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South Dakota sees record spending, revenue from gambling and lottery

Jordyn Henderson
/
SDPB

South Dakota broke records when people bet more than $1.4 billion in Deadwood and spent more than $1 billion on lotteries last year.

People have been wagering between $1 million and $1.2 million in Deadwood since 2007.

But the bets jumped to $1.4 million during Fiscal Year 2021, which ran from July 2020 through June 2021.

The wagers increased 24.2% compared to the previous year, when Deadwood casinos shut down for 44 days due to the pandemic.

That's the largest increase since Fiscal Year 1991, the first full-year of gambling after Deadwood opened its casinos in Nov. 1989.

Gamblers also won and lost the most money ever. They took home $1.3 billion while losing $133 million.

Gambling brought in a record $133 million for the casinos which gave $21.6 million to the Commission on Gaming. The Commission then distributed $16.7 million to schools and state and local governments. Most of that money — $7.9 million — went to the City of Deadwood.

The remaining $4.9 million given to the Commission will be distributed in Fiscal Year 2022.

South Dakota Department of Revenue
Lottery sales and revenue from Fiscal Year 2021

Meanwhile, people spent spent $1.1 billion on lottery games and took home $786 million last year.

Nearly all of the money — $1 billion of it — was spent on video lotteries. The rest came from lottery and instant tickets.

South Dakotans spent $859.6 million and took home $602.9 million on the lottery during the previous fiscal year.

Last year's lottery industry generated $161.9 million for the state.

Most of the money — $156.5 million — goes to public schools. The remainder pays for rural water systems, drinking water, wastewater and services related to gambling addictions.

Arielle Zionts, rural health care correspondent, is based in South Dakota. She primarily covers South Dakota and its neighboring states and tribal nations. Arielle previously worked at South Dakota Public Broadcasting, where she reported on business and economic development.