Massachusetts lottery sets new annual revenue, prize records

The Massachusetts Lottery had another record-setting fiscal year, with all-time highs for total revenue, prizes paid out and commissions or bonuses paid to retailers. However, the agency came up just short in exceeding its profit record, according to lottery officials on Tuesday.

Estimates for the fiscal year that ended June 30 show the state lottery took in a record $5.86 billion in revenue and paid a record $4.31 billion of that money back out to players. Interim Executive Director Mark William Bracken said the lottery expects it will turn over $1.1 billion in net profit for the Legislature to use as local aid — $10 million less than the previous fiscal year, which set a record profit.

"The efforts of our retail partners and our team members, with the guidance and support of Treasurer Goldberg and our Commissioners, contributed to another banner year even as the pandemic continued to pose challenges," Bracken said. "We are especially grateful for our customers, who were rewarded with a record amount of prize winnings."

The fiscal 2022 numbers will still need to be audited, but Bracken said he does not expect them to change substantially by the time the audit is completed in September. Bracken said the Lottery surpassed its revenue record by approximately $32 million, and handed out $335 million in commissions and bonuses, besting the $333.3 million record set in fiscal 2021. The lottery also set a new record high for Keno sales at about $1.22 billion.

"Our big winner of the year was Keno, being up $160 million," Bracken said.

The lottery paid out a slightly higher percentage of its revenue as prizes in fiscal year 2022 at 73.5% than it did the previous year. Lottery players won 196 prizes of $1 million or more, including 29 prizes valued at $2 million or more.

The lottery's administrative costs were 2% of overall revenue.

Treasurer Deborah Goldberg, who oversees the state lottery and chairs the Lottery Commission, noted that "as the Lottery celebrates its 50th anniversary, we continue to set records and generate valuable resources for every community in the state."

Since the first ticket was sold in 1972, the Lottery has generated more than $143 billion in revenue, returned more than $31 billion in profit for the state to use as unrestricted local aid, paid out more than $100 billion in prizes, and has paid more than $8 billion in commissions and bonuses to its statewide network of retailers.

Goldberg and the state lottery have been attempting for years to secure legislative authority to sell lottery products online, arguing that the lottery's profits are not sustainable without the ability to compete with various online gaming options for younger players. Complicating that argument — as the latest attempt to authorize online lottery sales moves into conference committee talks — is the fact that the lottery continues to post strong and record-setting financials even without the ability to sell products online.