Photo: Chris Fama/WBZ NewsRadio
BOSTON (State House News Service) — Sales at the Massachusetts Lottery were up more than 4% in December and a record-setting New Year's Eve for Keno helped end the month on a high note.
Executive Director Mark William Bracken told the Lottery Commission on Tuesday that bettors spent more than $5.09 million on Keno games on Tuesday, Dec. 31 -- the highest sales total for any single day since the game that's popular at bars and restaurants launched in 1993.
Players spent $98.9 million on Keno across the month of December, and $508 million on all Lottery products. That's a $20.9 million increase compared to December 2023, Bracken said.
After starting fiscal year 2025 with its prize payout percentage hovering at a five-year high, the Lottery said its December payout rate was more in line with past years. The Lottery paid out 72.09% of revenue as winnings in December, compared to 72.14% a year prior. That resulted in an estimated profit of $100 million last month, Bracken told the commission, a $4.2 million increase over December 2023's profit.
Halfway through fiscal 2025, Lottery sales are down $78.2 million, or 2.6%. The agency has so far turned an estimated profit of $538 million, a $30.3 million decrease compared to the same point last budget year.
Lower sales this year for the national draw games Powerball and Mega Millions (driven by lower jackpots) are dragging things down. Bracken's presentation showed that the Lottery has sold about $88 million less in Powerball tickets (a 66% decrease) and $10 million less in Mega Millions tickets (a 12% decrease) so far this fiscal year. Meanwhile monitor game sales are up about $21 million (3.4% increase) and scratch ticket sales are up almost $5 million (0.2% increase), the Lottery said.
The Lottery brought in an estimated $1.159 billion in net profit in fiscal 2024 to be returned to Massachusetts cities and towns. Treasurer Deborah Goldberg told budget writers last month that the Lottery is "currently on track to meet its projection of $1.05 billion in net profit for fiscal year 2025, despite economic headwinds and continuing impacts from the competitive marketplace" and that it "projects flat sales at retail, and therefore a flat net profit of $1.05 billion" in fiscal year 2026.
Written by Colin A. Young/SHNS