Mega results mask Lottery’s weak links

A combination of higher sales and lower prize claims helped the Massachusetts Lottery post a robust profit in January, boosting its budget picture in the fiscal year’s second half.

Overall sales of $590.5 million, up $62.9million from January 2022, coincided with just one game with a sales dip, Interim Executive Director Mark Williambracken told the Lottery Commission last week.

And the $20 million in scratch ticket grand prizes claimed in January was down $24 million from January 2022, helping the Lottery realize a monthly net profit of $120.8million — an estimated $39.2 million year over year increase.

But all isn’t rosy with that profit picture.

The attention and action drawn by the huge pots and multiple winners of Mega Millions and Powerball that month overshadowed the overall lackluster performance of the Lottery’s major money makers.

With no winners, the Powerball jackpot grew to $613 million through January.

But Mega Millions took the prize during January. After an eye-popping $1.35 billion winning ticket was sold on Jan. 13, three other Mega Millions jackpots were hit that month, the first time that’s happened in the game’s 21year history.

Meanwhile, sales of scratch tickets, which account for nearly 70% of Lottery business, are still down almost 4% on the year. And sales of Keno, the Numbers Game and Mass Cash — some of the Lottery’s most successful product lines — are also in the red for the year.

Nonetheless, Treasurer Deborah Goldberg has indicated the Lottery’s contribution to unrestricted local aid is “still on track to meet its projection of $1 billion in net profit, despite tightening consumer spending, and an increasingly competitive marketplace.”