State lottery revenues on record-setting pace

BOSTON -- The state lottery is on pace to net nearly $1 billion this year, after state officials doubled the agency's advertising budget from the year before.

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In 2003, its best year ever, the Massachusetts State Lottery recorded $912 million in profits, director Joseph Sullivan told the Boston Herald.

Through the first quarter of fiscal 2004, which ended Oct. 2, the Lottery was ahead of that pace by 5.4 percent. If that trend continues, the agency would net $961 million this year. That money is funneled back to cities and towns in the form of local aid.

The Legislature and Gov. Mitt Romney approved a plan to double the agency's advertising budget, from $5 million in 2003 to $10 million this year, and the move appears to be paying off, Sullivan said.

The campaign included television ads encouraging people to buy Mega Millions tickets, which are sold in a dozen states including Massachusetts.

In September, the Lottery also retired its 17-year-old Mass Millions game because of slumping sales, and replaced it with a new game, CASH WinFall.

"Sales on that game have been very strong," Sullivan said.

The Herald reported that Salisbury leads Massachusetts communities in per-capita lottery ticket sales. The town saw per-capita sales of $3,643.86 through Nov. 2, far ahead of second-ranked Tyngsboro at $1,710.47.

Much of that can be attributed to New Hampshire residents coming across the state line to buy tickets in the border town, said Denise Houde, owner of Denise's, a general store in Salisbury. She said lottery sales help her business to stay afloat during the winter, when the beach resort is otherwise quiet.

In fact, four of the top 10 lottery towns share a border with another state, including Tyngsboro, Sandisfield (No. 8) and Methuen (No. 10).

"People talk about Massachusetts dollars going to Connecticut in terms of the casino destinations," Sullivan said. "I would argue that Massachusetts in turn generates a lot of money from out of state through the Lottery."

Sullivan said there's still work to be done to improve the Lottery. Officials are currently retooling Keno, the only segment to show a drop in sales, which he attributed to indoor smoking bans.