The Montana Lottery had a record year of sales in fiscal year 2024.
According to data released last week, Montana produced $154.2 million in sales from July 1, 2023 to June 30, 2024.
That unaudited total is 4.3% above the previous year, which was also a record-setting amount.
It should be noted that the state’s sports betting sales are included in that total. Sport Bet Montana accounted for $63.7 million of overall sales last year.
Montana is not among the states with online lotteries. However, two courier services do offer online sales of Montana Lottery draw games.
Montana Lottery sales up across all categories
The $154.2 million in unaudited sales for FY24 was a jump of over $6 million from the $147.8 million Montana reported for FY23.
That figure was also up $5.7 million from the budgeted total of $148.4 million.
Most lottery games outperformed their budgeted sales for the year.
Though sports betting was up year over year to $63.7 million in sales, it was down over $11 million from the $75 million that was budgeted by the state.
That means lottery carried its weight to the record number.
Both scratch tickets ($27.2 million) and draw tickets ($63.2 million) saw increases YoY and were above budget expectations.
Scratch sales exceeded the lottery’s outlook by 1.1%. For the year, sales were 7.3% greater, which is the biggest increase we’ve seen for any state thus far in FY24.
Courier-connected lottery draw sales soar past budget
When looking at the year-to-year comparison, draw sales were only up by 0.1% in Montana for FY24.
However, the state was expecting a notable dip.
The Montana Lottery budgeted just $46.5 million in draw sales for the year. So, the $63.2 million it made was a welcomed surprise. That was nearly $17 million more than expected.
The state’s two couriers, Jackpocket and Mido Lotto, provide online sales of the state’s retail draw games.
The two games that most outperformed for Montana were multistate draw games, Mega Millions and Powerball. Both are heavily advertised by the two couriers.
In FY24, Mega Millions hit more than double its budget, with $10.6 million in sales. It was expected to reach $5.1 million.
Powerball produced $22.1 million in sales, though Montana anticipated just $12 million.
A strong year for jackpots in the two games created plenty of sales interest, both at retail locations and through couriers.
Photo by mnimage via Shutterstock
Graphic from the Montana Lottery
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