Arkansas Lottery – Page 12

State-Run Lottery Unveils Even More Scratch-Off Tickets

Oct 21, 2020Jerry CoxArkansas LotteryArkansas Lottery

The Arkansas Lottery recently unveiled a slate of four new scratch-off tickets, according to information posted on the Lottery’s website.

The tickets sell for anywhere from $1 to $10, and advertise prizes up to $200,000.

As we have written many times, the Arkansas Lottery has a habit of rolling out a steady stream of new lottery games every month.

The Lottery also spends more money on prizes than most state-run lotteries, and it relies very heavily on scratch-off tickets for revenue.

Players who buy the Arkansas Lottery’s newest $10 scratch-off ticket hoping to win $200,000 have roughly a two in three chance of losing their money. The odds of winning the jackpot are a staggering one in 440,000.

As we have said time and time again, scratch-off tickets like these are linked to problem gambling and gambling addiction.

A 2015 study in Canada described them as “paper slot machines.”

A 2018 study published in the Journal of Behavioral Addictions found a link between how often a person played scratch-off tickets and the severity of a person’s gambling problem.

Despite all of this, the Arkansas Lottery continues to roll out new scratch-off tickets every month and budgets 70% of its revenue for prizes in an ongoing effort to prop up lottery ticket sales.

Photo Credit: Powerball and Mega Millions Lottery Billboard in Missouri by Tony Webster, on Flickr.

State Lottery Continues to Spend 70% of Revenue on Prizes

Oct 14, 2020Jerry CoxArkansas LotteryArkansas Lottery

The Arkansas Lottery continues to spend more than 70% of its monthly revenue on prizes, according to reports filed with the Governor’s Office.

The reports show the Arkansas Lottery took in more than $47.5 million in September.

Out of that money, $33.4 million was spent on prizes for lottery players — roughly 70.4% of the Lottery’s revenue for the month.

Less than $7.7 million went to college scholarships — about 16.2% of the Lottery’s revenue.

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

All told, since Fiscal Year 2021 began last July the Arkansas Lottery has taken in nearly $147 million, but only about 16 cents out of every dollar has gone toward college scholarships.

Below is a breakdown of Lottery revenue, scholarship budgeting, and prize spending so far this fiscal year.

Lottery 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%
Total	$146,953,699.75	$24,147,068.36	16.4%

Lottery 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%
Total	146,953,699.75	104,088,130.45	70.8%