S.C. Education Lottery sees second-best year in sales

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The South Carolina Education Lottery recorded its second-highest revenue intake ever during this past fiscal year by raking in a whopping $1.047 billion in ticket sales.

A lottery spokesman attributes the numbers to the fact that they "listened to our customers and provided a wide range of options." In addition, the S.C. Education Lottery operated with the lowest expenses since the year it was launched, back in 2002, totaling $37.9 million.

Here's all the details from a press release:

August 4, 2011 - Columbia – On June 30, the South Carolina Education Lottery (SCEL) closed its books on Fiscal Year 2011 with $1.047 billion in sales which makes it the second best year since the Education Lottery launched in 2002. In fact, FY 2011 was the best year in instant “scratcher” ticket sales which totaled more than $697 million.

“We attribute our strong instant ticket sales to the fact we listened to our customers and provided a wide range of options,” said Executive Director Paula Harper Bethea. “Players really responded to our $5 and $10 tickets as well as our licensed products including the Ric Flair™, Jeep®, and Bass Pro Shops® game themes.”

Licensed lottery retailers enjoyed a profitable year partnering with the Lottery as well. For their hard work and dedication, retailers earned more than $73.2 million in retailer commissions. This amount was up about $2.8 million from the previous fiscal year.

Total transfers to the Education Lottery Account (ELA) for appropriation by the General Assembly exceeded $271 million, surpassing the revenue goal set by the Board of Economic Advisors by over $18.7 million. The Lottery has exceeded its revenue goals every year since sales started in January 2002!

Other lottery highlights for FY 2010 – 11 include: 
- Collected $5.2 million in state income taxes from prize winnings; 
- Collected more than $106,000 in debt set off;
- Collected more than $16,000 in unpaid child support; and
- The Lottery’s operational expenses were the lowest since FY 2002, totaling $37.9 million.

Lottery highlights from January 2002 through June 30, 2011:
- Surpassed $9 billion in total revenue; and
- Exceeded $2.5 billion in transfers to the ELA to support education in South Carolina. 

Since the start of the Lottery in 2002, more than 920,000 college scholarships and grants have been awarded to South Carolina’s students. In all, more than $2.8 BILLION has been appropriated to support educational programs in the Palmetto State through June 2012.

A hat tip to The Charleston Regional Business Journal for spotting this.

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