Kentucky Lottery sales jumped by nearly one-third during the COVID-19 slowdown

Taverns and bars that were selling Kentucky Lottery tickets were closing due to the coronavirus pandemic. Many people were not getting out of their homes to make purchases other than groceries and gasoline.

Mary Harville, senior vice president of the Kentucky Lottery Corp. since April 2004, was worried. On the same day that Tom Delancenserie retired as lottery president on March 6, 2020, Gov. Andy Beshear declared a state of emergency due to the coronavirus pandemic.

“It was an anxious time for all of us at the lottery,” said Harville, whom Beshear appointed its president last September, making her the first woman to head the agency.

The results are in, and the numbers show that the Kentucky Lottery did very well in the time of COVID-19.

The Kentucky Lottery, in the fiscal year that ended June 30, shattered sales and proceeds records from its 32-year history, and players for the first time won more than $1 billion.

Total sales for the last fiscal year were $1.586 billion. That is about a 32 percent increase from the previous year, with $382.9 million in additional sales over that year.

Proceeds to the state totaled $354.8 million. That was $76.3 million, or 27.4 percent, more than the previous year. Lottery proceeds to the state fund a variety of college scholarship and grant programs, including the popular KEES scholarship.

Also, $1.07 billion in prizes were awarded — $266.2 million, or 33.2 percent, more than the previous fiscal year.

The percentage gains last year were the highest in about 15 years.

In the first month of the pandemic, said Harville, “things were slow. Then they picked up in April 2020. By May, things looked pretty good, and the summer months, which usually are slow, were strong.”

Harville said sales took off when people were looking for forms of entertainment during the pandemic.

“Early on, so many businesses and entertainment options were initially closed or extremely limited,” she said. “The only retail outlets open were essential retailers, including convenience stores and grocery stores. That’s where the overwhelming majority of our tickets are sold.”

More people “re-discovered our games. They found they enjoyed playing — and kept playing. And now that things have re-opened, players have stayed with us,” Harville said.

More retailers also started allowing the purchase of lottery games using debit and credit cards.

“We have set out in the last six or so months to add card capabilities to our vending machines, and are just about complete in retrofitting more than 1,400 machines with this capability,” said Lotter spokesman Chip Polston.

Scratch-off tickets once again were the largest individual game category, finishing the fiscal year at $961.7 million. That is a $220.6 million, or 29.8 percent, increase from the previous year.

The largest percentage growth category for the year was the Lottery’s internet sales. Even though the sales channel has seen steady growth over the past six years since it was launched, said Harville, consumers discovered the platform during the pandemic and have stayed there to play.

Its sales finished the fiscal year at $137.1 million, an increase of $92.1 million, or 204.6 percent. Internet sales for the year made up 9 percent of total Kentucky Lottery sales.

After a year of declining sales, the multi-state Powerball and Mega Millions games both enjoyed rebounds in the last fiscal year.

Harville said this was due in large part to jackpot runs of $1 billion in Mega Millions and $731 million in Powerball, which both occurred in January 2021.

Keno sales also rose after a dip in the previous fiscal year. This game ended fiscal year 2021 with $88.6 million in sales, which is $9.8 million, or 12.4 percent, more than in fiscal year 2020.

Another record broken was payments to retailers. It was $90.6 million, up $19.6 million from the previous year.

“Those retailer payments were very key to a number of small businesses during the pandemic,” said Harville. “We were a steady stream of income to many of them at a time when their business model was turned upside down.”

Harville and Howard Kline, chief financial officer for the lottery, said sales are expected to remain steady through the upcoming fiscal year.

The Kentucky Lottery has provided more than $6 billion for the state since 1989.