A boost in iLottery sales has the Illinois Lottery on pace for a record year of revenue for fiscal year 2024.
Last week, Illinois reported its half-year lottery results for FY 2024, which runs from July 1, 2023, to June 30, 2024.
Over the opening six months, the Illinois Lottery generated $1.9 billion in sales with an estimated return of $456 million in revenue.
While the state didn’t provide a specific monetary value for its iLottery sales, it reported that figures are up by a third in FY 2024 when compared to the first half of FY 2023.
Last year, the Illinois Lottery broke a net income record with $882 million.
Over $1 billion in prizes given out to Illinois residents
Over the first half of FY 2024 (July-December 2023), three jackpots of $1 billion or more were available to Illinois residents through Powerball and Mega Millions.
In Illinois, a total of 26 players won prizes of $1 million or more during the six-month period. In total, $1.2 billion in prizes were awarded to Illinois Lottery players.
The top prize over the time frame was a $23.75 million Lotto jackpot. The single-ticket winner was the largest Lotto prize awarded in Illinois in over seven years.
One of the highlights during the first half of FY 2024 was Illinois launching its first-ever $50 offering of the widely popular instant lottery games. The state lottery reports that sales generated over $500,000 a week for the Common School Fund since its release.
Allwyn building up Illinois iLottery database
Illinois has been working with Allwyn, formerly known as Camelot, for its iLottery operations since 2018.
Allwyn has aided the Illinois Lottery in raising funding by driving innovation, digitization, customer insights, efficiency, and player safety.
Allwyn’s iLottery platform, website, and app have helped grow the online sales and player database in Illinois year over year. Keith Horton, Illinois General Manager and General Counsel for Allwyn North America, discussed the partnership in a press release:
“With a focus on digital innovation, combined with retail excellence, we are growing the Lottery’s player base and sales by offering engaging game content and new ways to play, backed by a data-driven and machine-learning based approach to Customer Relations Management.”
Residents with an account have the option to play the Illinois online lottery right on the state’s lottery website.
The “Fast Play” page features 27 different online games ranging from $1 to $20.
January lottery sales continue first-half pace
The second half of FY 2024 stayed right in line with the first half in regard to lottery ticket sales.
January produced over $314.6 million in sales, slightly under the average of over $316.6 million for the first half of the fiscal year.
Total prizes claimed for the month were more than $215.6 million. That put revenue for January right around $99 million.
Photo by PlayiLottery
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