The Pennsylvania Lottery topped $1 billion in profit in 2024-25 but saw its profit drop by more than $130 million compared to the prior year.

It was the 14th straight year the Lottery’s profit has exceeded $1 billion.

The Lottery has been required by law to generate 20% profit. The 2024-25 sales generated 23.3% profit, down from 24% in the prior year.

The Lottery saw decreased revenue among all its games, though the biggest drop came from draw games, including Powerball and Mega Millions.

The draw games generated over $1.1 billion last fiscal year, but that was $292 million less than in 2023-24. Lottery officials blamed the 20% drop on the lack of many sales-driving massive jackpots in 2023-24.

“Multi-state games like Powerball and Mega Millions didn’t produce the kind of large, headline-grabbing jackpots this past year that typically drive spikes in sales. That’s been a factor nationwide,” said Lottery spokeswoman Ewa Swope.

There is one such crowd-drawing jackpot in play right now — the Powerball top prize stands at $1.4 billion. If a player wins Wednesday’s jackpot, it will rank as the fifth-largest Powerball jackpot and ninth-largest U.S. lottery jackpot.

The last time someone won the Powerball jackpot was May 31, when a player in California won $204.5 million. Since then, the recent jackpot run has generated more than $89 million in sales in Pennsylvania, creating a profit of more than $35 million. Lottery profits fund senior programs — such as property tax and rent rebates, free and reduced-fare transportation and prescription assistance.

The last time a Pennsylvania player won the Powerball top prize was Aug. 12, 2024.

Profit from the sale of scratch off tickets was also down, but not as dramatically.

Players bought almost $3 billion worth of scratch-offs last fiscal year, but that was down $191 million compared to the prior year.

Scratch-off sales account for more than two-thirds of Lottery sales. Officials said the drop in scratch-off sales mirrors national trends, coupled with challenges from increased competition from other types of gaming.

Other games

The Lottery’s online instant play games generated $831 million in sales, down 15% from the prior year. Online draw games generated just under

$50 million in sales, a 20% drop.

Sales from monitor-based games, such as Keno and Derby Cash Horse Racing, generated $47 million, down 5.6% from the prior year.

New law changes profit mandate

Gov. Josh Shapiro signed Act 37 in July, which lowers the profit mandate to 10%. Lottery officials sought the change, arguing that without having to meet the percentage profit target, they can offer bigger prizes that will translate into more sales and more total profit.

The Department of Revenue has estimated that the move will allow the Lottery to generate an extra $35 million this fiscal year. Dropping the profit margin requirement will translate into another $139 million in revenue in 2029-2030.