CHARLESTON, W.Va. — State Lottery revenues passed the $1 billion mark in sales for the current fiscal year in December, according to revenue numbers released Wednesday by the West Virginia Lottery.
Overall sales during the first month of the fiscal year have topped $530 million, exceeding estimates by approximately $40 million. It’s not unusual for the Lottery to have very conservative revenue collection estimates.
The numbers show that both Racetrack Video Lottery and Limited Video Lottery are outpacing fiscal year estimates. RVL is up $20 million with six month totals at $245.7 million while LVL is up $26 million at $196.8 in sales for the fiscal year.
What makes the sales numbers even more impressive is online games have missed estimates by some $27 million due to the lack of large jackpots for Powerball and Mega Millions which drive up sales numbers.
Sports betting continues to bring in modest revenue numbers for the state. The 10 percent privilege tax has brought in $1.4 million in the first half of the budget year.
The Lottery topped $1 billion in sales for the 17th consecutive year last fiscal year.