Illinois Lottery Sets Sales Record

Sales climb more than $100 million to a new annual record of $2.3 billion, with scratch-off tickets leading the way with $1.3 billion in sales.

August 18, 2011

SPRINGFIELD, IL - The Illinois Lottery set a single year sales record during the past year, growing 3 percent to nearly $2.3 billion, the Chicago Tribune reports.

Sales grew more than $100 million from the previous year??s mark, with the total averaging about $177 for every person in the state, lottery officials said,

"This is the highest amount of money transferred from the lottery in our 37-year history," said Jodie Winnett, the lottery's acting superintendent, noting the record-high sales generated $690 million for state programs.

The majority of the sales came from instant tickets, with sales of $1.3 billion, an increase of 7.5 percent.

Winnett said the lottery??s new management and marketing partner, Northstar Lottery Group, added "new energy and excitement" into the games, which directly affected sales.

Sales for Powerball nearly doubled to $84.9 million for the year, while first full year game Megaplier grew from $1 million to $13.8 million.

The Mega Millions game suffered a sales drop of 28.6 percent or $63.5 million, while sales of Pick Three fell 3.5 percent, or $10.4 million.

The revenue figures cover the 12-month period that ended June 30.

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