Lottery raises profit projection by $45M

The Massachusetts Lottery is upgrading its fiscal 2021 profit projection by $45 million as its sales defy expectations formed earlier in the pandemic, echoing a trend that has emerged in recent months with state tax collections as well.

Rather than providing $940 million for the state to use as local aid this budget year, the Lottery now expects that it will be able to provide $985 million by the time the fiscal year ends in June. That would be about the same amount as the Lottery generated in fiscal 2020, $986.9 million, and the $45 million upgrade is greater than the projected amount of annual revenue the state could get in a full year from legal sports betting.

Through the first seven months of fiscal 2021, all of which were affected in some way by pandemic-related restrictions and consumer patterns, the Lottery has seen a 4.5% increase in total sales and a 10.1% increase in net profit compared to the same seven months just before the pandemic began, Executive Director Michael Sweeney said last week.

From July 2020 through January 2021, the Lottery sold $3.36 billion worth of scratch tickets, draw games numbers and more, which helped turn an estimated profit of $672.7 million. From July 2019 through January 2020, the Lottery had sold a little more than $3.21 billion worth of its products and generated an estimated $611 million profit.

“Even as we have continued to be impacted by the pandemic, the Lottery team has exceeded expectations while adapting operations to keep people safe. We recognize, especially now, how important lottery resources are to the 351 cities and towns and will continue to meet our mission of helping communities all over the state,” Treasurer Deborah Goldberg said.