State Lottery revenue dropped in December, hurt by plunging business at West Virginia’s four racetrack casinos, presumably as a spike in COVID-19 cases dampened patronage. For the month, the Lottery had gross revenue of $87.5 million, down about $3 million from November, and down $6.63 million from December 2019, according to figures provided by the Lottery Commission. Racetrack video lottery revenue at the four casinos fell to $28.46 million for the month, down 28% from November, and down 29% from December 2019, when racetrack slots took in $40.27 million. Table games revenue at the four casinos dropped to $2.08 million in December, down 28% from November, and down 34% from December 2019.
Newsroom
Colin A. Young, State House News Service ·
January 27, 2021 at
10:00 pm
The Massachusetts Lottery saw greater sales and profit performance during the six months from July through December 2020 than it did during the same six months in pre-pandemic 2019, despite changes in consumer behavior and sharp restrictions on key Lottery venues like restaurants and pubs.
Having survived three months of depressed sales at the outset of the pandemic, the Lottery appears to have not only stabilized but found a new footing. The budget year that ended June 30 exceeded expectations and wound up as the Lottery’s third-best year in terms of revenue. And now, halfway into fiscal year 2021, sales and profit are both up compared to a year ago.
The lottery ticket display behind the counter at College Convenience on Huntington Avenue. (Jesse Costa/WBUR)
The Massachusetts Lottery saw greater sales and profit performance during the six months from July through December 2020 than it did during the same six months in pre-pandemic 2019, despite changes in consumer behavior and sharp restrictions on key Lottery venues like restaurants and pubs.
Having survived three months of depressed sales at the outset of the pandemic, the Lottery appears to have not only stabilized but found a new footing. The budget year that ended June 30 exceeded expectations and wound up as the Lottery s third-best year in terms of revenue. And now, halfway into fiscal year 2021, sales and profit are both up compared to a year ago.
Imperial Pacific International chief engineer Eric Poon listens during the Commonwealth Casino Commission meeting on Wednesday.Â
Photo by Emmanuel T. Erediano
It was the third stop work order that DPW has issued against IPI. The first was issued on Oct. 9, 2020, and the second was on Dec. 29. Both were due to lack of engineers of record or EORs and safety inspector.
DPW said it issued the third stop work order because 15 days had already passed and IPI still had not complied with the requirement to have EORs and safety inspector at the job site.
Commonwealth Casino Commission Executive Director Andrew Yeom on Wednesday reminded IPI chief engineer Eric Poon that the Casino License Agreement Amendment No. 6 gives IPI until Feb. 28, 2021 to finish the hotel-casino project in Garapan.
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit is upholding a lower court ruling that the New Hampshire Lottery Commission can continue to sell lottery tickets online, despite a challenge by the Trump Administration.
The case centers on an opinion released by the Department of Justice in 2018 that found online lottery ticket sales violated the Wire Act, which was signed into law in 1961. The Office of Legal Counsel’s decision was a reversal of its own 2011 memo that cleared the way for online lottery sales.
New Hampshire, which launched online lottery sales based on the 2011 guidelines, filed a legal challenge to the federal government in federal court. NeoPollard Interactive, which the N.H. Lottery Commission contracts to provide online lottery gaming, also joined the suit.