Wisconsin Lottery

Fiscal Year 2024-25

Report 26-04 | April 2026

SUMMARY

The Wisconsin Lottery sells instant tickets and lotto tickets, and participates in the multijurisdictional Powerball and Mega Millions lotto games. The Wisconsin Constitution and Wisconsin Statutes impose certain limitations on lottery expenses. The Wisconsin Constitution also requires that net proceeds from the Wisconsin Lottery be used exclusively for property tax relief for Wisconsin residents. Net proceeds from the Wisconsin Lottery are largely distributed to owners of primary residences in Wisconsin through the Lottery and Gaming Tax Credit.

We provided unmodified opinions on the Wisconsin Lottery’s financial statements as of and for the years ended June 30, 2025, and June 30, 2024. These financial statements account for the financial position and activity of the Wisconsin Lottery, which is administered by the Department of Revenue. We conducted this financial audit by auditing the Wisconsin Lottery’s financial statements in accordance with applicable government auditing standards, issuing our auditor’s opinion, reviewing internal controls, and issuing our auditor’s report on internal control and compliance. We also assessed the Wisconsin Lottery’s compliance with certain statutory requirements.

Since its inception, the Wisconsin Lottery has provided $6.4 billion in property tax relief, including $315.2 million distributed in FY 2024-25

2023 Wisconsin Act 19, the 2023-25 Biennial Budget Act, authorized $88.7 million in general purpose revenue (GPR) in fiscal year (FY) 2024-25 for the Wisconsin Lottery to fund retailer compensation expenses and vendor fees. The provision of GPR funding increased net lottery proceeds available for the Lottery and Gaming Tax Credit in FY 2024-25. However, the actual amount distributed for the Lottery and Gaming Tax Credit decreased from $365.4 million in FY 2023-24 to $315.2 million in FY 2024-25, or by 13.7 percent, due to lower than anticipated ticket sales. The actual amount distributed was $236.3 million in FY 2020-21, $340.2 million in FY 2021-22, and $319.7 million in FY 2022-23. Property tax relief is funded by net proceeds from the Wisconsin Lottery and by transfers from other gaming-related appropriations.

In October 2025, the Wisconsin Department of Administration and the Legislature’s Joint Committee on Finance authorized the use of $292.8 million in net lottery proceeds for the FY 2025-26 Lottery and Gaming Tax Credit.

Wisconsin Lottery ticket sales decreased from $954.8 million in FY 2023-24 to $861.8 million in FY 2024-25, or by 9.7 percent

Sales of instant tickets, which are scratch-off and pull-tab tickets, decreased by $4.4 million, or by 0.7 percent, from FY 2023-24 to FY 2024-25. Sales of lotto tickets, which are tickets for raffle and lotto games, including Mega Millions, Powerball, Badger 5, Fast Play, Daily Pick 3, and Daily Pick 4, decreased by $88.6 million, or by 25.9 percent, primarily due to a decrease in Powerball and Mega Millions ticket sales resulting from lower jackpots for those games in FY 2024-25 than in FY 2023-24. The amount of tickets sales was:

$894.5 million in FY 2020-21, which included $635.2 million in instant games and $259.3 million in lotto games;
$887.8 million in FY 2021-22, which included $638.9 million in instant games and $248.9 million in lotto games;
$981.7 million in FY 2022-23, which included $654.4 million in instant games and $327.3 million in lotto games;
$954.8 million in FY 2023-24, which included $612.9 million in instant games and $341.9 million in lotto games; and
$861.8 million in FY 2024-25, which included $608.5 million in instant games and $253.3 million in lotto games.

The Wisconsin Lottery was in compliance with the statutory requirements we reviewed for FY 2024-25

Wisconsin Statutes impose limitations on certain types of lottery expenses, including requirements that:

at least 50 percent of lottery ticket sales must be used as prize payments to players;
certain administrative expenses may not exceed 10 percent of gross lottery revenues; and
payments to retailers for performance incentives may not exceed 1.0 percent of gross revenues from the sale of lottery tickets.

The Wisconsin Lottery complied with these requirements from FY 2020-21 through FY 2024-25.