately $260 million have been transferred into the state-mandated beneficiary funds. Pennsylvania lottery sets record for sales, profits Pennsylvania lottery profits exceeded a “record-breaking” $1.3 billion for the 2020-21 fiscal year, state officials said Monday. It's the 10th consecutive year that the agency’s revenue hit $1 billion, driven by an all-time ticket sales high of $5.3 billion, including scratch-offs, Powerball and Mega Millions. Online play sales totaled $887 million, growing each year since the offerings launched in May 2018, the agency said. Idaho Lottery Returns One Billionth Dollar to the People of Idaho The Idaho Lottery celebrated 32 years of entertainment and games by returning the single largest annual dividend to the People of Idaho, $72.5 million, a 30.6% increase over last year’s dividend. In 32 years, the Idaho Lottery has created over $4.6 billion in economic opportunity for Idaho’s small businesses and corner stores from Bonner’s Ferry to Montpelier. With this year’s dividend, the Idaho Lottery has now returned more than $1 billion to the People of Idaho. Louisiana Lottery Has Best Year Ever, Contributes Over $207 Million to State The Louisiana Lottery Corporation ended its fiscal year with nearly $625 million in revenue, making 2021 the Lottery’s best year ever in its nearly 30-year history. Resulting transfers to the state treasury for K-12 public education were more than $207 million, up $28.3 million from last year and exceeding budgeted transfers by nearly $45.9 million. NORTH AMERICAN NEWS