Kentucky Lottery posts record $810.5M in sales

Saturday, July 18, 2009 posted 01:46 AM EDT

LOUISVILLE, Ky. -- Kentucky's lottery defied the odds of a reeling economy, posting record sales amounting to its heftiest contribution ever to the state treasury, officials said Friday.

It was the fourth straight year that lottery sales - an important revenue source for Kentucky higher education, especially scholarships - set a state record. The strong sales came as the state dealt with a seasonally adjusted unemployment rate of 10.9 percent in June.

In the fiscal year ending June 30, Kentucky lottery sales totaled $810.5 million, beating the previous year's record level by $32.3 million, or 4.2 percent, lottery officials announced Friday.

The lottery transferred $204.4 million to the state for the full year, up from $192.1 million the previous year and barely ahead of the then-record amount contributed to the state earlier in the decade.

Scratch-off tickets ranging from $1 to $20 set the pace with a 7 percent sales increase to reach $504.1 million, said Kentucky Lottery Corp. President and Chief Executive Arch Gleason.

Gleason said the latest figures indicate that adults who play the lottery spend between $10 and $15 weekly on lottery tickets - comparable to average amounts in recent years.

Related Links
	Lottery News & Stories
	Latest Results
	Search Past Winning Numbers