The Iowa Lottery’s latest annual results are out today, and we’re proud to say that with the support of our players, retailers and our entire team, it’s been a record year for ticket sales and prizes!
The preliminary figures show that the Iowa Lottery generated $106.6 million in proceeds to state causes in the fiscal year that ended June 30. That’s the lottery’s second-highest proceeds total, behind only the record $108.4 million in proceeds last year.
Annual lottery sales in FY 2024 were a record $489.9 million, while prizes to players totaled a record $312.6 million. Lottery sales commissions to the local businesses across the state that sell tickets totaled $31.9 million, a record for traditional lottery products.
What’s Behind The Numbers?
A couple big factors are behind those results. First, big jackpots.
You may remember that the jackpots in Mega Millions® and Powerball® topped $800 million at the same time back in March, and that the Powerball jackpot in particular exceeded $1 billion at three different points during the year.
Those big jackpots, combined with the November introduction of the Double Play® option in Powerball, led to an annual increase in Powerball sales of nearly 18 percent for the year.
Scratch games also had a very strong year. Sales of scratch tickets, which have always been the Iowa Lottery’s leading product, continued a strong run in FY 2024, growing 2.9 percent from the previous year and accounting for about 62 percent of the lottery’s overall sales.
It was a great year for lottery winnings as well. Iowa Lottery players claimed 14 prizes of at least $500,000 during FY 2024. And one more – a Powerball Double Play prize of $500,000 won in March in Mason City – was won during the year, but is still unclaimed.
Where’s The Money Go?
A common question we receive is how the money spent on lottery tickets makes a difference in Iowa. The image to the right shows you the breakdown.
For each $1 spent on a lottery ticket in our state, 64 cents goes right back to pay prizes. The next largest portion (22 cents on the dollar) goes to vital state programs, such as the Iowa Veterans Trust Fund that benefits our state’s veterans and their families.
Another 7 cents on the dollar is paid in commissions to the local businesses across the state that sell lottery tickets. And the final 7 cents goes to pay the daily costs of running the lottery.
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