Lottery players also claimed over $1 billion in prizes and Lottery retailers earned $87 million in commission during the period.

“The Lottery exists to generate funding for the Common School Fund, as well as good causes and capital projects in Illinois. Given the challenges presented by 2020, I’m pleased to announce these returns to our players, retailers and the state of Illinois,” said Acting Lottery Director, Harold Mays.

“Illinois is full of winners, which now includes 27 more millionaires after those players won $1 million or more playing the Illinois Lottery in the first half of the fiscal year.”

During a challenging period for the retail sector, in-store Lottery sales and retailer commission increased 15% over the prior year. Boosting retailer commission during the period was the launch of new Lottery game Fast Play® and ongoing optimization of the Lottery’s instant ticket portfolio.

Mays added, “Helping to ensure the health and safety of players, retailers, staff, and business partners throughout has been absolutely paramount. The positive results through the first half of the year would be impossible without them.”

The Department of Lottery and Camelot Illinois, the private manager of the Illinois Lottery, laid the foundations for responsible lottery growth over recent years.

“Execution of the Lottery’s technology, product, and retail roadmap, along with a marketing strategy that quickly adapted to the realities of communicating in a Covid world has ensured the Lottery remains a resilient asset focused on responsibly maximizing revenue for the benefit of the state of Illinois,” said Camelot Illinois General Manager, Keith Horton.

More Illinois residents are now playing the Lottery online through IllinoisLottery.com and the Lottery’s mobile app, with digital sales more than doubling over the prior year.

“The value of having a strong web and mobile platform has been particularly evident over the past year,” Horton said. “A modern digital offering, which aims to bridge the digital-retail experience, will continue to be an important part of the Illinois Lottery brand.”

Camelot Illinois’ subcontractors and partners welcomed the half-year results.

“2020 was an extraordinarily challenging year for the retail sector and 2021 is continuing that theme. As the backbone of the Lottery, IRMA’s members value the partnership and the commissions they earn for promoting and selling Lottery in-store,” said Rob Karr, President of the Illinois Retail Merchants Association.

Working entirely through its retail network, and with instant ticket subcontractors Scientific Games and Pollard Banknote to optimize it’s ticket portfolio, the Lottery generated over $1 billion in instant ticket sales during the half-year.

“Scientific Games congratulates the Illinois Lottery on their outstanding results. We are honored to be the Lottery’s longtime instant games partner, providing strategic guidance and services to support it’s mission to maximize education funding,” said Charles Scannella, VP of Scientific Games Enhanced Partnership.

While celebrating the half-year performance, Horton acknowledges the ongoing challenges facing the Lottery.

“The market in which the Lottery operates has dramatically changed over the past few years, with expanded gaming opportunities across Illinois, the ongoing impacts of Covid-19 on retail foot traffic, and changing consumer patterns,” Horton said.

“We are confident, however, that with the efforts of our retailers, the strength of our technology, and an expansion of our game offerings, the Lottery will continue to be a stable source of funding for schools, good causes and the Capital Projects Fund.”

The 2021 Financial Year runs from July 1, 2020 to June 30, 2021. Full year proceeds to the state will be published later in the year. For more information, visit https://www.illinoislottery.com.

A copy of the Illinois Lottery’s FY21 half-year report is available upon request.