Center for Gaming Research
UNLV
Massachusetts Gaming Summary

Background

Massachusetts has a lottery and has approved casino gaming, but no casinos are open yet.

Lottery

Development: The Massachusetts State Lottery was established by the legislature in 1971 to provide revenues for the 351 cities and towns of the Commonwealth. The Lottery is operated by a 5­member commission that includes the State Treasurer as Chairperson, the Secretary of Public Safety, the State Comptroller, and two gubernatorial appointees.

Beneficiaries: After prizes and expenses, the remaining Lottery revenues (approximately 23%) are transferred to the Local Aid Fund and returned to the cities and towns of the Commonwealth in the form of local aid.

For more information see the Massachusetts Lottery website.
Lottery data (fiscal year)
Year
Total Revenues
Prize Liabilities
Prize %
Net Revenue
Net %
1985
879,158,000
476,959,000
54.25%
309,793,000
35.24%
1986
1,105,711,000
601,601,000
54.41%
391,177,000
35.38%
1987
1,223,147,000
691,324,000
56.52%
402,887,000
32.94%
1988
1,339,808,000
778,057,000
58.07%
425,799,000
31.78%
1989
1,464,338,000
856,741,000
58.51%
453,133,000
30.94%
1990
1,584,106,000
942,990,000
59.53%
489,631,000
30.91%
1991
1,605,496,000
971,578,000
60.52%
476,514,000
29.68%
1992
1,730,164,000
1,069,334,000
61.81%
496,021,000
28.67%
1993
2,032,730,000
1,311,243,000
64.51%
532,478,000
26.20%
1994
2,471,741,000
1,659,338,000
67.13%
600,218,000
24.28%
1995
2,815,659,000
1,937,550,000
68.81%
641,541,000
22.78%
1996
3,050,883,000
2,139,703,000
70.13%
662,123,000
21.70%
1997
3,214,256,000
2,236,824,000
69.59%
721,262,000
22.44%
1998
3,225,321,000
2,205,067,000
68.37%
774,881,000
24.02%
1999
3,381,617,000
2,315,952,000
68.49%
809,095,000
23.93%
2000
3,715,671,000
2,583,507,000
69.53%
853,218,000
22.96%
2001
3,935,906,000
2,774,112,000
70.48%
864,464,000
21.96%
2002
4,213,219,000
3,000,904,000
71.23%
899,207,000
21.34%
2003
4,204,611,000
3,008,402,000
71.55%
889,490,000
21.16%
2004
4,381,778,000
3,148,457,000
71.85%
912,010,000
20.81%
2005
4,482,911,000
3,211,543,000
71.64%
936,134,000
20.88%
2006
4,524,129,000
3,234,546,000
71.50%
951,241,000
21.03%
2007
4,460,785,000
3,225,036,000
72.30%
892,202,000
20.00%
2008
4,709,343,000
3,419,706,000
72.62%
913,048,000
19.39%
2009
4,442,924,000
3,217,783,000
72.42%
859,407,000
19.34%
2010
4,423,732,000
3,174,890,000
71.77%
903,486,000
20.42%
2011
4,427,961,000
3,199,444,000
72.26%
887,913,000
20.05%
2012
4,741,417,000
3,396,833,000
71.64%
1,074,927,000
22.67%
2013
4,850,482,000
3,523,859,000
72.65%
1,050,128,000
21.65%
2014 4,863,373,000 3,515,623,000 72.29% 1,069,958,000 22.00%
2015 5,014,535,000 3,641,351,000 72.62% 1,086,469,000 21.67%
2016 5,233,931,000 3,842,314,000 73.41% 1,092,130,000 20.87%

Powered by GamblingCompliance.com. For current information, visit GamblingData.com.

Total revenue is total ticket sales sales plus interest earned on the lottery fund balance and miscellaneous revenue sources . Prize liability is the total amount of prize money paid back to winners. Net Revenue is the total revenue minus vendor and retailer commissions and prize payouts and operating expenses; it is equal to "operating income." Prize and net revenue percentages are taken from the total revenues.
Massachusetts Gaming Timeline

1971: Legislation to create a Massachusetts state lottery was enacted. 

1972: Lottery began with sales of tickets for “The Game”.  Tickets cost  $.50, and the first drawing  was held on April 6, 1972 at Faneuil Hall in Boston. Seven people won $50,000.  “The Game” was played on a  weekly basis.

1973: The legislature transferred supervision of Bingo (Beano) from the Department of Public Safety to the State Lottery Commission. This Division later became known as Charitable Gaming.

1974: First instant lottery tickets in the nation sold.

1976: The daily Numbers Game was introduced.

1978: The first Lotto game in the country was introduced. The game was cancelled after only 13 weeks due to lack of popularity.

1982: Megabucks introduced.

1987: Mass Millions was introduced.

1993: Keno introduced

1996: Massachusetts is one of six states to creat "The Big Game"

1997: The Massachusetts State Lottery installed a new, state-of-the-art, $60 million computer system from Digital Technologies. The project involved a nearly simultaneous conversion to new terminals at almost 6000 retail locations.

2006:  Red Sox Instant Ticket – the nation’s first instant game to feature a Major League Baseball team logo – debuts.

2011: Casino gambling approved for four regions, with locations to be determined later

 

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Last modified Tuesday, 06-Dec-2022 10:30:31 PST