A good year for the Michigan Lottery

Strong player support pushed sales of Michigan Lottery tickets to a record of nearly $2.6 billion in the 2014 fiscal year, the 10th straight year of $2 billion-plus sales. Lottery officials say sales this year eclipsed by 4.8 percent the previous record of just under $2.48 billion set in 2013. The record sales were due primarily to a 10.5 percent increase in instant games, the Lottery’s top-selling category of games. Instant game sales were bolstered by the introduction of the Lottery’s first $30 instant game, $2,000,000 CA$H, in February.  The record sales also led to record commissions for the Lottery’s nearly 11,000 retailers. Retailer commissions totaled $188.6 million, a 5.7 percent increase from the previous record of $178.4 million set in 2013. Prizes awarded to players also set a new record, $1.59 billion, a 6.5 percent increase from the previous record of $1.49 billion set in 2013. Lottery officials say nearly a fifth of the $100 million increase in total prizes awarded to players came from a July Daily 4 drawing when 1-1-1-1 was drawn for the first time in more than nine years. About 3,700 Daily 4 players each won a top prize of $5,000 for a total of some $18.4 million. The number of winners and the prize total for the drawing were both nearly 25 times that of a typical Daily 4 drawing. Officials say the Lottery also contributed almost $743 million to the state School Aid Fund in the 2014 fiscal year, which ended on September 30. That was 1.2 percent higher than the 2013 contribution of just over $734 million.  (MRN)