Arizona Receives Record-Breaking $141 Million; Highest Return in Lottery's 25-Year History
DATELINE: PHOENIX Aug. 9
PHOENIX, Aug. 9 /PRNewswire/ -- Governor Janet Napolitano today announced that thanks to the Arizona Lottery's record-breaking sales year, the state will receive over $141 million in net profit -- the highest return in the Lottery's 25-year history.
Arizona Lottery ticket sales for fiscal year 2006 hit an all-time high of $468.7 million, $71 million more than last year's record-breaking $397.6 million.
As a result, the state will receive $141.1 million in net profits, a 21 percent increase over last fiscal year's $116 million. Additionally, Lottery retailers earned a record $31.3 million in commissions and Lottery players cashed in on almost $262 million in prizes.
"This is good news for our state, because so many programs benefit from the Arizona Lottery's revenues," said Gov. Janet Napolitano. "The list is long: from state parks, to programs that provide funds to put more health care workers in rural Arizona, to Court-Appointed Special Advocates."
Art Macias, executive director of the Arizona Lottery, said that a strong growth in ticket sales was led by an astonishing 48 percent increase in Powerball sales and a 13.7 percent in Scratchers sales.
"We can't talk about the Lottery's success over the past 25 years without talking about why the Lottery was created -- to generate revenues that improve the quality of life for all our residents. Lottery dollars fund a vast array of important programs -- from arts, culture and historic preservation, to preserving Arizona's natural environments, to programs that keep Arizonans healthy and others that support our schools and children," said Macias. "They are the reason for our existence. Through our beneficiaries, we touch people's lives everywhere in our state."
Macias also noted that all beneficiaries with statutory caps received their full allocation and that all other beneficiaries received an increase over last year.
Arizona Lottery Statutory Beneficiaries (Dollar amounts in millions) FY06 Distribution FY02 to FY06
(*Totals for Department of Gaming do not reflect funding from other sources provided by the Arizona Lottery.)
The record-breaking fiscal year also caps off a successful 25 years for the Arizona Lottery, which is celebrating its silver anniversary this year. Over the past 25 years, the Arizona Lottery has experienced nearly $6 billion in sales and has provided nearly $379 million in commissions to retailers. Also, the past 25 years have allowed the Arizona Lottery to contribute almost $2 billion to the state and almost $3.1 billion in prizes to winners.
"The Lottery is committed to remaining innovative in its use of technology and the development of new and improved games that give our players the chance to be the state's next big winner," said Macias. "We are confident that our efforts will continue to increase sales. And as sales increase, so does funding for so many worthwhile projects -- that's our mission"
About the Arizona Lottery
The Arizona Lottery operates entirely from the revenue it generates through the sale of its products; it receives no General Fund dollars from the State. Proceeds from sales of Lottery tickets -- over $2.7 million per week -- fund a wide variety of public projects and programs including arts, wildlife, parks, transportation, education and historic preservation in cities and towns throughout all 15 counties in Arizona.
The Arizona Lottery marks its 25th Anniversary this year. Since July 1981, the Arizona Lottery has paid out nearly $2 billion in net profit to beneficiaries, approximately $3.1 billion in prizes to players, and almost $379 million in commissions to retailers.
CONTACT: Kevan Kaighn of Arizona Lottery, +1-480-921-4435, kkaighn@azlottery.gov
SOURCE Arizona Lottery