Pennsylvania Lottery Sets Sales Record

PENN HILLS, Pennsylvania – (PRESS RELEASE) -- Pennsylvania Governor Edward G. Rendell today announced that Pennsylvania Lottery sales for the 2005-06 fiscal year set a new record of $3.07 billion - a 16 percent increase over the previous year. Having topped last year's sales record by $425 million, the Lottery achieved its highest single-year dollar increase in its 34-year history.

"The continued growth of the Lottery is particularly gratifying because higher Lottery sales help us provide greater benefits to older Pennsylvanians," said Governor Rendell during the announcement at Penn Hills Senior Center in Allegheny County. "The Lottery's unprecedented growth provided first for an expansion of the PACE and PACENET prescription drug programs, and now for the immediate expansion of the Property Tax and Rent Rebate Program.

"The Lottery's success allowed 100,000 older Pennsylvanians to be added to the PACE and PACENET programs. And, Lottery revenues will provide property tax and rent relief to an additional 420,000 older and disabled Pennsylvanians for the current tax year, while increasing the maximum rebate from $500 to $650. That's significant and long-deserved relief for Pennsylvania seniors."

Recognizing that the Lottery needed to increase sales to answer the demands of a growing older population, Governor Rendell made expanding the Pennsylvania Lottery - the only U.S. Lottery that dedicates all proceeds to programs that benefit older residents - a primary goal of his administration. Lottery sales have grown by more than $1 billion, or about 57 percent, under Governor Rendell, from $1.95 billion in fiscal year 2001-02 to $3.07 billion in 2005-06.

"Lottery sales have grown by more than 10 percent in each of the last four years, and total sales have grown by more than $1 billion in that time," said Governor Rendell. "The last time Lottery sales increased by $1 billion it took 19 years. Today's Lottery achieved that milestone in only four years."

Net revenues to the Lottery Fund for fiscal year 2005-06 totaled $976 million, a 14 percent increase over the previous year. Net Lottery revenues have increased by $227 million, or 30 percent, since fiscal year 2001-02.

Governor Rendell also noted that the Lottery is not just a funding source for programs that help older Pennsylvanians; it also plays a vital and growing role in supporting business. As Lottery sales have grown, so have the commissions the Lottery pays to its retailers. Lottery retailers, many of them small businesses, earned $171 million in commissions in fiscal year 2005- 06, a 71 percent increase since fiscal year 2001-02. That money creates jobs, Governor Rendell said, and can have a significant impact on the bottom line of a small business.

"A key component of the Lottery's success was turning around a 16-year decline in the number of Lottery retailers," said Governor Rendell. "The Pennsylvania Lottery is only as good as its retailers, yet for decades the number of Lottery retailers had been decreasing. We have reversed that trend, adding more than 300 new retailers a year over the past four years. Today the Pennsylvania Lottery has more than 8,400 retailers, a milestone that was last reached in 1992."

Under the Governor's leadership, the Lottery has also increased its sales by listening to players and offering games that respond to their requests, such as the new Millionaire Raffle game; by developing creative marketing tools like Gus, the Second Most Famous Groundhog in Pennsylvania; and by introducing new technology such as Player Activated Terminals.

"The Pennsylvania Lottery is a success story of good government and an organization of which all Pennsylvanians can be proud - especially Pennsylvania's seniors," said Governor Rendell.

Governor Rendell noted that Lottery sales are expected to increase in the 2006-07 fiscal year by nearly $158 million, or approximately 5.1 percent.