The Arkansas Scholarship Lottery raised $99.7 million for college scholarships in the just completed fiscal year as the lottery's gross revenue reached $580.2 million.
The figures for fiscal year 2022, which ended June 30, are the second-largest amounts the lottery has reported in any fiscal year, trailing only fiscal 2021 when the lottery raised $106.6 million for college scholarships as its revenues totaled $632.5 million.
A year ago, lottery officials attributed fiscal 2021's record numbers in part to factors brought on by the covid-19 pandemic. They projected the lottery would raise $88.6 million for college scholarships with revenue reaching an estimated $509.2 million in fiscal 2022.
But the lottery beat its total revenue projections for fiscal 2022 by $71 million and for the amount raised by college scholarships by $11.1 million, lottery Chief Financial Officer Jerry Fetzer said Tuesday.
In fiscal 2022, the lottery's scratch-off ticket revenue dropped to $480.1 million from $529.3 million in fiscal 2021, according to the lottery's monthly report dated Monday to Gov. Asa Hutchinson and the Legislative Council's lottery oversight subcommittee.
On Tuesday, Lottery Gaming Director Mike Smith said fiscal 2021's record scratch-off ticket revenue were assisted by economic conditions, many of which were a result of the pandemic.
"We budgeted for a decline in scratch-off revenue and were quite competitive to finish with the second-highest scratch-off revenue fiscal year that remained within 10% versus [fiscal year] 2021's record year," he said in a written statement.
In fiscal 2022, the lottery's draw-game ticket revenue dipped to $99.4 million compared with $102.5 million in fiscal 2021, according to the lottery report. The lottery's draw games include Powerball, Mega Millions, Fast Play, Natural State Jackpot, Lucky for Life, Cash 3 and Cash 4.
Smith said the decline in draw-game ticket revenue was narrower in fiscal 2022 from fiscal 2021 than the drop in scratch-off ticket revenues because scratch-off ticket revenue "was more outsized during the pandemic versus draw game revenue."
Jackpot levels throughout a fiscal year play a major role in draw game revenues, he said.
Some changes made in fiscal 2022 that helped with draw game revenues included Powerball adding a third draw day each week, Lucky for Life moving to daily drawings and "we placed an emphasis on promoting draw games," Smith said.
In 2008, voters approved a constitutional amendment authorizing the Legislature to create the scholarship lottery. The lottery has been selling tickets since Sept. 28, 2009.
The lottery has helped finance Arkansas Academic Challenge Scholarships for more than 30,000 students during each of the past 11 fiscal years.
The lottery's leading proponent, then-Democratic Lt. Gov. Bill Halter, had projected it would raise about $100 million a year for college scholarships. At that time, the state Department of Finance and Administration had estimated about $55 million for college scholarships. Arkansas Advocates for Children and Families, a lottery foe, forecast about $61.5 million.
The lottery has been part of the state Department of Finance and Administration since February 2015 when Republican Gov. Asa Hutchinson signed into a law a measure that put his administration in charge of the lottery and abolished the independent nine-member Lottery Commission that controlled the lottery.
Eric Hagler, a former financial services lawyer, has served as the lottery's director since August 2020.
In January, Hagler said the lottery's greatest potential for growth during the next five years is the digital sales of tickets, but there is no specific timeline for the agency to launch an iLottery to sell tickets online. While it is unclear whether legislative approval is required, Hagler has said that the state Department of Finance and Administration and lottery officials would seek legislative authorization before launching iLottery.
Finance department spokesman Scott Hardin said Tuesday that the Arkansas Scholarship Lottery does not currently have plans to propose iLottery in the 2023 legislative session.
TOP SELLER
Among the lottery's nearly 2,000 retailers, the Winners Corner board game and lottery ticket seller in Little Rock sold the most lottery tickets for the second consecutive fiscal year in fiscal 2022, according to the lottery records.
The mobile app Jackpocket, which allows lottery players in Arkansas to buy draw-game tickets through their smart phones and collect their winnings without leaving home is available through the retailer, 6801 W. 12th St. in Little Rock. Jackpocket said the app company began operating in Arkansas in May 2020.
The lottery retailer sold $4.8 million in tickets in fiscal 2022, outdistancing the $2.8 million sold at the Wa Wa Mart store at 7515 Baseline Road in Little Rock and the $1.9 million sold at the Exxon One Stop store in Pine Bluff at 2901 W. 28th St., according to the lottery's records.
In fiscal 2021, the Winners Corner store sold the most tickets, with $2.9 million in sales, beating the $2.4 million sold at the Road Runner store in Bryant at 23190 Interstate 30 and the $2 million sold at the Exxon One Stop store in Pine Bluff, according to the lottery's records. Fiscal 2021 started July 1, 2020, and ended June 30, 2021.
In fiscal 2022, the Road Runner store in Bryant ranked fourth among the retailers in ticket sales at $1.8 million, the lottery's records show.
SCHOLARSHIP MONEY
The Arkansas Academic Challenge Scholarships are financed with the lottery's net proceeds plus $20 million a year in state general revenue.
In fiscal 2022, the state Division of Higher Education has awarded these scholarships to 28,716 students and disbursed $75.1 million, division spokeswoman Alisha Lewis said.
There are three rosters left to be paid for the Arkansas Academic Challenge Scholarship, she said, adding that a roster is a list of students that the universities and colleges have verified and "send to us for payment."
The division had forecast that it would hand out $90 million in scholarships to 31,200 students in fiscal 2022, after awarding about $86 million a year ago.
The amount handed out for the Academic Challenge Scholarships peaked at $132.9 million in fiscal 2013, with awards going to 33,353 students.
Scholarship totals have dropped largely because the Legislature cut the amount of initial scholarships several times.
The 2017 Legislature created the Workforce Challenge Scholarship to use excess proceeds to provide up to $800 per year for students enrolled in programs that lead to qualifications in high-demand occupations.
In fiscal 2022, the division has awarded these scholarships to 2,960 students and disbursed $605,694, Lewis said.
The division has forecast it would distribute $450,000 for these scholarships in fiscal 2022, compared with $487,865 in fiscal 2021.
The 2019 Legislature created the Concurrent Challenge program. High school juniors and seniors are eligible to receive the scholarships for a semester or an academic year in which they are enrolled in an endorsed concurrent course or certain programs.
For the Concurrent Challenge program, the division has awarded scholarships to 16,432 students and disbursed $2.7 million in fiscal 2022, Lewis said. For fiscal 2022, the division projected distributing $2.7 million in these scholarships to 13,000 students, compared with $2.4 million to 14,091 students in fiscal 2021.
JUNE SALES AT A GLANCE
The lottery's totaled revenue dropped in June to $45.6 million from $53.3 million in the same month a year ago.
The lottery's scratch-off ticket revenues slipped last month to $37.1 million from $45.8 million a year ago, while the lottery's draw-game ticket revenues rose to $8.3 million from $7.4 million a year ago.
Last month, the lottery's Powerball ticket revenue increased to $2.1 million from $1.6 million a year ago; the Natural State Jackpot revenue increased to $1.6 million from $945,482 a year ago; Mega Millions ticket revenue increased to $1.3 million from $1 million a year ago; and Fast Play ticket revenue dropped to $1.3 million from $1.7 million a year ago, according to the lottery's reports.
Over the past six months, lottery revenue has declined compared with figures during five of these months a year ago.
In January, Hagler told lawmakers that the next few months will be challenging for the lottery and "we do believe that we will see some cooling."
The rising cost of gasoline has also played a part in the lottery's slipping ticket revenue during the past several months.
The statewide average price of gasoline in Arkansas is $4.25 a gallon for regular unleaded fuel, the AAA reported Tuesday. That compares to $4.36 per gallon a week ago, $4.53 a gallon a month ago, and $2.85 a gallon a year ago. The highest record average price for regular unleaded in Arkansas was $4.54 on June 14, according to the AAA.
The amount raised by the lottery for college scholarships last month slipped to $14.3 million, compared with $15.1 million a year ago. At the end of each fiscal year, the balance of the state's unclaimed prize reserve fund minus $1 million is transferred to college scholarships under state law.