The second-best year in Arkansas Lottery sales history has led to its largest year for net proceeds.
Earlier this month, the Arkansas Scholarship Lottery reported just under $613 million in fiscal year 2024 sales.
That was up nearly 1% from FY23, but still 3% shy of the FY21 record of $631.9 million.
However, the lottery draw games and scratch sales from Arkansas in the last year led to $129.2 million in net proceeds. That bested the FY23 record by over $16 million.
Funding aids 4 scholarships in Arkansas
With the FY24 donation, the Arkansas Scholarship Lottery (ASL) has raised more than $1.4 billion for scholarship funding since 2009.
Sharon Strong, Executive Director of the ASL, expressed the commitment the lottery has toward education in the state in a press release:
“We are committed to providing quality entertainment while remaining dedicated to our primary goal of supporting Arkansas students in their pursuit of higher education. We believe that our mission will continue to contribute to the long-term economic growth and prosperity of our state.”
Proceeds from the Arkansas Lottery help fund four different scholarships awarded by the Department of Higher Education:
- Arkansas Academic Challenge Scholarship: Gives tuition assistance for Arkansas students at two-year and four-year public and private colleges.
- Arkansas Workforce Challenge Scholarship: Available for students applying for certificate programs in high-demand occupations.
- Arkansas Concurrent Challenge Scholarship: Gives financial assistance to eligible students in the state who want to take college courses while in high school.
- Arkansas Challenge Plus Scholarship: Provides additional funding for students with an Academic Challenge Scholarship based on their financial needs.
Arkansas Lottery sales grow for second consecutive year
The Arkansas Lottery saw its best year of sales come in FY21 when it posted $631.9 million in purchases.
That was coming off a COVID-impacted year in FY20, which only had $531.4 million in sales.
The 18.9% growth year over year was quite an eye-opener.
However, it created a tough act to follow.
Sales dropped by over $60 million the following year, and Arkansas has been fighting to get back up the hill the previous two years:
- FY20: $531,442,861
- FY21: $631,934,927
- FY22: $579,564,702
- FY23: $607,561,125
- FY24: $612,959,721
Overall sales have been up the last two years, but are still nearly $19 million from the FY21 record.
Details on the sales haven’t been provided yet by the ASL, so we aren’t clear on what the draw sales and instant sales did for FY24.
However, the jump from FY22 to FY23 was due to its draw games. Those went from $99.5 million in FY22 to $131 million last year. Instant sales actually decreased by over $3.5 million.
With national trends showing Powerball sales heavily on the rise in most states, it can be expected that draw sales probably carried the weight for Arkansas again in FY24.
Photo by vita pakhai via Shutterstock
Graphic from the Arkansas Lottery
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