PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — Governments are having a hard time bringing in revenue on a number of fronts amid the coronavirus pandemic, including state lotteries.
Revenue has dropped by more than 20% for both the Pennsylvania and New Jersey lotteries due to the COVID-19 crisis.
Drew Svitko, executive director of the Pennsylvania Lottery, said it has made up for some of the loss through online sales.
"We saw an increase of about 15,000 new players just in the last month," he said. "The month before that, we recruited 10,000 new players in the online games."
Still, that doesn't come close to the revenue acquired from retail outlets — a large number of which remain closed.
"It's hard to say how much profit we'll generate throughout this crisis," Svitko added, "but our job is to generate as much money as we can in a responsible way."
New Jersey Lottery officials said in a statement, "The only thing we can say with certainty right now is that New Jersey, like many other states, is desperately in need of an infusion of cash and more robust federal assistance in order to weather this crisis and meet our essential obligations."
Earnings from the Pennsylvania Lottery go toward senior services across the commonwealth, including free or low-cost public transportation and subsidies for prescription drugs. New Jersey allocates its profits to fund pensions for public sector workers, teachers and first responders.
