Massachusetts Lottery Hails Back-To-Back Years Of Over $1B In Profit

The Massachusetts State Lottery accumulated an estimated $1.10 billion in net profit in fiscal year 2022. For the first time ever, the lottery collected more than $1B profit in consecutive years.

That’s a staggering amount of profit considering online sales of Massachusetts lottery tickets are not allowed. There is a season ticket program, however. Players can purchase tickets for multiple drawings in advance at a discounted rate.

The lottery will release the official numbers for fiscal year 2022 (July 2021 – June 2022) in September. It expects no substantial changes in the figures. State Treasurer and Lottery Commission Chair Deborah Goldberg recognized the five-decade history of lottery in Massachusetts in a news release:

“As the Lottery celebrates its 50th anniversary, we continue to set records and generate valuable resources for every community in the state,” Goldberg said. “We thank our customers, our retail partners, and our lottery team members who are so important to our lottery’s success.”

Records abound for games and retailers

Back-to-back $1 billion revenue years is a historic feat for the lottery. However, that’s not the only record set last fiscal year:

• Players won more than $4.3 billion in prizes;
• Retailers earned around $335 million in commissions;
• Keno hit an all-time high with more than $1.2 billion in sales, up 15% from 2021;
• Revenue hit a record high $5.86 billion, surpassing fiscal year 2021’s record of $5.83 billion.

Players won nearly 200 prizes of $1 million or more and 20 prizes of $2 million or more. Draw game and instant ticket sales approached record highs but did not eclipse them. It’s even more surprising that such high sales happened during a worldwide pandemic, interim Lottery Executive Director Mark William Bracken said.

“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.”

Lottery generates over $143B in 50 years

Over the past 50 years, the Massachusetts State Lottery has produced more than $143 billion in revenue and awarded more than $100 billion in prizes.

Those figures generate billions in net profit for the commonwealth: more than $31 billion. That profit goes to the state’s 351 cities and towns. Boston, for example, received more than $200 million in net profit in 2021. The state does not require municipalities to earmark the money. As a result, cities and towns use lottery money for a variety of projects:

• Staffing for police and fire departments;
• Snow removal;
• Improving local infrastructure;
• School services;
• Programs for the elderly;
• Parks and recreation projects.

In the past decade, the lottery’s net profit approached or eclipsed $1 billion several times. In 2017, it surpassed $1 billion for the first time in its history. Then, in 2018, it hit $997 million. Net profit surged past $1B in 2019 before dropping to $987 million in 2020. It bounced back to $1.11 billion in 2021.

Based on these trends, it’s likely revenue will surpass $1 billion for the third consecutive year in FY 2023. Had the pandemic not rocked FY 2020, it’s likely the Lottery would’ve already hit three consecutive years of more than $1 billion in net profit.