Illinois Lottery Celebrates First-Ever Lottery Week
CHICAGO – The Illinois Lottery is joining lotteries across North America this week to celebrate Lottery Week.
Created by the National Association of State and Provincial Lotteries, Lottery Week is a celebration of lotteries across the United States and Canada, in acknowledgement of their collective contributions to the communities they serve. July 17 is officially “National Lottery Day” across the nation.
Lottery proceeds fund different programs according to each jurisdiction’s guidelines and are dedicated to a variety of important causes. In Illinois, lottery proceeds have been used to help fund education since 1985. In Fiscal Year 2018, the latest year audited financial data is available, the Illinois Lottery transferred a record $719 million to the state’s Common School Fund.
“In addition to providing fun games, the Illinois Lottery has contributed more than $20 billion in revenue to the State of Illinois since 1985, the majority of which goes to fund schools across Illinois,” Illinois Lottery Acting Director Harold Mays said. “Our ambition is simple: create meaningful returns to the State and make Illinoisans proud of the Lottery.”
In addition to its education funding efforts, the Illinois Lottery also supports capital projects and specialty causes in Illinois. The Illinois Lottery has contributed more than $450 million to capital projects in Illinois and more than $50 million to special causes, such as Illinois veterans’ assistance, breast cancer awareness, HIV/AIDS awareness, multiple sclerosis research, Special Olympics training programs and police memorial funding.
The Illinois Lottery also supports local businesses throughout Illinois. In Fiscal Year 2018, the more than 7,200 Illinois Lottery retailers earned $165 million in commissions and selling bonuses. The Lottery also paid out nearly $2 billion in prizes to players.
“We are tremendously proud that the Illinois Lottery guarantees good every day,” said Colin Hadden, General Manager of Camelot Illinois, which serves at the Lottery’s private manager. “We want the people of Illinois to realize they are part of something bigger and that every time they play the Lottery for themselves, they’re playing for someone else, too.”
With annual ticket sales of approximately $3 billion, the Illinois Lottery is one of the State’s top five revenue sources, according to the Illinois Commission on Government Forecasting and Accountability. In Fiscal Year 2018, 54% of the state’s gaming revenue came from the Illinois Lottery.
Last year, U.S. lotteries generated $23.4 billion for good causes and transferred $4.8 billion to their retailer partners. As much as 96% of funds generated from traditional U.S. lottery games goes directly back into the economy through prizes, public beneficiaries and retailer commissions.
To celebrate Lottery Week, the Illinois Lottery will share a series of announcements, facts and stories on social media to highlight the positive impacts it makes to communities across Illinois.
For more information, please visit illinoislottery.com.
Founded in 1974, the Illinois Lottery has contributed over $20 billion (since 1985) to the state’s Common School Fund to assist K-12 public schools, as well as hundreds of millions of dollars to the Capital Projects Fund and to special causes like Illinois Veterans services, the fight against breast cancer, MS research, Special Olympics and assistance for people living with HIV/AIDS. In addition to playing in-store, the Illinois Lottery offers online and mobile play for all draw-based Illinois Lottery games at illinoislottery.com. Players must be at least 18 years old.
About Camelot Illinois:
Camelot Illinois is the private manager of the Illinois Lottery. In partnership with the State, Camelot Illinois operates a modern lottery that truly benefits the people of Illinois. Camelot Illinois is dedicated to working with transparency, integrity and responsibility to grow the lottery and reinforce its rightful position as a force for good. The company’s innovative approach places consumers and social responsibility at its core, providing funding for schools, capital projects and special causes. To learn more, visit camelotillinois.com.