Ohio Lottery revenue up more than 15% in 2020
Coronavirus and the accompanying restrictions on consumers and businesses last year didn’t hamper Ohioans hoping to hit it big in the state lottery, with ticket sales up more than 15% over pre-pandemic 2019.
That should mean additional funding for Ohio’s schools, with about a quarter of proceeds directed into the state’s Lottery Profits Education Fund, though the final impact won’t be known until the end of this fiscal year in June.
Total game sales from January through December topped $3.8 billion, up from $3.3 billion in 2019, according to statistics compiled by the Ohio Lottery Commission.
More than 84% of the increase, about $426 million, came from scratch-off ticket sales. With the exception of March, monthly scratchticket sales in 2020 exceeded 2019 results, often by tens of millions of dollars.
Lottery thrived while casinos closed
The lottery commission, which operates on the state fiscal year that ends in June, compiled the calendar-year totals at the request of The Dispatch to gauge how the pandemic affected ticket sales.
Scratch-ticket sales drove record numbers for the lottery in the first half of 2020, said lottery spokeswoman Danielle Frizzi-Babb, and that appears to have continued during the second half.
“People have been limited in their entertainment options for the last 10 months, and lottery games proved to be a fun socially distanced form of entertainment,” state lottery Director Pat McDonald added in a released statement.
The totals were a bright spot in Ohio’s legalized gaming sector, with restrictions on in-person activities hampering casino and racino revenues.
The Ohio Casino Control Commission reported total 2020 revenues of more than $643 million, down about 24% from nearly $851 million in 1999.
The 2020 totals included two months (April and May) with zero casino revenue, following closures from mid-March through midJune instituted by the state health department to prevent the spread of COVID19. As of November, casinos also were barred from operating around the clock, due to curfews implemented as part of the state pandemic response.
Casino, lottery revenues rebounded
Casino revenues hit record totals during the six months when locations were open and operating 24 hours a day, commission spokeswoman Jessica Franks said.
“I don’t know if it’s pent-up demand...,” she said. “Movie theaters have been closed, and a lot of other entertainment options have not been available for folks. So, this has been one of those few entertainment options that people still have where they’ve been able to go out, if they choose to do so.”
Likewise, video lottery terminals regulated by the state lottery commission at seven Ohio horse racing tracks recorded a 35% drop in the total number of credits played in 2020.