WyoLotto officials announced that the January revenue transfer to Wyoming is a record breaking $2,209,095.77. Each quarter the organization transfers a statutory amount of at least 75 percent of net revenue to the state, where it is then distributed to Wyoming’s cities, towns and counties.
This brings the running total to $30.5 million going directly back to the state from WyoLotto since launch in 2014.
“The last time we were able to transfer this much to Wyoming’s cities, towns and counties was in January 2019 after Cowboy Draw’s jackpot exceeded $3 million. We are thrilled with the transfer amount this quarter!” said WyoLotto CEO Jon Clontz.
He added, “Jackpots for Powerball, Mega Millions and Cowboy Draw are the reason for this large transfer as they brought in above average sales.”
The Powerball jackpot grew to $1.9 billion, the largest jackpot in history, which was hit Nov. 7, 2022. And now, the Mega Millions jackpot has been growing the last couple months and is now at $940 million. To round out the trifecta is Cowboy Draw’s jackpot at $1.84 million, which is the fifth highest jackpot in the game’s history since launching in March 2015.
“Historically, lottery sales for the games we provide, and sales at all lottery jurisdictions, slow down during the holidays, but this year is very different. Our quarterly sales greatly exceeded last quarter compared to the same time, with this largely due to record setting jackpots and experienced staff, retailers and partners,” Clontz said.
WyoLotto launched in August of 2014 after the Wyoming Legislature and Governor Matt Mead signed into law the bill allowing the creation of a lottery. The bill also outlined that the creation could not be carried out with any state funding, so the WyoLotto Board of Directors and CEO Clontz secured a start-up loan. That loan was paid off early in January of 2016, allowing the first net revenue transfer mandated by statute to occur in April 2016 for more than $1,000,000.
“The impact WyoLotto has on Wyoming is more than just our transfers to the cities, towns and counties. We also provide a new revenue stream for local businesses through paying commissions for selling lottery tickets, and the winnings paid to our winners,” Clontz added.
Since the launch of WyoLotto, over $15.5 million has been paid in retailer commissions and over $118 million to Wyoming players.