Statewide, Iowa — Iowa Lottery CEO, Matt Strawn, says the fiscal year ended Thursday on a very good note.
Strawn told the Lottery Board this completes the most successful two years of sales in the 37-year history of the Iowa Lottery — with only two years in which total lottery sales have surpassed 430 million dollars.
He says things started to slow near the end of the fiscal year.
Scratch tickets make up two-thirds of the Lottery’s revenue and May scratch ticket sales were down 17-point-five percent compared to the previous May. Strawn says that closely coincides with rising gas prices.
He showed the Lottery Board a chart comparing gas price increases and the drop in scratch ticket sales.
Strawn says a June survey in Convenience Store News shows 53 percent of convenience retailers surveyed expect sales to be lower this summer compared to last summer. Strawn says this is a note of caution that the Iowa Lottery will continue to face a challenging economic environment in the new fiscal year.
