Category: Arkansas Lottery

Arkansas Lottery Still Spends Most of Its Money On Prizes, Little On Scholarships: September Report

Financial reports released Monday show the Arkansas Lottery is still paying the state’s college scholarships pennies on the dollar, and that the lion’s share of the Lottery’s revenue is going to prizes awarded to lottery players.

In September only 19.5% of the Lottery’s revenue went to scholarships. Seventy percent went to prizes.

For perspective, the typical state lottery budgets approximately 25% – 30% of its revenue for education and about 60% for prizes.

The Arkansas Lottery could pay millions of dollars more to scholarships every year if it simply would reduce its prize budget and raise its scholarship budget. Unfortunately, the Lottery has shown little interest in doing that.

Below is a breakdown of lottery revenue, scholarships, and prizes for Fiscal Year 2022.

Scholarship Spending

Month	Gross Lottery Revenue	Paid to Scholarships	% Going to Scholarships
July	$47,591,757.56	$8,338,564.13	17.5%
August	50,243,929.03	6,786,603.75	13.5%
September	46,864,567.90	9,160,216.22	19.5%
Total	$144,700,254.49	$24,285,384.10	16.8%

Prize Spending

Month	Gross Lottery Revenue	Total Prizes	% Going to Prizes
July	$47,591,757.56	$33,228,956.66	69.8%
August	50,243,929.03	33,998,197.59	67.7%
September	46,864,567.90	32,794,810.04	70.0%
Total	$144,700,254.49	$100,021,964.29	69.1%

Photo Credit: Powerball and Mega Millions Lottery Billboard in Missouri by Tony Webster, on Flickr.

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State Lottery Still Paying Pennies on the Dollar to Scholarships: Financial Reports

Financial reports show that the Arkansas Lottery still is allocating a paltry amount for college scholarships.

Since the state’s new fiscal year started last July, only 15 – 16 cents out of every dollar the Arkansas Lottery made actually went to scholarships. However, nearly 69% of the Lottery’s revenue has gone to prizes for lottery players.

For perspective, the typical state lottery budgets approximately 25% – 30% of its revenue for education and about 60% for prizes.

The Arkansas Lottery could pay millions of dollars more to scholarships every year if it simply would reduce its prize budget and raise its scholarship budget. Unfortunately, the Lottery has shown little interest in doing that.

Below is a breakdown of lottery revenue, scholarships, and prizes for Fiscal Year 2022.

Scholarship Spending

Month	Gross Lottery Revenue	Paid to Scholarships	% Gross Revenue
July	$47,591,757.56	$8,338,564.13	17.5%
August	50,243,929.03	6,786,603.75	13.5%
Total	$97,835,686.59	$15,125,167.88	15.5%

Prize Spending

Month	Gross Lottery Revenue	Total Prizes	% Going to Prizes
July	$47,591,757.56	$33,228,956.66	69.8%
August	50,243,929.03	33,998,197.59	67.7%
Total	$97,835,686.59	$67,227,154.25	68.7%

Photo Credit: Powerball and Mega Millions Lottery Billboard in Missouri by Tony Webster, on Flickr.

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Lottery Spends Almost 70% of Revenue on Prizes in Fiscal Year 2021

In June the Arkansas Lottery wrapped up Fiscal Year 2021.

Reports released Monday indicate that, all told, nearly 70% of the Arkansas Lottery’s revenue went to prizes for lottery players in the past fiscal year. Seventeen percent went to college scholarships.

For perspective, the typical state lottery budgets approximately 25% – 30% of its revenue for education and about 60% for prizes.

The Arkansas Lottery grossed nearly $632.6 million in fiscal year 2021. Of that money, $106.6 million went to scholarships. $440.1 million went to prizes.

The Arkansas Lottery managed to allocate more than $100 million for scholarships for the first time in its 12 year history. However, it was only able to do that by tapping into more than $8 million in unclaimed prize money.

The Arkansas Lottery could pay millions of dollars more to scholarships every year if it simply would reduce its prize budget and raise its scholarship budget. Unfortunately, the Lottery has shown little interest in doing that.

Below is a breakdown of lottery revenue, scholarships, and prizes for Fiscal Year 2021 (July 1, 2020 – June 30, 2021).

Scholarship Spending

Month	Gross Lottery Revenue	Paid to Scholarships	% Gross Revenue
July, 2020	$49,780,369.99	$8,592,573.93	17.3%
August	49,672,105.04	7,862,917.44	15.8%
September	47,501,224.72	7,691,576.99	16.2%
October	42,615,839.96	8,447,337.00	19.8%
November	43,115,514.84	8,207,598.88	19.0%
December	50,329,644.30	5,970,922.53	11.9%
January, 2021	62,994,737.27	10,913,192.32	17.3%
February	42,099,444.22	5,592,370.95	13.3%
March	67,975,057.80	8,341,917.38	12.3%
April	65,520,420.72	12,299,938.64	18.8%
May	57,605,418.67	7,588,364.37	13.2%
June	53,370,041.16	15,100,729.47	28.3%
Total	$632,579,818.69	$106,609,439.90	16.9%

Prize Spending

Month	Gross Lottery Revenue	Total Prizes	% Going to Prizes
July, 2020	49,780,369.99	35,641,717.48	71.6%
August	49,672,105.04	35,023,856.83	70.5%
September	47,501,224.72	33,422,556.14	70.4%
October	42,615,839.96	29,995,072.50	70.4%
November	43,115,514.84	30,548,473.72	70.9%
December	50,329,644.30	33,661,170.75	66.9%
January, 2021	62,994,737.27	41,745,065.17	66.3%
February	42,099,444.22	27,955,512.19	66.4%
March	67,975,057.80	47,945,090.78	70.5%
April	65,520,420.72	46,040,694.02	70.3%
May	57,605,418.67	40,336,944.48	70.0%
June	53,370,041.16	37,830,320.48	70.9%
Total	632,579,818.69	440,146,474.54	69.6%

Photo Credit: Powerball and Mega Millions Lottery Billboard in Missouri by Tony Webster, on Flickr.

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