In its first six days of operations, which started November 25, the Mississippi Lottery sold $8,932,200 million in tickets, generating $1.9 million for the state. About $3.8 million went toward prizes, ranging from $2,000 to $15,000.
Mississippi Lottery Corp. President Tom Shaheen said, “Overall, retailers and players were very positive and excited that the lottery is finally here.” The lottery sold $2.5 million in tickets on its opening day, producing $570,000 in state revenue.
Shaheen said the Top 5 selling counties for the lottery’s first week were Hinds, Harison, Rankin, Lee, and Forrest.
Currently only single-state games are available in Mississippi. The multistate games Powerball and Mega Millions will become available January 30. Four new scratch-off games were introduced December 10:
$1 Fast $50s, with a top prize of $2,000; $2 Jewels 7s Doubler, top prize of $20,000; $2 Money Bags, top prize up to $20,000; and $5 Mississippi Blues, top prize $100,000.
“People love variety. Our plan is to introduce four new scratch-off games once a month,” Shaheen said.
More than 1,200 retailers in 80 of Mississippi’s 82 counties have been licensed to sell lottery tickets. Retailers keep 6 percent of lottery ticket sales.
The lottery expects to generate $40 million for the state in the first year, then $80-$100 million per year. For the next decade, up to $80 million from annual lottery proceeds will help fund state roads and bridges or go toward matching federal infrastructure funds. Any revenue above $80 million would go toward public education.
