Florida Lottery - Highest Contributions to Education in Agency’s 24-Year History

FLORIDA LOTTERY SHATTERS ALL-TIME SALES RECORD
Highest Contributions to Education in Agency’s 24-Year History

TALLAHASSEE – The Florida Lottery today announced fiscal year sales of $4.45 billion, the highest ever in the organization’s nearly quarter century of existence. Sales exceeded last year’s by more than $440 million, with Scratch-Off sales breaking the all-time record in Florida Lottery history. Overall sales for both Terminal and Scratch-Off games also set an all-time record high for six months of the fiscal year and achieved the second highest sales record for the other six months. Record sales mean more money for Florida’s students. The Florida Lottery expects to break its all-time record for contributions to education by transferring $1.31 billion to Florida’s Education Enhancement Trust Fund (EETF).

“Our organization exists for one reason – to contribute to education funding in Florida. We are very proud of our unprecedented transfer to the Education Enhancement Trust Fund this year,” said Florida Lottery Secretary Cynthia O’Connell. “On behalf of the entire organization we thank our players and our retailers for making this an extraordinary year.“

The EETF funds the Bright Futures Scholarship Program, which has helped more than 550,000 students attend college. In addition, those funds also finance K-12 programs and school construction projects.

The Florida Lottery’s success is a direct result of the agency’s ambitious move to expand and revive its roster of games. During the fiscal year, the Lottery introduced nearly 50 new Scratch-Off games, including WHEEL OF FORTUNE®, GUY HARVEY® and the MONOPOLY™ and LUCKY FOR LIFE families of Scratch-Off games. Additionally, the improvements made to POWERBALL® in January led to increased sales and created 22 new millionaires in Florida! The Lottery also offered a variety of promotions ranging from the Fan-tastic College Football Promotion, where players won exciting prizes such as bowl game trips and team merchandise, to second chance drawings on non-winning Scratch-Off tickets, which give players more chances to win. As a result, Florida Lottery players won more than $2.79 billion in prizes.

“Developing fun and entertaining Lottery games is the first part of the equation; after that it is the responsibility of the Lottery staff and sales team, along with our retailers and vendors, to maximize sales,” said Secretary O’Connell. “I could not be more pleased with their performance this year."

The Florida Lottery’s success depends on its effective implementation of an entrepreneurial business model that focuses on the development of new revenue streams and creates a win-win partnership with its private-sector vendors. The Lottery constantly evaluates its operating expenses in order to maximize profits, a practice that has resulted in the Lottery having one of the lowest expense rates among domestic lotteries. Lottery contributions have made an impact with more than $1 billion being transferred annually to the EETF for the past ten consecutive fiscal years, representing approximately six percent of the state's total education budget.

Note: Lottery contributions to the EETF are based on preliminary unaudited figures from the Florida Lottery’s Department of Finance.

ABOUT THE FLORIDA LOTTERY

The Florida Lottery reinvests nearly 99 percent of its revenue into the state’s economy through prize payouts, donations to education, and money paid to Florida retailers. In 2011, playing Florida Lottery games made 79 people millionaires. Since its beginning in 1988, the Florida Lottery has transferred billions of dollars to the Educational Enhancement Trust Fund, investing in Florida's future leaders through school construction, K-12 classroom support and more than 550,000 Bright Futures scholarships. The games of the Florida Lottery are designed to fuel excitement while funding tomorrow. For more information, visit www.flalottery.com.

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"$24 Billion for Florida's Students"