The following is a release from the New Mexico Lottery:
New Mexico Lottery Sales Increase 26 Percent in December
New Mexico Lottery ticket sales jumped 26 percent in December. Preliminary gross sales for the month came to approximately $13.7 million, up from $10.8 million in December 2012.
David Barden, the New Mexico Lottery’s Interim CEO, said the December sales increase was driven by the $656 million Mega Millions® jackpot, the game’s second-largest prize ever. “Our players wanted a chance to be a part of lottery history and they rushed to stores,” Barden said. He added that in the hours immediately preceding the Dec. 17 drawing, players across New Mexico were buying Mega Millions tickets at a rate of approximately $3,000 a minute.
$4 Million for College Scholarships
From December sales of $13.7 million, Barden said the lottery will deliver approximately $4 million to the state’s Legislative Lottery Scholarship program, up from $3.2 million in December 2012. “Every time they buy a lottery ticket, our players help put higher education within reach of more students,” Barden said. By statute, the New Mexico Lottery is required to return at least 30 percent of net revenues to the scholarship fund. With December revenues of approximately $4 million, the lottery will have delivered a total of $21 million in revenues in the first half of Fiscal Year 2014. New Mexico Lottery players won $4.8 million in December, bringing total prizes won so far in Fiscal Year 2014 to $35.2 million.
Since 1996, the New Mexico Lottery has raised $589 million for education and more than 90,000 students have attended college on Legislative Lottery Scholarships. More than 43,300 of those students have already earned their college degrees. More information about Legislative Lottery Scholarships is available at www.nmlottery.com.
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