FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE – Contact Kara Lee Ford at 501-683-1646 for more information.
Arkansas Lottery Sets New Records In Proceeds for Scholarships and Sales
July 10, 2019
LITTLE ROCK – The Arkansas Scholarship Lottery is celebrating recording-breaking achievements in multiple categories for fiscal year 2019, which ended June 30. The most important of these records is the amount of proceeds raised for scholarships: $98,411,747.
“We broke the previous proceeds record of $97,582,528 set in 2012, which means more scholarship money for deserving Arkansas students this year,” said ASL Director Bishop Woosley. “Under the leadership of Governor Hutchinson and the Department of Finance and Administration and along with our staff, we have worked hard to continue to operate as lean as possible, maximizing every opportunity to enhance proceeds responsibly, which is our mission.”
The ASL also exceeded several sales records in FY19, including $516,236,823 in total sales – more than $16 million over last year’s total, which was record-breaking at the time. New records were also set this year in sales of scratch-off tickets and draw games. Draw games provide the greatest percentage of revenue to proceeds.
“We have provided more than $803 million for the Academic Challenge Scholarship program, which equates to more than 542,000 scholarships in our almost 10 years of existence,” Woosley said. “And that number will increase next month when the Arkansas Department of Higher Education awards scholarships to Arkansas students for the 2019-2020 school year.”
Since 2009, the lottery also has awarded more than $2.9 billion in prizes to players, about $252 million in commissions to retailers and more than $126 million in state and federal tax revenue.
Woosley added that the Arkansas Scholarship Lottery staff’s hard work contributed to the record year.
“Our excellent staff worked extremely hard this year,” he said. “Every division played a role in our success.”
Woosley is also proud to announce the Arkansas Scholarship Lottery recently received Responsible Gambling Certification from the North American Association of State and Provincial Lotteries and the National Council on Problem Gambling. The certification involves a multi-step verification program to ensure the lottery provides best practices in training for lottery employees and retailers and treatment options for players who may have a gambling problem.
To read the entire financial report presented to the Arkansas Legislative Council Lottery Oversight Subcommittee today, visit MyArkansasLottery.com and click on “June 2019 Monthly Disclosure Reports” under “LOC Reports.” Link to Reports Page Here
About the Arkansas Scholarship Lottery
Follow the Arkansas Scholarship Lottery on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Visit MyArkansasLottery.com for more information on scholarships, winners, games, odds, promotions – and to join The Club for free. To hear winning numbers, call the Winning Numbers Hotline at 501-682-IWON (4966). To get help with problem gambling, contact the National Problem Gambling Helpline at 1-800-522-4700.
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Kara Lee Ford | Campaign Coordinator
124 W. Capitol Ave., Suite 1400
Little Rock, AR 72201
O 501.683.1646 | C 501.920.6287
MyArkansasLottery.com
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