THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Monday, August 22, 1994 TAG: 9408220034
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B01 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY PATRICK K. LACKEY, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Medium: 63 lines
Is the thrill gone?
Virginia State Lottery sales in the five South Hampton Roads cities have dropped for the second year in a row.
The decline follows four years of growth in the 6-year-old lottery.
People in the region spent $5.2 million less on lottery tickets in fiscal year 1994, which ended June 30, than in fiscal 1993.
They spent $13 million less this past fiscal year than in fiscal 1992 - the peak sales year, when they forked over $143.9 million.
In other words, a lot less scratching and number-picking is going on.
Lottery sales sagged despite three $20 million-plus jackpots in fiscal 1994 - the most in a single year. Big jackpots mean big sales, and most years have only two.
Also, the drop came as sales statewide increased from $843 million in fiscal 1993 to a record $875.5 million in 1994.
In Richmond, the No. 1 lottery city, sales hit a record $49 million for fiscal 1994, up $1.2 million from the year before.
South Hampton Roads residents spent $136 per capita on lottery tickets in fiscal 1994, $5 less than the state average.
So is the thrill gone?
No, said state lottery spokesman Paula Otto, though no jumps in sales are expected here or elsewhere.
``We are to the point now,'' Otto said, ``where we're what's called mature in the industry. All of our big games have been introduced. We will not have any more big jumps in revenue from year to year.''
She attributed the drop in South Hampton Roads to three causes:
The end of the novelty of the lottery. Sales in all states level off after about five years, she said.
The closing in fiscal 1994 of a number of 7-Eleven stores and the fact that several Rite Aid drugstores stopped selling tickets.
The introduction into Hampton Roads of self-service lottery terminals. The new machines take some getting used to, she said, and may not be as visible as the old machines. ``As players get used to the them,'' she said, ``we may not see any more decline.''
Lottery revenue goes to the Virginia General Fund, of which about half goes for education. The lottery paid $303.4 million into that fund for fiscal 1994, the most ever. The state lottery is the fund's third-largest source of revenue, behind income and sales taxes. About 5 percent of the general fund comes from the lottery. ILLUSTRATION: Staff color graphic
LOTTERY SALES
Source: Virginia State Lottery
For copy of graphic, see microfilm
KEYWORDS: VIRGINIA LOTTERY
by CNB