Video Lottery revenue is up $1.57 million from this point last year.
The South Dakota Lottery Commission discussed the numbers and how much revenue the state’s projected this fiscal year at its recent meeting.
The sales for fiscal year 2026 began on July 1.
David Dahl is the Sales Director for South Dakota Lottery. He said as of right now, projections are looking good.
"So, looking at our total Fiscal Year 26 revenue projections with the combination of the video lottery, instant and lotto sales, as of Aug. 31 the total combination of combined fiscal year revenue projection is $182.15 million versus $179.43 million in fiscal year 25,” Dahl said.
While the state’s instant sales decreased by $120,000 from fiscal year 25, other sales are up. The largest percentage increase came in lotto sales, that are up 40% from July
through August.
Dahl said that time frame is important because the uptick in lotto ticket sales is largely driven by a national craze around the $1.8 billion Powerball jackpot.
“These are Aug. 31 numbers, and they don’t include that Powerball run of four dates that generated over $4 million for us,” Dahl said.
The committee also discussed a $2 million lottery ticket that was won in Mobridge that was still yet to be claimed as of Sept. 25. By statute if it’s not claimed it would go towards paying for prizes of future games.
Tim Donohue is on the state lottery commission. He said they do want the player to claim the prize because it’s why they have the games.
“We do put out messages on our website too because it happens once in a great while, every few years where someone doesn’t claim a prize," Donohue said. "You know, especially, you know geared towards that mention that, ‘Hey, it’s still out there.’”
They said the player has 180 days from the draw date on Aug. 23 to claim the winnings.
