The Kentucky Lottery has posted sales and cash transfers results breaking previous all-time records from the Corporation’s 33-year history.

The announcement was made at Friday’s meeting of the Kentucky Lottery board of directors. These FY22 numbers cover the period from July 2021 through June 2022: 

Total sales of $1,676,502,000. This is a 5.7% increase from the previous year, with $90.2 million in additional sales over FY21.

Total cash transfers to the Commonwealth were $360.8 million. This is $6.0 million or 1.7% more than last year.

 Lottery transfers to the Commonwealth fund a variety of college scholarship and grant programs, including the popular KEES scholarship.

These increased sales meant more prizes were awarded in FY22 than in any other period of the Kentucky Lottery’s history. Players won $1,152,007,000 for the year, an $84.6 million (7.9%) increase from the previous year.

 Scratch-off tickets once again were the largest individual game category, finishing the year at $963.5 million. This is a $1.8 million or 0.2% increase from the previous year.

The largest percentage growth category for the year was realized by the Lottery’s Instant Play games. The category has seen steady growth over the past six years since it was launched, particularly in the last two years. Sales of Instant Play games finished FY22 at $226.1 million, an increase of $107.4 million or 90.6%. All Internet sales for the year comprised 15% of total Kentucky Lottery sales.

Mary Harville, who was appointed in September 2020 as the first woman president and CEO in the Kentucky Lottery’s history and is the first Kentuckian to hold the job in three decades, believes a simple combination has led to these record-breaking results. “To me, it’s about great games, fun and integrity,” she said. “We’re delivering fun games which players are clearly enjoying, and we’re doing it with a level of integrity players and decision-makers in the state expect.”

“Players clearly play for fun and to win great prizes,” Harville said. “But if they don’t win, they know the funds we generate go straight back to the Commonwealth to pay for college scholarship and grant programs, including every dime of the popular KEES scholarship ever awarded. One in five Kentuckians has now received a college scholarship or grant that was paid for directly when someone bought a Kentucky Lottery ticket, and I think the public appreciates knowing how these proceeds directly benefit people in their communities. So that means not only do players and retailers win thanks to the Kentucky Lottery, but our best, brightest and most-deserving students do as well.”