The Tennessee Education Lottery Corporation has closed its fiscal year with a contribution of $386.7 million for all Lottery-funded education programs, bringing the total to nearly $4.2 billion since sales began Jan. 20, 2004. Sales of popular instant games were up 2.1 percent over the previous year, while the Lottery’s Tennessee-only draw-style games collectively were up 3.4 percent over last year.
The fiscal year, which covers the period from July 1, 2016 through June 30, 2017, ended with:
Highest sales for any June since inception at $135.6 million
Highest monthly education proceeds for any June since inception at $31.1 million
Highest fourth quarter sales since inception at $420 million
Highest fourth quarter proceeds for education at $95.6 million
“The Lottery continues to be a valuable source of funding for the nationally recognized education programs we help fund,” said Rebecca Hargrove, president and CEO of the Tennessee Lottery. “This year’s performance is great news for students and families, and I’m proud of our entire team.”
Gross ticket sales for the fiscal year were $1.61 billion, bringing the total since inception to more than $16.6 billion. During the same period, there were 25 winners of $1 million or more, including the “Tennessee 20” group of co-workers who won a $420.9 million Powerball jackpot Nov. 26, 2016, and a Knoxville player who won a Hot Lotto jackpot of $5.5 million on Aug. 10, 2016. Total prizes won since inception now total more than $11.5 billion, with 214 winning tickets sold worth $1 million or more.
Additionally, the Lottery’s network of more than 5,000 retailer partners has earned more than $1 billion in retailer commissions.