Despite Banner Month, Lottery Gives Little to Scholarships, Most to Prizes

The Arkansas Lottery recently released its monthly financial report for March 2021.

The report reveals that the Arkansas Lottery spent only 12% of its gross revenue on scholarships — despite bringing in a record-setting $67.9 million in March.

More than 70% of the Lottery’s revenue went to prizes instead.

For perspective, the typical state lottery budgets approximately 25% – 30% of its revenue for education and about 60% for prizes.

S.B. 649 by Sen. Charles Beckham (R – McNeil) and Rep. Richard Womack (R – Arkadelphia) would require the Arkansas Lottery to increase the percentage of its revenue budgeted for scholarships to 25% over the next six years. This would bring the Arkansas Lottery up to the standards of the typical state-run lottery — and it most likely would provide millions of additional dollars in scholarship funding.

Below is a breakdown of Lottery revenue and prize spending for Fiscal Year 2021.

Scholarship Spending

Month	Gross Lottery Revenue	Paid to Scholarships	% Gross Revenue
July	$49,780,369.99	$8,592,573.93	17.3%
August	49,672,105.04	7,862,917.44	15.8%
September	47,501,224.72	7,691,576.99	16.2%
October	42,615,839.96	8,447,337.00	19.8%
November	43,115,514.84	8,207,598.88	19.0%
December	50,329,644.30	5,970,922.53	11.9%
January, 2021	62,994,737.27	10,913,192.32	17.3%
February	42,099,444.22	5,592,370.95	13.3%
March	67,975,057.80	8,341,917.38	12.3%
Total	$456,083,938.14	$71,620,407.42	15.7%

Prize Spending

Month	Gross Lottery Revenue	Total Prizes	% Going to Prizes
July	49,780,369.99	35,641,717.48	71.6%
August	49,672,105.04	35,023,856.83	70.5%
September	47,501,224.72	33,422,556.14	70.4%
October	42,615,839.96	29,995,072.50	70.4%
November	43,115,514.84	30,548,473.72	70.9%
December	50,329,644.30	33,661,170.75	66.9%
January,2021	62,994,737.27	41,745,065.17	66.3%
February	42,099,444.22	27,955,512.19	66.4%
March	67,975,057.80	47,945,090.78	70.5%
Total	456,083,938.14	315,938,515.56	69.3%