Virginia Lottery Sales increased by $181.5 million, about 36 percent for the first three months of the fiscal year that began July 1, compared to the same period in 2019.
The obvious fuel for this dramatic increase was the launch of online lottery ticket sales, which the legislature approved this year. However, traditional lottery ticket sales also jumped, by 13 percent.
Profits increased 12 percent for the quarter, recovering from the drop in sales at the beginning of the Covid-19 outbreak in the last quarter of the FY.
Things could get even better for the lottery once the year-long delay in implementing the state’s ban on electronic skill games begins next year. This ban was adopted because the games were perceived as a threat to the lottery, whose profits benefit schools.
Lottery Director Kevin Hall told lawmakers last week, “This year we’ll see probably the most dramatic expansion of lottery responsibilities since we were created 32 years ago.”
The lottery was able to leverage the pandemic into increased sales when competitors such as racetracks, retail-based skill games and casinos outside of Virginia were lagging or were crippled.
