KY Lottery sales continue to beat expectations
During the most recent meeting of the Kentucky Lottery Corporation’s board of directors, it was announced that sales continue to perform ahead of expectations in the final weeks of Fiscal Year 2019.
Year-to-date sales through the end of May 2019 were $1.035 Billion, which is 8.1% ($77.7 million) ahead of the previous FY and 1.4% ($13.9 million) ahead of budget. This is the earliest point in a fiscal year for the Kentucky Lottery in which the billion dollars in sales threshold has been achieved and marks the third straight year for this milestone.
Strong performance of the Mega Millions game (which is up more than $23 million from the previous year), along with strong Scratch-off ticket sales (up more than $48 million from FY18) and an increase in iLottery Instant Play sales have made up the bulk of the increase.
The board also approved the Lottery’s budget for FY20. The plan calls for an overall 6.5% sales increase, which would set the sales goal at $1.2 billion. Income before transfer of dividends is budgeted to be $280.4 million.
“Scratch-offs continue to be the area where we believe significant growth will occur,” said Kentucky Lottery President and CEO Tom Delacenserie. “We’ll continue our focus on new product launches including a second $30 Scratch-off, increasing marketing and media support, and maximizing operational and field efficiencies through best practices. We’ll also continue our work to expand awareness on the positive effects Lottery proceeds have on education in the Commonwealth, as this is a great story to tell and one in which we take immense pride.”
In other business, the board approved both Keno and Scratch-off retailer incentive plans, along with rules and regulations for 12 scratch-off tickets and three Instant Play games. The board also re-elected Mark F. Sommer as chair and Jan Buddeke as vice chair.
The next meeting of the KLC’s board of directors will be July 26. The meeting will begin at 10:00 AM EST and will be held at the KLC headquarters at 1011 West Main Street in Louisville. The audit committee meeting will begin at 8:30 AM EST, as well as the procurement committee at 9:00 AM EST.