SACRAMENTO, August 4, 2005 – With more prizes and more winners than ever before, the California State Lottery broke a 20-year record by posting $3.33 billion in sales for fiscal year 2004-2005. Additionally, the California State Lottery will transfer $1.17 billion to California’s public education, making this the fifth consecutive year to transfer more than $1 billion.
The highly popular Scratchers® games brought in more than half of all ticket sales revenue at more than $1.73 billion, an increase of $400,000,000! SuperLOTTO Plus and MEGA Millions generated $1.11 billion, while Fantasy 5, Daily 3, Hot Spot and Daily Derby brought in $487 million. The new MEGA Millions game, introduced during the last two weeks of the fiscal year, was a hit with players and broke the first day ticket sales record by bringing in $2.4 million.
“The California State Lottery awarded more prizes, more often and players responded in droves,” said Chon Gutierrez, Acting Director of the California State Lottery. “We shattered sales records and had the best year ever in the California State Lottery’s 20-year history. By implementing some of the industry’s best practices, the Lottery team was able to offer our players more chances to win and more reasons to play.”
With an unprecedented $1.79 billion in prizes paid out, more Lottery players felt the excitement and shared in the winning experience. Twenty-eight players in California became millionaires, earning $516,000,000 from SuperLOTTO Plus jackpots and “The Big Spin” show. The Lottery also awarded a SuperLOTTO Plus jackpot of $100 million shared by four winners!
The Lottery released several exciting Scratchers tickets. The very popular $3 Scratchers tickets – newly released Crossword and the player’s favorite Bingo continued to be crowd pleasers and contributed to the best sales year ever. On May 19, 2005 the Lottery was the first in the nation to release collectible Star Wars Scratchers, in conjunction with the arrival of the most anticipated theatrical release in history, Star Wars: Episode III Revenge of the Sith. The $5 tickets continued to be highly requested by our players.
“We love to see the insanely long lines for Scratchers and lotto tickets. The Lottery’s done a fantastic job of coming out with new games that get my customers’ attention and bring them into my store,” said Frank Kumamoto, owner of Bluebird Liquor in Hawthorne. “The Lottery’s $5 ticket is clearly the most popular with our players because it offers more prizes. We just can’t keep it in stock!”
The sales force behind this record-breaking year was the more than 18,000 hard working retailers throughout California.
“Our customers love to play Scratchers and go absolutely crazy when the Super LOTTO Plus and MEGA Millions jackpots reach new heights. The Lottery continues to add more fun and excitement to the games and that gives my customers another reason to come in again and again,” said Michelle Czekaia, Store Manager for Gold Ranch Lottery in Floriston.
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