The Illinois Lottery is on track for a record year of sales. It can thank iLottery for that.
Through 10 months of fiscal year 2024, the state has $3.28 billion in sales.
The Illinois online lottery has generated $559 million of that total, which is up 30% from a year ago. It’s also already 17% over budget for the fiscal year.
Illinois iLottery accounts for 17% of total sales
Through April, Illinois is 6.1% ahead of where it sat in 2023 for lottery sales.
Here’s how things have broken down for the state thus far in FY24, according to Allwyn North America, which runs the Illinois Lottery:
- Retail instants: $1.78 billion
- Retail draw-based games: $890 million
- iLottery: $559 million
The success of online sales has been key, as retail instants are slightly underperforming for what was budgeted this year. Currently, those games are 1.2% below budget despite being up 3.9% year over year.
Illinois’ iLottery makes up 17% of the total lottery sales for the year, as well.
Fast Play sales are responsible for $341 million of the online total, while lottery draw games are at $218 million. Mega Millions and Powerball sales online are up $42 million this year for Illinois’ online product.
Another impressive stat is that Illinois finished all of FY23 with $517.7 million in iLottery sales. This year’s mark, through 10 months, is already 8% ahead of last year’s total.
Cashless vending options coming in September
Illinois is making efforts to move toward adding cashless options to its retail lottery vending machines.
In the coming weeks, it will be testing out the cashless options at 25 different retailers around the state.
If all goes smoothly, it will roll out a statewide expansion in September. Only CVS locations in the state will not be equipped with the cashless option.
Customers will still have the ability to pay with cash at the vending machines, too.
Already, 50% of the state’s instant sales come from vending machines. The installment of the card option to the machines is projected to boost retail instant sales by 15% in the coming fiscal year.
That is an important metric for the Illinois Lottery, as the retail instants are failing to hit projections this year.
The launch of the state’s first $50 scratch ticket has driven FY24 sales. But, it has also led to a decline in purchases of the $30 and $20 price points.
Illinois expects the $50 ticket sales to drop next year due to the newness wearing off. In hopes to build off the record-setting sales year of FY24, the cashless vending machines could provide a needed boost in FY25.
Photo by Mehaniq via Shutterstock
Graphic from the Illinois Lottery
About the Author
