The $731 million generated by the Illinois Lottery for K-12 public education in Illinois is more than $12 million higher than the previous year.

The Illinois Lottery paid more than $1.9 billion in prizes to winners across the state in FY19, generating $165 million in commissions and selling bonuses to more than 7,200 retailers in the process.

The Illinois Lottery also transferred $4 million for good causes, including Illinois veterans services, the fight against breast cancer, multiple sclerosis research, Special Olympics training programs, police memorials and assistance for people living with HIV/AIDS. 

Harold Mays, Illinois Lottery Acting Director, said, “The Illinois Lottery’s mission is to maximize revenue in an ethical and socially responsible manner to benefit schools, capital projects and specialty causes. 

“To that end, the Illinois Lottery has contributed more than $21 billion in revenue to help fund education in Illinois and hundreds of millions of dollars more for specialty causes and capital projects.” 

Camelot Illinois, a subsidiary of Camelot Lottery Solutions, is the private manager of the Illinois Lottery since 2018 and has a mission to maximize revenue to the State of Illinois in a socially responsible way. 

Wayne Pickup, CEO of Camelot Lottery Solutions, said, “Generating record funding for the State of Illinois’ Common School Fund is a fantastic achievement. 

“Our mission is to engage players, grow lotteries and benefit communities. When players are engaged lotteries grow and local communities benefit. 

“The record contribution for education funding in Illinois in FY19 is proof positive of that simple yet powerful strategy working. Congratulations to the Illinois Lottery.”

The Illinois Lottery generates more than $14 million each week to benefit schools, capital projects and speciality causes, and pays out more than $5 million in prizes every day.

Earlier this year, the Illinois Lottery completed the first iLottery conversion in the US. Digital base week sales are now up 10% and over 10,000 tickets are being scanned every day through its new app.