Lottery sales were up more than 50%, from $2.1 billion in Fiscal Year ’20 to $3.3 billion in Fiscal Year ’21.

The popularity of online lottery games was responsible for a large share of the increase, Hall said, and so was the lack of competition when the pandemic shut down other forms of gambling. Due to the increase in sales, Virginia Lottery’s profits surged nearly 30 percent, breaking $765 million.

“So for a consumer that chooses to engage in gaming we were about the only game in town,” Hall said. Virginia Lottery Board Chairman Ferhan Hamid praised the results and the work of lottery employees.

“These are incredible numbers,” Hamid said during the meeting. “And to do it in a time when people were working from home and there’s a pandemic, and then coming back to the office is really, is really remarkable.”