Boosted By Online Sales, Kentucky Sees Record Year For Lottery

Image showing money in the background along with the Kentucky state outline featuring the Kentucky Lottery logo for a story about the KY Lottery setting a new best for sales in 2023 thanks to online play.

Thanks to record-setting iLottery sales, Kentucky hit a new best for lottery in fiscal year 2023.

According to the annual Kentucky Lottery report for this past year, the state did $1.841 billion in lottery sales.

That was boosted by $424.7 million from the Kentucky online lottery, which was up 69.5% year over year. In total, Kentucky’s iLottery accounted for 23% of the state’s overall lottery sales last year.

Online instant plays second-biggest source of Kentucky Lottery sales

Instant plays were the big sales driver for Kentucky’s iLottery in FY 2023, according to the state’s report. Of the $424.7 million amassed, $394 million came from online instant plays.

That was the second-largest sales point of any Kentucky Lottery game last year, retail or online. Here’s how the rest of it shaped up:

  • Retail scratch-offs: $943.5 million
  • iLottery instant play: $394 million
  • Pick 3: $177.2 million
  • Powerball: $87.9 million
  • Keno: $65.4 million
  • Mega Millions: $65 million
  • Pick 4: $53.3 million
  • Fast Play: $17.1 million
  • Lucky for Life: $11.9 million
  • Cash Ball: $11.3 million
  • Cash Pop: $9.8 million
  • Kentucky 5: $3.6 million

Overall, Kentucky Lottery sales in FY 2023 were up 9.8% from the previous year, a total of $164.5 million.

iLottery growing nationally thanks to online instant plays

Kentucky’s iLottery instant play sales were steady throughout the year. The fourth quarter of FY 2023 saw a production of $113.9 million. However, that is just 29.1% of the total, so there weren’t big peaks and valleys throughout the year.

The Kentucky Lottery offers 77 different online instant play games on its website. Price points range from 10 cents to $20.

The growth of iLottery is projected to continue in the years to come. According to an Eilers & Krejcik Gaming report, online lottery accounted for 1% of US consumer gambling spend in 2023. That equated to $1.7 billion.

That same report sees the compound annual growth rate of iLottery to be 48% over the next five years.

Statista projects that iLottery will generate $5.74 billion in revenue in the United States in 2024.

Jefferson County leads lottery sales in Kentucky

Altogether, there are 120 counties in the state of Kentucky.

Last year, Jefferson County accounted for the most sales by a wide margin. That county includes Louisville within its borders.

Four counties approached $50 million or more in lottery sales for the state. They are:

  • Jefferson County: $330.8 million
  • Fayette County: $88.2 million
  • Hardin County: $50.8 million
  • Kenton County: $49.9 million

In total, 112 of the 120 counties had at least $1 million in lottery sales in FY 2023. A total of 61 generated at least $5 million in sales, while 32 had more than $10 million.

KY Lottery gives over $380 million to education funds

The added $164.5 million in sales for FY 2023 allowed the Kentucky Lottery to give $380.3 million in transfers to the state.

That was $19.5 million more than the previous year, a 5.4% increase. It was also a record amount from the Kentucky Lottery.

This money is used for funding scholarships and grants for Kentucky college students.

Since 1999, the Kentucky Lottery has provided $4.8 billion to students in the state.

 

Photo by PlayiLottery

About the Author

Drew Ellis

Drew Ellis

Lead Writer
A member of Catena Media since 2020, Drew Ellis is the Lead Writer at PlayiLottery, where he handles coverage of the online lottery industry in the US. He previously spearheaded news content at PlayMichigan, where he covered one of the most prominent online lottery industries in the US — among the many other aspects of Michigan's sprawling iGaming market. You can email him at [email protected].
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