The Texas Lottery has racked up more than $5 billion in total sales for the year to the end of August and in the process became the largest single contributor of funds to the southern state at just over $1.39 billion.
According to official figures from the Texas Lottery Commission, the lottery had overall sales of $5.06 billion for its 2016 fiscal year, which broke the previous record set only twelve months ago, and has now handed over more than $19 billion to Texas public education and in excess of $66 million to the state’s veterans since its formation in 1992.
“This is the first time in our history that we have generated more than $5 billion in sales and we want to thank Texas Lottery players and our more than 17,000 retailers for their outstanding support,” said Gary Grief, Executive Director for the Texas Lottery. “We are excited to celebrate the extraordinary growth we have achieved and proud to make our largest contributions ever to both Texas public schools and veterans’ programs.”
Grief explained that the Texas Lottery contributed $1.37 billion to the state’s Foundation School Fund alongside $14.7 million for its Fund For Veterans’ Assistance over the course of the twelve-month period while highlighting the year’s scratchcard sales, which also hit a record total of $3.72 billion.
“Our growth can be primarily attributed to two factors, another year of strong sales across our entire scratch ticket game portfolio, which accounted for 73% of our total sales, and the record $1.5 billion Powerball jackpot that occurred in January,” said Grief.
In addition to record-breaking sales, Grief proclaimed that careful spending kept the Texas Lottery’s administrative costs to just 4.4% of annual sales, which he declared represented one of the lowest expenditure rates in the country.
“Our continued success is partially attributed to the cost containment measures taken in our administrative budget,” said Grief. “Any unspent administrative funds are returned directly to the Foundation School Fund.”
The year moreover saw Texas Lottery players collect a record $3.27 billion in prizes while retailers were happy due to the similarly best-ever $273.3 million paid in commissions, bonuses and incentives.
“The Texas Lottery continues to do an outstanding job managing and maintaining a broad portfolio of scratch and draw games with the highest integrity,” said Winston Krause, Chairman for the Texas Lottery Commission. “I am very proud of the significant support we have provided to Texas education and veterans.”