Facing privatization, lottery reports record sales

Spokeswoman Elizabeth Brassell said the lottery had $3.69 billion in sales and earned $1.067 billion in net revenue for the lottery fund, which supports programs benefiting older Pennsylvanians.
According to the report, fiscal year sales were $218.77 million, or 6.3 percent, above the previous year and the prior all-time sales record, which was $3.48 billion.
Net revenue grew by $6.49 million or 0.6 percent over the previous year.
Brassell said that while the increase is nice, the lottery is working on initiatives to grow sales and revenue.
“The increase of just under 1 percent underscores our administration’s need to work on strategies to grow our sales and revenue to meet the needs of a dramatically growing population of seniors,” she said.
One of the bigger growth areas in the fiscal year was in the sale of instant games, which she said reflects a national trend toward the popularity of such games.
Instant game sales for the fiscal year totaled $2.31 billion, which was $170.52 million, or 7.9 percent, higher than the previous year. Instant games accounted for 62.3 percent of fiscal year 2012-13 sales, a 1 percent increase over 2011-12.
Sales for terminal-based games – which include The Daily Number, Big 4, Quinto, Treasure Hunt, Cash 5, Match 6, Millionaire Raffle, Powerball and Mega Millions – totaled more than $1.39 billion for the fiscal year, which was $48.24 million, or 3.6 percent, above the previous year.
The lottery also paid out nearly $2.3 billion in prizes in 2012-13, up from $2.12 billion the previous year.
The lottery’s administrative costs decreased as a percentage of sales slightly in 2012-13 to 2.07 percent, down from 2.1 percent in the previous year.
Brassell noted that Camelot, the British firm seeking to take over lottery operations in Pennsylvania, has agreed to an extension on its contract bid, which was set to expire Sunday.