Hoosier Lottery taking cautious approach to business plan as economic worries soften revenues

The Hoosier Lottery's growth projections are cautious this year as worries about an economic downturn are softening lottery revenues.

The lottery sends hundreds of millions of dollars each year to the state to help teacher, police and firefighter pensions and reduce the cost of license plates at the Bureau of Motor Vehicles.

It's currently on track to send less to the state in 2025 than any year since 2020. Lottery Executive Director Sarah Taylor said that's in part because the Powerball game never built up particularly big jackpots this fiscal year.

"So, without the large jackpots, sales aren't quite living up to what you want them to live up to," Taylor said.

But the lottery's largest revenue source, scratch off games, are also down this year — something more closely tied to economic concerns.
 

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And Taylor said that will require the lottery to be as flexible as possible as it rolls out new games.

"We might pull forward a ticket sooner than planned or we may delay it, depending on what our circumstances are at the time — because we don't want to overload the market with product," Taylor said.

Taylor said lower scratch off sales are part of a nationwide trend.

Brandon is our Statehouse bureau chief. Contact him at bsmith@ipbs.org or follow him on Twitter at @brandonjsmith5.