ALBUQUERQUE – The New Mexico Lottery board of directors today approved a revised budget that forecasts higher sales and revenue for Fiscal Year 2014, which ends June 30.
Under the revised budget, ticket sales are forecast at $135.3 million, up from an original projection of $131.4 million. The scholarship revenue forecast has been increased from $39.4 million to $40.6 million.
“Chances are good that we will enjoy one or two more jackpot runs in Powerball® and Mega Millions® before our fiscal year ends,” said Board Chair Dan Salzwedel. “Bigger jackpots stimulate sales, which always brings good fortune to college students counting on Legislative Lottery Scholarships.”
Salzwedel added that in the past three months, New Mexico Lottery CEO David Barden has identified and begun to carry out a number of ways the lottery can begin to quickly improve player awareness. They include:
- Buying electronic jackpot signs for 400 stores that currently do not have signs that update automatically;
- Creating a launch schedule so that Scratcher™ players know that three to four new games will always be in stores on the first Tuesday of every month;
- Creating dispenser templates to help stores stock Scratcher games for higher visibility;
- Developing a three-year retailer recruitment campaign with a goal of adding 100 new stores a year.
During the board meeting, CEO Barden announced that daily Scratcher sales on March 3 were approximately $275,400, their highest sales day in Fiscal Year 2014.
Legislative Lottery Scholarships
The sale of all New Mexico Lottery games funds a college tuition-assistance program. Since its inception in 1996, the New Mexico Lottery has raised $596.5 million for education and more than 90,000 students have attended college on Legislative Lottery Scholarships. More than 43,300 students have already earned their college degrees. More information about Legislative Lottery Scholarships is available at www.nmlottery.com.
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