Maryland Lottery Breaks the Bank With $1 Billion in Sales Revenue

The Maryland Lottery has seen an impressive growth in its lottery and casino sales revenue throughout 2015 — in fact, the state brought in a combined $1 billion for the 2015 fiscal year from both sources, which is a state record. And already, state officials are saying that 2016 is going to be even better.

WBAL TV reports that the Maryland Lottery and Gaming Control Agency recently released its figures from the past fiscal year. It brought in $525 million from lottery sales and $487 million from the state’s five casinos.

Since the 2014, the state increased its revenue by 19.1% and reached $1.762 billion this past fiscal year. According to state officials, it’s expected that lottery revenue will grow by about $38.5 million per year.

The Baltimore Sun writes that lottery sales are one of Maryland’s top sources of revenue, along with income, sales, and corporate taxes. Even when the state isn’t benefiting from the government’s 25% stake in lottery jackpot winnings, revenue from small games and lottery tickets is high enough that the state still brings in millions each year.

In fact, the Baltimore Business Journal reported that scratch-off ticket sales have been primarily responsible for the increase in revenue; instant ticket sales reached a high of $546 million in 2015, which is another record for the state’s lottery.

Another factor has been the opening of Maryland’s fifth casino, the Horseshoe Casino Baltimore, which opened in August 2014 and has brought in about $236 million in revenue so far.

According to the Baltimore Sun, a sixth casino will be opening next year, and this is expected to propel Maryland’s Lottery revenue even higher. The MGM National Harbor casino and resort is scheduled to open its doors sometime during the fall of 2016, and even though it will be too late to affect sales revenue for the 2015 fiscal year (which ends in June), the state has already begun to see thousands of new jobs as a result.