(LEX 18)– The near-world record Mega Millions jackpot run – in tandem with a Powerball jackpot run that rose to more than $680 million – led to the most successful sales month in the nearly 30-year history of the Kentucky Lottery.
Overall sales for the month were $115.5 million, which is $33.2 million more than budgeted. This shatters the previous record sales month from January 2016, when a world-record Powerball jackpot of $1.6 billion led to sales of $105.1 million.
This in turn led to $34.4 million in monthly net income to the Commonwealth for the month, again a record. This surpasses the previous record, also set in January 2016 by $1.8 million.
Kentucky players hoping to win the $1.5 billion jackpot awarded in October spent $21.2 million on Mega Millions tickets alone. This exceeded the $3.8 million October budgeted sales for the game by $17.4 million. Powerball ticket sales for the month were $13.3 million, which exceeded the budgeted sales for the game in October by $7 million.
Lottery Scratch-off tickets also posted a solid month, realizing $55.1 million in sales. That’s $9.3 million higher than budgeted.
The Lottery’s online sales portal also saw its highest sales level in the site’s history, driven in part by the number of players going there for Mega Millions and Powerball tickets. Instant Play games online realized $1.5 million in sales, beating the old record by $300,000.
