New Jersey Lottery announces audited fiscal year results, generating nearly $33.7B in revenue for state since inception

NEW JERSEY – The New Jersey Lottery Thursday announced audited Fiscal Year 2024 results. Sales totaled $3.63 billion, the fourth-highest sales result in the Lottery’s history.

This represents a 2.5 percent decrease compared with the previous year, sales have consistently exceeded $3 billion since FY2015. Consumers’ increasing range of entertainment options amid economic uncertainty in part affected the year’s results.

Lottery proceeds benefit the state pension fund. At $1.17 billion, FY2024 marks the seventh consecutive year the Lottery’s contribution has surpassed $1 billion, benefitting teachers, police officers and other public sector employees. Governor Phil Murphy’s administration has made state pension solvency a priority, contributing more than triple the total contributions made by the previous six administrations.

Lottery sales are dependent on various factors, including jackpot size. Notable game results this past year were:

• Powerball, which had sales of $369.2 million, a 19.7 percent increase compared with the previous year. Six Powerball jackpots were won across the U.S. during FY2024, three more than $1 billion dollars and one exceeded $800 million.
• Sales of Pick-6 with Double Play swelled to $80.1 million, a 23 percent increase over the prior year. Sales were aided by the largest jackpot in two decades.
• Fast Play Progressive sales of $63.29 million, rose 19.4 percent increase.
• Mega Millions sales of $259.14 million were down 11.7 percent from the previous year. However, they were up 99.4 percent from FY2022 to FY2023, so some decline was expected. While the game had seven jackpots won in FY2024, only one managed to pass the $1 billion mark, which peaks the interest of infrequent players.

“Fiscal Y2024 was a successful year for the New Jersey Lottery,” Lottery Executive Director James Carey said. “Coming off the historic series of 2023, we are pleased to be able to make another sizable contribution to the State pension fund and continue delivering a dynamic entertainment experience to consumers across New Jersey.”

New Jersey players took home $2.15 billion in prizes, a 3.26 percent decrease over the previous year. Prizes included more than 275 winnings of $100,000 or more, with 51 of those prizes being valued at $1 million or more. The big win was the $1.13 billion Mega Millions ticket, which was the fifth largest jackpot in game history.

Other winners include:

• A Million Dollar Replay Grand Prize winner.
• 15 second-tier Powerball jackpot winners of $1 million to $2 million.
• Nine second-tier Mega Millions winners of $1 million to $3 million.
• A $25.8 million Pick-6 prize and a $30 million Pick-6 prize split between two tickets.
• A $221 million Powerball win.

“We say that anything can happen in Jersey, because the New Jersey Lottery makes dreams come true, from the grandiose, $1.13 billion Mega Millions jackpot sold in Monmouth County to the 51 million dollar plus jackpots sold all over the state,” Carey said.

Other notable findings from the audit:

• The New Jersey Lottery plays a crucial role in the state’s economy, supporting about 6,700 businesses that thrive due to their partnership with the Lottery. In FY2024, retailers earned $214 million in commissions, a slight decrease of 2.75 percent versus the previous year. Additionally, retailers selling top tier winning tickets received bonuses totaling $3.02 million in FY24, an increase of $350,000 over FY23. The upturn was driven by the amount of top tier winners, the number of progressive jackpot winners and increases in promotion incentives. The Lottery’s retail partners, many of whom are small, locally owned businesses, are vital to its success.
• Northstar New Jersey Lottery Group, the Lottery’s sales and marketing vendor, met the performance targets that are used to calculate an incentive payment, earning $21,840,889. In Fiscal Year 2023, Northstar earned $28,342,083 in total incentive pay. In May 2019, the Department of Treasury and the Lottery entered into an amended service agreement with Northstar, so despite similar net income results, the incentive pay owed to Northstar decreased due to the structure of that agreement, with increased performance targets, which anticipates a decreasing incentive payment over time.