Nebraska Lottery Sales Reach New Record

July 22, 2013 – The Nebraska Lottery announced today that ticket sales during the fiscal year that ended on June 30 were the highest in its 20-year history, resulting in increased funds for the Lottery’s beneficiaries.

Sales of Scratch and Lotto tickets during Fiscal Year 2013 were $160.8 million*. While preliminary, this figure represents a 6.7% increase over the prior fiscal year and marks the 12^th consecutive year of sales increases.

“Celebrating our 20^th anniversary with a new record makes us extremely pleased,” said Jim Haynes, Nebraska Lottery Director. “The partnership between the Lottery, our players, and retailers has helped us reach this milestone. Together, we’re building a better Nebraska.”

Proceeds from ticket sales support the environment, education, the Nebraska State Fair, and compulsive gamblers assistance. Beneficiary transfers during the fiscal year were $40 million, $3.9 million more than the previous year. Over $489 million has been raised for the Nebraska Lottery’s beneficiary funds since the Lottery began in 1993.

Haynes attributed the positive results to continued growth in Scratch products and strong sales of the Lottery’s most-popular Lotto game, Powerball.

“We put a significant effort into designing and marketing Scratch games our players want to play, and the sales numbers reflect this,” said Haynes. “Additionally, we’ve implemented the Last Shot! program to drive sales of Scratch games with a few remaining prizes and limited supply. This allows us to turn over our inventory faster and distribute new games to retailers.

“On the Lotto side, Powerball makes up the majority of Lotto sales. The changes made to Powerball at the beginning of 2012 are paying off with bigger jackpots and more Nebraska millionaires. To date, there have been six $1 million and two $2 million Powerball winners in Nebraska, and overall we’re paying out more in prizes per draw than before the game was changed. These factors continue to drive Lotto ticket sales.”

Overall, players took home $83.6 million* in Nebraska Lottery prizes during the fiscal year. Other figures of note include:

• $1.02 million* in state income taxes withheld from prize winnings;
• $24,511* in unpaid income taxes collected; and
• $10,400* in unpaid child support collected.

Prizes above $5,000 have state and federal taxes automatically withheld, at 5 and 25 percent, respectively. By law, the Nebraska Lottery automatically checks for unpaid income taxes and child support on prizes of more than $500.

The Nebraska Lottery marked $1 billion in total sales (since 1993) in March of 2006.

*Unaudited figures which are subject to change.