Pennsylvania Lottery Hits $1B Profit for 15th Straight Year
The Pennsylvania Lottery cleared $1 billion in profit for the fifteenth year running. The milestone covers the fiscal year that ended June 30, 2026. Growth across most of the product line got it there.
Total sales, scratch-offs and draw games combined, rose 3% to $4.44 billion. Under that headline sit two very different stories.
Draw games at retail were the standout. Up 12.7% to $1.3 billion. Jackpot churn did the work, with Powerball and Mega Millions driving the surge. Every lottery operator sees the same pattern when a big rollover run lands in the right quarter. Scratch-offs, the workhorse category, lost a little ground. Management called the dip part of an ongoing trend rather than a one-off. That's the honest read. Instant games have been slowly ceding share to digital for years.
Online sales hit $849 million. Watch that number. It isn't big enough yet to carry the portfolio, but it's growing while paper slips flatten, and operators across the country have their eyes on the crossover point.
Keno and Derby Cash Horse Racing were the soft spots, down 2% to $45.9 million combined. The lottery framed both as products fading organically as players migrate elsewhere in the offering. No rescue plan was announced.
Prizes paid on traditional games topped $3 billion, up 4% year on year. Retailers took $245.9 million in regular commissions plus $21.5 million in extra incentives. That's the quiet engine behind the whole machine. A network of small businesses pushing tickets is what keeps a state lottery's retail channel alive, and the incentive line is what keeps those clerks asking.
Executive Director Drew Svitko tied the result back to the mission. "Reaching another $1 billion-plus year for programs that benefit older Pennsylvanians is an achievement worth celebrating," he said, crediting players, retailer partners and staff. Secretary of Revenue Pat Browne framed it the same way, noting the Lottery's sole mandate is supporting older residents and that proceeds keep flowing into communities statewide.
For affiliates, the practical takeaway is online. An $849 million digital channel inside a $4.44 billion retail machine is still a minority slice. It's also the slice that's expanding while scratch-off sales slip. The number analysts will circle next year: does online finally cross $1 billion, and does draw-game momentum hold without a jackpot run to lean on.