Despite Competition From Casinos, Pennsylvania Lottery Sets Sales Record

HARRISBURG, Pa. (CBS) - Folks who were worried that casinos might threaten the Pennsylvania Lottery can apparently rest easy. The Lottery set a sales record for the fiscal year that just ended.

Possible damage to the Pennsylvania Lottery was the source of much hand-wringing when legalizing casinos was being debated. But with ten casinos operating and offering both slots and table games in fiscal year 2010-'11, the Lottery scored a record $3.2 billion in sales, an increase of 4.6% over the previous fiscal year. The overall sales record was fueled by a whopping 10% increase in instant games.

Elizabeth Brassell, a spokeswoman for the state Department of Revenue, says, "Table games, slots – those are something the Lottery has kept its eye on for the last few years. But I think that this sales record sort of emphasizes the fact that there are market forces that are far more significant."

"It was a great year for us for a number of reasons, not only the sales record. We also put significantly more dollars to the bottom line to net profit for senior programs: about $45 million dollars over last year. That's about 4.9% more."

The just-ended fiscal year was also the second highest ever in terms of the profit generated by the Lottery to fund senior citizen programs.

Reported by KYW Harrisburg Bureau Chief Tony Romeo