The Iowa Lottery reports sales have picked up in the new fiscal year which started in July. Lottery CEO Matt Strawn gave a report to the Lottery Board today.
“Iowa Lottery sales are up over 20% compared to the first two months of FY 2020. Iowa Lottery sales are nearly 23% ahead of budget projections through the first two months of FY 2021,” Strawn says. The Lottery saw gross sales of nearly $36 million in July and nearly $33 million in August.
Strawn says the scratch tickets that started the sale of games in Iowa have continued to be a leader. “We continue to see consistent and incremental growth. With the Insta-Play product — which is an emerging product in the Lottery’s portfolio– we see consistent growth. With pull tabs — a very mature product in the Lottery’s portfolio — we see relatively static and stable year-over-year sales,” according to Strawn.
Matt Strawn
Scratch tickets made up around $48.9 million of the nearly $68.7 million in gross sales for the first two months of this fiscal year. He says the nationwide lotto games have not done as well. “You Powerball, your MegaMillions, a mature product that has seen slumping sales. A situation of course exacerbated by changes in consumer behavior driven by the COVID-19 pandemic,” Strawn says.
The starting jackpots in the lotto games were lowered after the pandemic started as fewer people were out buying tickets. Lower jackpots have also led to lower sales nationwide of those types of tickets.
Strawn says the changes in sales have created a shift in the revenue mix. “In fiscal year ’19 the lotto product category comprised 30 percent of all sales — with instant and scratch tickets representing 64%,” Strawn says. “Fast forward to today. Through the first two months of the fiscal year 2021, the data indicate that the lotto product category now only contributes about 18% to overall lottery sales — while instant and scratch tickets comprise about 71% of all sales.”
The Iowa Lottery Board approved a 2022 fiscal year budget that projects a one percent increase in proceeds to the state above the $72.7 million budgeted for this fiscal year.
(Photo courtesy of the Iowa Lottery)