It seems that the New York Lottery is becoming larger. Reportedly, Mega Millions jackpots helped it surpass the $10-billion mark in sales in 2018, making this a new state record for New York which has already been known for having the largest lottery in the country.
The last few years have seen the growth of both Mega Millions and Powerball boost the revenue of the state’s Lottery system. According to the state Gaming Commission’s records, the combined 2018 sales of the state’s lottery games and ten gambling halls which host so-called video-lottery terminals rose by 3.3% from 2017, reaching a total of $10.2 billion. This is also a 12% increase since the result reported in 2015.
Records have shown that Mega Millions sales almost doubled in 2018 in comparison to the ones in 2017 thanks to the massive interest in the record $1.5-billion drawing which took place in October 2018. In total, Mega Millions sales in the state of New York hit $512 million, while in 2017 they amounted to $260 million.
A certain portion of the lottery revenue generated by the state of New York was contributed to education programs. The state dedicated 3.4 billion as a contribution to schools in the 2017/18 fiscal year as part of the monetary aid it prepared for education.
New York State Has a Highly Competitive Gaming Marketplace
Not all lottery sales in New York experienced an increase in 2018. Powerball sales registered a 9.5% decline, despite the fact that the overall New York’s lottery games increased by 3.5% year-on-year. For the time being, the above-mentioned video-lottery terminals situated at local racetracks are operated by Powerball. They also marked an overall growth last year.
Some of the state racinos, however, did not have such success in 2018, as the fierce competition of new upstate casinos hurt some tracks’ video lottery terminal revenues. After seeing a massive 41% revenue decline at its Monticello Raceway property, Empire Resorts revealed that it plans to close the gambling hall in April 2019 but still, it has decided to keep the horse racing services. The revenue decline at Monticello Raceway occurred after the site’s owner opened its $1-billion Resorts World Catskills a year ago.
The Saratoga Casino Hotel also saw a net win decline of 8% as it faced the strong competition of the Rivers Casino nearby. The so-called “net win” is the amount of money left in the machines after players are paid their winnings.
The Farmington-based Finger Lakes Gaming & Racetrack saw a 3% net win decline. The loss, amounting to about $3.3 million, was believed to be due to the strong competition of del Lago Resort & Casino situated in close proximity. According to a statement released by the track spokesman Steve Martin, the decline is believed to be illustrating a highly-competitive gambling sector in the western part of the New York state.
A number of facilities which host video-lottery terminals across the state were lucky to overcome their competition.
Batavia Downs’ racino reported a 6.7% growth in 2018 compared to the previous year. According to the facility’s owners, the success was mainly due to some unique events held by the racino, such as outdoor concert series and the launch of some special promotions.
