Lottery sales to hit $3 billion

Submitted by bniolet on February 23, 2009 - 4:29pm.
Tags: N.C. Lottery Commission | Tom Shaheen | Under the Dome

Sometime this week, the state lottery will make its three-billionth dollar.

Tickets first went on sale in March 2006 and total sales will reach $3 billion later this week, lottery director Tom Shaheen said.

Only four other states have hit that figure within three years, Shaheen said.

Scratch off tickets have been selling well since the legislature allowed the state lottery to increase the amount of money paid out through the games. Powerball sales ebb and flow with big jackpots.

Shaheen was at the legislature Monday to greet lawmakers and to remind them that the lottery doesn't cost the state money — all of its operating expenses are funded by sales — and that in March, the lottery will make another transfer to education programs. At that time, the lottery's total transfer to education will reach $1 billion.

You must be logged in to post a comment on this blog. If you already have an N&O online user account, click here to log in. Otherwise, click here to register (it's free!).

Re: Lottery sales to hit $3 billion

Submitted by Abumohhid on February 23, 2009 - 11:31pm.

Easy come and easy go; money earned through unethical means will not go far in the service of humanity.

» login to post comments

Re: Lottery sales to hit $3 billion

Submitted by beachbum474 on February 23, 2009 - 10:02pm.

Except that most people who buy lottery tickets also do their day to day shopping at big box retailers who are headquartered outside of North Carolina. Those big box stores suck money out of this state and offer only non-living wage jobs with few affordable bennefits to the majority of their employees. I can see your point if each of those dollars were spent at a locally owned business. Then certainly the money, including tax revenue, would stay right here in N.C. I think the dollars are better spent on the lottery. At least then they supposedly go to the education system (Ha!) thus reducing the amount of property tax I have to pay (ideally). Would be nice to see how much of the lottery revenue actually makes it into the education system.

» login to post comments

Re: Lottery sales to hit $3 billion

Submitted by orricl on February 23, 2009 - 5:50pm.

Using the economic development formula or multiplier that says for every dollar spent there is a return of $7 to the economy (or something along those lines), how much would $3 billion in spending generate for THE NC ECONOMY if that money had been spent on consumer goods and services instead of lottery tickets? And if that formula works, how much in tax revenue would the state and local governments have generated from that multi billion dollar shot to our economy? For every dollar spent by consumers on lottery tickets, that's a dollar less to spend with North Carolina businesses.

» login to post comments