The Louisiana Lottery sees a slump in its contributions to the state treasury for the time spanning from the beginning of July through the end of December 2019. Lottery spokesperson Kim Chopin says during that time, nearly $42.4 million was transferred to the state treasury.

“While that is a lot of money, it’s about 13.2 million lower than what we transferred for the first half of last year,” said Chopin

Chopin says there is currently a rare, eight-month drought of multistate games rising into major jackpot territory, which has had an impact on ticket sales. Chopin believes some players are waiting until those jackpots hit a certain level before participating.

“We have not had a single MegaMillions or Powerball jackpot of the $400 million or more level and this will just show you the power of those big large jackpots,” said Chopin.

Chopin says the lack of excitement around big multistate jackpots has offset the uptick in scratch-off ticket sales, which are up about 3.7 percent.

“We have more control over that in terms of being able to create the kind of games that our players really like and create that excitement that comes from them like our games with the Saints and now we’ve got Mardi Gras tickets out that are doing really well,” said Chopin.

The Louisiana Lottery is required to transfer at least 35 percent of its revenue to the state, much of which is used toward education.

(Story written by Kevin Barnhart/Louisiana Radio Network)

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