Gamblers hoping to get lucky this year led to record-breaking sales at New Jersey Lottery
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The New Jersey Lottery had its best ever year of ticket sales in fiscal year 2021 — $3.6 billion, an increase of nearly 15% over the previous year, which included the early months of the coronavirus pandemic.
Lottery officials said $1.08 billion had been turned over to the state as of June 30, the final day of the fiscal year.
Officials attributed the surge in sales to two factors — COVID-19 shutdowns and the ability to now buy tickets online through a pair of approved courier companies.
“Lottery sales were boosted because consumers had fewer options for entertainment spending during the COVID-19 pandemic,” the New Jersey Lottery said in a statement. “The lottery offered players an inexpensive and convenient form of entertainment and could be purchased when consumers were out buying necessities.”
Tickets can now be bought through the Jackpocket app and via Lotto.com.
Scratch-off games still dominate lottery sales — more than $2 million of the instant tickets were sold in fiscal year 2021. Two daily draw games — Pick-3 and Pick-4 accounted for another $743 million in ticket sales. Meanwhile, Jersey Cash 5 ticket sales climbed 35%. The two games with by far the largest prizes — the twice-weekly national Mega Millions and Powerball drawings — lagged well behind, accounting for $213 million and $175 million in sales respectively.
The minimum Powerball and Mega Millions jackpots were reduced to $20 million from $40 million during the beginning of the pandemic in the spring of 2020.
Players won about $2 billion prizes during the fiscal year — July 1, 2020 to June 30, 2021.
In the most recent pre-pandemic year — fiscal year 2019 — lottery sales totaled about $3.4 billion, according to that year’s annual report .
The largest prize won in New Jersey in fiscal year 2021 was captured by someone who bought a Powerball ticket at QuickChek in Cedar Knolls and won the $33.2 million jackpot on Jan. 29.
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Jeff Goldman may be reached at jeff_goldman@njadvancemedia.com.
