Lottery sales started to take a slump after the coronavirus struck Mississippi, however, the reopening of businesses across the state has brought numbers back to where they were prior to COVID-19.
“Things are looking better now,” Mississippi Lottery Corporation President Tom Shaheen said. “Mid to late March, we started seeing sales go down. They were down somewhat for about three or four weeks, then they started picking up. Now, they’re back at the same levels they were.”
Before the pandemic began, the state was pulling in $10.7 million per week through the sale of lottery tickets and has recently returned to that number.
Shaheen does not expect the virus to affect future sales, but he does foresee summertime numbers to take a downward turn—naturally—unless a large amount of the population decides to forego traveling amid the ongoing pandemic.
“Normally, summertime is a slow time,” Shaheen explained. “Then again, it’s because people are always gone on vacation. Depending on how many people are actually gone and on vacations, I’m just kind of waiting to see what’s going to happen in July and August.”
The state of Mississippi officially launched the lottery on November 25, 2019, and the implementation has proven quite successful thus far.
You can find the full interview with Shaheen below.
