Arkansas lottery ranks 5th in U.S. for per capita sales

The Arkansas Scholarship Lottery has ranked in the top five of state lotteries for per capita sales during the first quarter of 2010.

La Fleur’s magazine shows Arkansas with per capita sales of $38, just $4 behind that of Connecticut’s fourth-place ranking. The magazine is a trade publication for the more than 200 official state-run lotteries around the world.

The top 10 states, according to La Fleur’s, for the first quarter of 2010 were:
1. Massachusetts
2. Georgia
3. New York
4. Connecticut
5. Arkansas
6. Tennessee
7. New Jersey
8. Maine
9. South Carolina
10. Pennsylvania

“Our Arkansas Scholarship Lottery continues to surpass all original expectations for success,” Dianne Lamberth of Batesville, chair of the Arkansas Lottery Commission, said in a statement.
 
David Barden, ASL vice president of gaming said, the “level of achievement holds great promise for the future of the Arkansas Scholarship Lottery and the funds that can be generated for scholarships.”

The purpose of the ASL is to provide scholarships and grants to Arkansas residents enrolled in public and private nonprofit two-year and four-year colleges and universities within the state. Roughly 25% of the revenue from lottery sales are directed to scholarship funds. At the end of May, the ASL reported net proceeds for college scholarships that exceeded $75 million.

Projections for annual lottery sales in Arkansas were set liberally during the legislative debate at $400 million, and that number was scoffed at by skeptics. However, the first 95 days of sales indicated the lottery could post revenue of more than $507 million in its first 12 months. Average daily sales for the first 95 days totaled $1.39 million.

The lottery effort began with controversy, driven largely by the $300,000-plus salary of ASL Director Ernie Passailaigue.