Here’s a player question that came our way, wondering about the breakdown of the money from every $1 spent on lottery tickets in Iowa.
We keep a chart showing that on our website. The money breaks down into four categories, the biggest of which is prizes! (Without prizes to players, there obviously wouldn’t be a lottery for long!)
Prizes are followed by proceeds to state programs, commissions to the local businesses that sell lottery tickets, and the daily costs of running the lottery.
In addition to that bigger picture, we also pinpoint the state programs that currently receive lottery proceeds, and how those proceeds have been used over time. The use of the money raised by the lottery for state causes has changed several times since the Iowa Lottery’s start back in 1985, so we keep a historical list as well as a current list on our website.
We do our best to break things out into clear categories with easy-to-navigate graphics and direct links where you can learn more. The details involved are interesting, and it’s our job to provide transparency about the lottery enterprise that has raised more than $2.2 billion -- and counting.
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