The practice of dividing property by lot is as old as the Bible, which commands Moses to take a census of the people of Israel and divide the land by lot. Ancient Roman emperors used lotteries to distribute property and slaves to people. The ancient Greek word apophoreta, which means “that which is carried home,” evoked the excitement of playing the lottery during dinner. In New York, the lottery generated the largest cumulative sales of any state lottery. In Louisiana, sales were lowest of any state lottery.
Massachusetts has the highest percentage return to any state government from a lottery
One of the most notable facts about the Massachusetts Lottery is that it has one of the highest prize payout ratios of any state government in the country. This fact is especially notable because the state has a large proportion of low-income residents and the percentage of prize money that goes to local governments has consistently increased over the past six years. That is because residents in Massachusetts spend more on the lottery than residents in any other state.
The Massachusetts Lottery announced last week that they had a record-high profit and revenue for fiscal year 2016. Compared to fiscal year 2015, the lottery increased its profitability by about $1 million, and revenue increased by 4.3%. Still, if the state had set the goal of a ten-fold increase in sales, it would have earned $1.028 billion, or $41.1 million more than it actually did.
Louisiana has the lowest sales of any lottery
While state lotteries can be lucrative for states, they are also under scrutiny by legislators and activists who are trying to curtail their use. Louisiana’s Treasurer John Kennedy recently claimed that the Jindal administration is considering selling the lottery. Similar discussions have recently taken place in Oregon. Despite the claims, the Jindal administration has refused to sell the lottery. But that doesn’t mean that there’s no future for the lottery in Louisiana.
The state’s lottery was first sold in 1868 and began as a private company. In return for selling tickets, the lottery promised to donate $40,000 a year to the Charity Hospital in New Orleans. It was then sold nationwide, making it the largest lottery in the country. But after corruption charges surfaced, the lottery was moved to Honduras. The lottery ended 22 years later. The Louisiana Lottery has been closed since then, but the state is still home to two major lottery companies.