Online lottery sales in Massachusetts have now been made legal by Governor Maura Healey, while the Massachusetts State Lottery reported a fiscal year 2024 net profit of $1.16bn, only trailing the $1.19bn record set during FY 2023.
Massachusetts Governor Maura Healey signed the fiscal year 2025 state budget on July 29 that included language legalizing online lottery sales in the state. Revenue from online lottery sales will support a grant program for early childhood education and care.
“We thank Governor Healey for her support of online lottery and approving it in the final FY25 budget. This will allow the Lottery to keep pace with its competition and reach newer audiences,” Massachusetts Treasurer and Lottery Commission Chairwoman Deborah Goldberg said.
“We are prepared to implement a safe and reliable iLottery that will produce significant resources for critical childcare services, which are so desperately needed across the state.”
The Commission will be conducting a “Request for Response” to procure services for the operation of an online lottery. Lottery officials anticipate launching its online platform in approximately 16 months.
Since selling its first ticket in 1972, the Massachusetts Lottery has generated over $155bn in revenues and returned over $33bn in net profit to the state for unrestricted local aid provided to cities and towns.
“I am proud of our team’s performance as we faced mounting challenges in the marketplace. Thank you to our retail partners and our customers for their continued support of our mission,” Goldberg said about the FY 2024 performance.
“Because of everyone’s efforts, we are able to provide critical local aid to all 351 communities throughout the state.”
The Lottery set a record by paying out an estimated $4.53bn in prizes during FY 2024, surpassing the previous high of $4.48bn paid out in the comparable period. An estimated 73.4% of all revenue was returned to players for the fiscal year 2024.