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Pa. Lottery Shows 1% Sales Decline From Previous Year

Bad weather apparently played as much of a role as the bad economy in pushing Pennsylvania Lottery sales down slightly in the last fiscal year.

KYW's Tony Romeo reports from Harrisburg
that the lottery, like other businesses, is affected by the economy, according to spokeswoman Kirsten Alvanitakis.

But she says the bad winter didn't help either:

"And our sales in February were about $20 million down from last year at the same time, and that's about what we were behind total."

Actually, Pennsylvania Lottery sales were off $22.4 million, or less than one percent, in the 2009-10 fiscal year. Sales totaled $3.065 billion.

And despite the slight drop in sales, the nearly $916 million in profit represents an increase of more than $5 million  achieved through savings in operating costs.

Alvanitakis says there's still no evidence that casinos are having an impact on the Pennsylvania Lottery.

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