Mass. lottery testing the waters with $10 'Jaws'-themed scratch ticket

The Mass. Lottery on Tuesday announced a new "Jaws"-themed scratch ticket that will offer losers a second chance drawing that could score them a trip to Martha's Vineyard next summer as part of the 50th anniversary of Steven Spielberg's classic nautical thriller.

More than 8 million of the $10 "Jaws" tickets will be available starting March 26 and will feature prizes of up to $1 million.

In addition to the instant-win prizes, people who buy a "Jaws" ticket and do not win instantly can enter into second chance drawings. Those second chance drawings will feature 30 total top prizes — a trip to the Vineyard and a three-night stay for two people at the Harbor View Hotel in Edgartown. The winning package also includes black car service to and from the ferry, a custom guided bus tour of the island and some of the locations seen in the film, a private screening of "Jaws," $1,000 in spending cash and more. Each of the 30 second-chance winners will also win a cash prize, with one person winning $1 million.

The announcement comes as lottery officials lamented slow sales in January thanks to the lack of boffo jackpots from the larger national drawings. Sales at the Massachusetts Lottery were down nearly $34 million compared to last January, the agency's head reported to the Lottery Commission on Tuesday.

Executive Director Mark William Bracken said January sales of $556.7 million were $33.8 million lower than January 2023 sales, and that the Lottery's monthly estimated profit was $94.5 million last month compared to $122 million a year ago.

In his report, Bracken said the decline was due "primarily to a $25.8 million decrease in Mega Millions sales and a $10.7 million decrease in Powerball sales resulting from smaller jackpots." The percentage of sales revenue that was returned to players as winnings was higher in January 2024 than in January 2023 — 74.96% compared to 71.72%.

Now seven months through fiscal 2024, Lottery sales of nearly $3.73 billion are up $118 million or 3.3% over the same checkpoint in fiscal 2023. The Lottery's estimated profit, which Beacon Hill eventually divides up among the 351 cities and towns in Massachusetts, trails last year's record-setting pace by $21.5 million at $682.7 million.

Bracken's report also highlighted a $38.8 million increase in scratch ticket grand prizes claimed so far in fiscal 2024 compared to the same period of time in fiscal 2023, $216.8 million vs. $178 million.

The Lottery last fiscal year returned a record profit of $1.194 billion and Treasurer Deborah Goldberg forecast a profit of $1 billion this fiscal year. Gov. Maura Healey's budget managers in January increased the administration's year-end expectation for state revenue from the Lottery by $75 million to $1.275 billion to help close a $1 billion state revenue shortfall.