Story Published:
Jan 7, 2009 at 7:41 AM CST
Story Updated:
Jan 7, 2009 at 3:58 PM CST
JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- For the first time, Missouri Lottery sales for one year exceeded $1 billion in 2008. Lottery officials said Tuesday that the figure is 4 percent higher than 2007's total of $963 million.
Scratch-off tickets accounted for two-thirds of all lottery revenues in 2008, with sales up almost 8 percent over the previous year.
Lottery spokesman Gary Gonder said the $1 billion mark is "an
internal goal we've had for quite awhile." Now lottery officials
are shooting for the same milestone in the fiscal year that ends
June 30, which is how the Legislature assesses the lottery's annual
performance.
Gonder said the odds of that happening aren't good, citing a
16-percent drop in Powerball sales in the first half of the fiscal
year. Powerball is Missouri's second-most popular lottery game.
