Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and state lawmakers may be banking long-term budget strategies on a revamped state lottery producing enhanced revenues.
But for now, sales from the existing California Lottery are sputtering compared to a year ago, the state lottery commission learned this week.
Lottery ticket sales, including Super Lotto Plus, Mega Millions, Fantasy 5 and scratcher games, dropped by 10 percent during the first four months of the fiscal year beginning July 1.
The $985 million in ticket sales represented a $105 million drop in sales compared with the same period last year.
Lottery officials blamed the economic downturn for the drop in sales and also cited the lack of big jackpots to inspire ticket purchases.
Three years ago, the state lottery joined in the Mega Millions game – a 12-state lottery game that in 2007 paid out a record single jackpot of $390 million.
But in the first part of the fiscal year, no state lottery game jackpots topped $100 million. The Mega Millions pot has topped $146 million for today's draw.
In recent months, "there were still big, big prizes, but not the type of jackpots that drive Lotto fever," said California Lottery spokesman Al Lundeen. "And Lotto fever is what drives sales."
Lundeen said lottery players have also been buying fewer tickets due to the economy.
Lottery officials, supported by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, are hoping to win voter approval to modernize the lottery and increase the percentage of winnings in an effort to inspire sales.
Under current state law, the lottery pays 50 percent of revenues to prizes, 16 percent for administration and 34 percent to public education.
Schwarzenegger and the Legislature plan to put a measure before voters next year to change the lottery formula in the belief that offering bigger prizes would produce more revenue – even with a smaller guaranteed funding percentage for schools.
The governor is also seeking voter approval to borrow against future lottery profits to balance the budget.
Lottery sales reached $3.6 billion in the 2005-06 fiscal year – when the Mega Millions game was introduced – but dropped to $3 billion last year.
Call Peter Hecht, Bee Capitol Bureau, (916) 326-5539.
What You Should Know About Comments on Sacbee.com
Sacbee.com is happy to provide a forum for reader interaction, discussion, feedback and reaction to our stories. However, we reserve the right to delete inappropriate comments or ban users who can't play nice. (See our full terms of service here.)
Here are some rules of the road:
• Keep your comments civil. Don't insult one another or the subjects of our articles. If you think a comment violates our guidelines click the "report abuse" button to notify the moderators. Responding to the comment will only encourage bad behavior.
• Don't use profanities, vulgarities or hate speech. This is a general interest news site. Sometimes, there are children present. Don't say anything in a way you wouldn't want your own child to hear.
• Do not attack other users; focus your comments on issues, not individuals.
• Stay on topic. Only post comments relevant to the article at hand. If you want to discuss an issue with a specific user, click on his profile name and send him a direct message.
• Do not copy and paste outside material into the comment box.
• Don't repeat the same comment over and over. We heard you the first time.
• Do not use the commenting system for advertising. That's spam and it isn't allowed.
• Don't use all capital letters. That's akin to yelling and not appreciated by the audience.
You should also know that The Sacramento Bee does not screen comments before they are posted. You are more likely to see inappropriate comments before our staff does, so we ask that you click the "report abuse" button to submit those comments for moderator review. You also may notify us via email at feedback@sacbee.com. Note the headline on which the comment is made and tell us the profile name of the user who made the comment. Remember, comment moderation is subjective. You may find some material objectionable that we won't and vice versa.
If you submit a comment, the user name of your account will appear along with it. Users cannot remove their own comments once they have submitted them, but you may ask our staff to retract one of your comments by sending an email to feedback@sacbee.com. Again, make sure you note the headline on which the comment is made and tell us your profile name.
About Comments
Reader comments on Sacbee.com are the opinions of the writer, not The Sacramento Bee. If you see an objectionable comment, click the "report abuse" button below it. We will delete comments containing inappropriate links, obscenities, hate speech, and personal attacks. Flagrant or repeat violators will be banned. See more about comments here.