Indiana gamblers are buying more scratch-off tickets than ever before. Sales numbers are hitting new highs throughout the state.
The Hoosier Lottery is on pace for another record year according to this week’s State Lottery Commission meeting.
Scratch-off tickets sales increase
Scratch-off tickets have always been important Hoosier Lottery games, but their popularity has increased dramatically in recent years.
Indiana’s lottery crossed the $1 billion sales mark for the year on Jan. 27. That’s the earliest that the state has ever hit that milestone.
However, it’s important to note that the lottery’s budget year begins on July 1, so reaching the $1 billion mark took about seven months.
The lottery is already hitting record marks, despite failing to add online games earlier this month.
The state brought in $1.14 billion worth of lottery ticket sales between July and February. Scratch-offs certainly pulled their weight by collecting $886 million. That’s almost an 80% piece of the overall pie, and a 4% increase from the same stretch in the previous fiscal year.
All of that puts Indiana on track to make over $330 million in revenue from the Hoosier Lottery this year.
Outside of scratch-off sales, the lottery can thank the Powerball for helping to set its record pace.
Powerball sales are up 30% so far this year thanks to a pair of massive jackpots worth a combined $1.3 billion. Large jackpot numbers attract national attention, which in turn drives hopeful gamblers to buy more tickets.
The Hoosier Lottery also added an extra Powerball drawing each week, which may have helped contribute to the numbers.
Growth slowing from last year
A 4% kick for scratch-offs is nothing to sneeze at, but things aren’t exactly moving at the same speed as they were last year.
Scratch-off sales increased by an insane 27% during the 2021 budget year. That helped generate a record-breaking $1.76 billion in sales.
That growth was mostly due to the pandemic. Indiana gamblers turned to other forms of entertainment while restrictions were in place for public spaces.
Last year was so much of an outlier that the Hoosier Lottery was actually expecting an 8% decrease in sales this time around. As it turns out, those expectations may have underestimated Indiana’s love for scratch-off games and the Powerball.
The records are starting to fall and there are still three full months left in the budget cycle. At this rate, the Hoosier Lottery should easily be able to snag another historical sales year.
