Posted: September 16, 2019
Submitted by: https://www.usgamblingsites.com/
Lottery Statistics & History in the USA
The lottery industry in the United States continues to grow each year, with Americans spending over $77 billion on the lottery in 2018. There seems to be no end in sight, as 2019 is expected to shatter the record mark set in 2018.
The United States can actually trace the lottery back to the early days when King James used the lottery as a way to fund Jamestown, Va. The first modern form of the lottery began in 1934 when Puerto Rico established the first-ever government-run lottery system. Puerto Rico seemingly paved the way for the current lottery system in the United States, but it took some time for it to catch on.
New Hampshire was the first state to establish its own lottery in the United States, officially launching it in 1964. Scratch-off lottery tickets came around in the 1970s and were very similar to the ones that are currently in production today.
New Hampshire joined forces with Maine and Vermont to offer the first multi-state lottery game in 1985. These states formed the Tri-State Megabucks lottery, which is still in play to this day.
The Powerball was established in 1988 but was originally introduced under the name, Lotto America. Mega Millions didn’t come around until 1996 and was originally called “The Big Game.”
Today, a lot of lottery sales are made online, but that wasn’t introduced until 2012 in the state of Illinois. The lottery has gone through many changes throughout the years but continues to grow in popularity and revenue as the years go on.
Original Post: Lottery Statistics & History in the USA
