Total ticket sales for the Powerball lottery game fell during the past 12 months in Iowa due to the lack of high-dollar jackpots, but sales of scratch tickets continue to surge.
Iowa Lottery officials report more than $237.6 million worth of scratch tickets were sold during the past 12 months. That’s nearly $4 million above the previous year’s record and the third consecutive year of record sales for scratch tickets.
Powerball ticket sales were down 27 percent, however. There had been a big Powerball sales spike the previous year, due to a world-record jackpot.
The Lottery’s preliminary financial report for the past 12 months indicates about 81-million dollars in profits will be turned over to the state treasury. It’s the fourth time lottery profits have topped 80 million. The lottery’s CEO says the operation is in a “healthy position” and ended its fiscal year “well ahead” of sales and profit projections.