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Weather, Small Jackpots Affecting SD Lottery Revenues

South Dakota Lottery is expecting decreased revenues this fiscal year. Officials say both traditional lottery games like scratch tickets and lotto ball games are down. But there are a few reasons people aren’t buying as many lottery tickets as expected.

Norm Lingle is the executive director of South Dakota Lottery. He says winter weather has contributed to fewer lottery ticket purchases, but hopes that will change with warmer temps. In multistate lotto ball games, Lingle says the biggest draw to play is the jackpot size.

“Jackpots are being won at lower levels, which consequently causes you to have to start over those jackpot runs. It’s just like anything; the game is performing exactly as we had projected. Unfortunately, the bigger jackpots occurred last fiscal year instead of being more evenly spaced out. It’s just the way the game operates and the way the chances of winning happen,” Lingle says.

Lingle says it’s the smaller jackpots that are leading to fewer purchases. He says the holiday season is usually the biggest increase in lottery ticket sales, but was affected by how late Thanksgiving was.