STATE HOUSE, BOSTON, DEC. 20, 2019 (State House News Service) Through eight weeks of its holiday sales period, sales of scratch tickets through the Massachusetts Lottery have totaled more than half a billion dollars and are up about 3 percent over last year.

In the first eight weeks of holiday sales, the Lottery has sold $570.35 million worth of scratch tickets, an increase of more than $15 million or about 3 percent over the same period last year, Executive Director Michael Sweeney told the Lottery Commission on Tuesday.

Sweeney also updated the commission on the Lottery’s monthly and year-to-date sales figures. The Lottery sold $526.5 million worth of its products last month, up $26.1 million or more than 5 percent from November 2018. But the Lottery’s monthly estimated profit was $106.8 million compared to $109 million in November 2018. The Lottery attributed some of the decline in monthly profit to “a $8.5 million increase in instant ticket grand prize claims.”

Of the Lottery’s nine products, four — scratch tickets, Keno, Megabucks Doubler and Mega Millions — saw sales increases last month and five — Powerball, Mass Cash, The Numbers Game, Lucky for Life and All or Nothing — saw sales decline.

Through five months of fiscal year 2020, the Lottery’s estimated profit of $423.8 million is trailing its mark from fiscal 2019, a record-setting year for the Lottery, by about $62.3 million, Sweeney said.

Last fiscal year, the Lottery counted a record $1.092 billion in profit from a record $5.499 billion in annual revenue.

https://boston.cbslocal.com/2019/12/20/massachusetts-lottery-scratch-tickets-holiday-sales/