Virginia Lottery sales are on pace to set a record for the fiscal year ending June 30 after rebounding from a stagnant first part of the year. Sales were up 10 percent over the previous year in January, February and March, thanks in part to the addition of a new game and large Mega Millions jackpots.
Lottery profits hit $430.2 million last year and are projected to reach $435.2 million this year. The profits will help fund K-12 education in the state.
“We had two big Mega Millions jackpots — one in January and one in March,” said John Hagerty, a spokesman for the Virginia Lottery. “During those periods, we really see our sales grow exponentially during a short period of time.”
The reversal of fortune follows several months of disappointing sales. Sales in August 2010 of $115 million were down 13 percent from the previous August, which got a boost from the Mega Millions jackpot growing to $336 million.
The $584 million in sales through November 2010 trailed the previous year’s total as well, which had been bolstered by strong jackpot games and advertising, according to the Virginia Lottery.
But sales rebounded since then as the Mega Millions jackpot hit $380 million in January. Then, in February, the Lottery introduced a new game — Decades of Dollars — in which players have a chance to win $250,000 a year for 30 years.
“That has started out with very strong sales,” said Hagerty.
Sales for the current fiscal year, meanwhile, are on record pace, totaling $1.1 billion through March. Sales totals for April were not available, but profits through April were $370 million — 2.6 percent higher than the same period last year.
“Yes, sales are up, and they’re on a record pace,” said Susan Hogge, a fiscal analyst for the Virginia House Appropriations Committee. “It’s just April — so we [still] have May and June to go through.”
Hagerty said he was “cautiously optimistic” that the state will reach that goal.
“A lot can happen in the remaining six weeks of the fiscal year,” he said. “We might be paying out more in a particular drawing. You can’t plan for the way the numbers play out.”
