The Massachusetts State Lottery, an organization obviously known for giving out monetary prizes, stated it could be in some financial trouble regarding its overall sales for the fiscal year, the lottery told the State House News Service Tuesday.
According to Lottery Interim Director Mark Bracken, as of Sunday, lottery sales for the 2023 fiscal year are $22.5 million less than what they were for fiscal 2022. This includes overall instant ticket and scratch ticket sales, but it’s an improvement from the $60 million gap between September’s 2023 and 2022 fiscal years.
Bracken believes the boost in sales in October was an outlier, however, because of the recent historical $2 billion Powerball jackpot drawing at the end of the month.
“We are still very concerned about our sales for the current fiscal year,” Bracken told the outlet. “The only reason why our sales have rebounded a little bit is because of the Powerball jackpot. Right now, what we’re seeing is that our sales are really indicative of jackpot-driven games and not games that we have control over.”
In October 2022, the Lottery sold a combined $439.9 million in products, an increase of $8.3 million or 1.9 percent over October 2021, according to figures Bracken presented to the Lottery Commission on Tuesday.
The Lottery sold $439.9 million in products during October 2022, according to the outlet, an $8.3 million increase from October 2021, and most of the increase was due to Powerball. The Lottery also paid out $5.8 million less in prizes compared to October last year, and in combination with the boost in sales and less prize payments, the Lottery’s net profit was $90.1 million in October.
Despite the lurch in sales, an overall slowdown in sales has greatly impacted the organization. Lottery sales were down $52.3 million during the first four months of the 2023 fiscal year, a 2.6% decrease from fiscal 2022. Bracken stated though November 2022′s sales have not yet been published, he’s expecting the year-to-date sales shortfall to be cut to just $22.5 million.
The outlet reported Bracken is still concerned about Lottery sales because the Lottery does not have much control over jackpot games, and scratch tickets and Keno sales — 85% of all Lottery sales — have also been on the decline. Scratch ticket sales were down $76.4 million in this past October, and Keno was down $9 million, the outlet said.
On the upside, Bracken stated the upcoming holiday season is “really our most popular release of instant tickets” and the projected influx of scratch ticket sales could provide some help to the organization. The Lottery is also trying out a new advertising slogan, “The best gifts are made from scratch,” to aid scratch ticket sales through December.
The Lottery is also bringing in a new game to replace its unpopular “All or Nothing” drawing game called “The Wheel of Luck,” which will begin on Jan. 19, 2023, the outlet said.
The outlet also acknowledged that some Massachusetts officials in the past have said the slowdown has been caused by rising inflation, along with other “broader market trends affecting other state lotteries.”
Bracken told the outlet that the Lottery may request the incoming Maura Healey administration to boost its advertising budget to $10 million from its current $4.5 million, especially given the Lottery being a major source of local aid that state and local governments are dependent on.
https://www.masslive.com/entertainment/2022/11/despite-sales-influx-from-2b-powerball-mass-lottery-worried-over-ticket-sale-decline.html