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Florida's scratch-off success sends a message to other lotteries

Data-driven game design, smart pricing, and player favorites helped push sales past $7 billion in 2025.

A Florida Lottery ticket machine at a lottery retailer.
Todd Betzold

Scratch-off games for the Florida Lottery just delivered the strongest performance in the state's lottery history. The result: other state lotteries are probably studying closely.

In 2025, the Florida Lottery's long-running scratch-off partnership with Scientific Games generated a record $7.09 billion in retail sales. This amount narrowly passed the previous high, which was set in 2022. These results highlight how strategic instant-game planning can drive sustained growth, retailer engagement, and education funding.

Scratch-offs are the bulk of Florida Lottery sales

Instant games continue to be the backbone of the Florida Lottery business. Of the Florida Lottery's total $9.63 billion in sales, almost 74% of that came from scratch-offs.

These instant games are the primary revenue engine for the Florida Lottery. For the year, they had a 6.84% increase in sales year over year.

This growth translated directly into public benefit, with over $1.21 billion generated for the Florida Educational Enhancement Trust Fund. This fund supports K-12 schools, higher education, and Bright Futures scholarships.

This isn't luck, though, as lottery officials said it's the result of deliberate portfolio planning.

In a press release, Florida Lottery Acting Secretary Reginald D. Dixon said:

We are extremely proud of our partnership with Scientific Games. Using data analytics to guide game planning and logistics helped drive higher contributions to education.

Player favorites and smart pricing

A single blockbuster ticket was not the foundation of the Florida Lottery's success. No, it resulted from having game families that have been shown to regularly engage players and a well-balanced range of price points.

Gold Rush Multiplier is one of these game families. The price range for the tickets is $1 to $50. Over 18% of the total scratch-off revenue, or $1.29 billion, was made by this family.

Holiday Cash and Week For Life are two more well-liked games that each produced excellent outcomes.

Over $5.23 billion in scratch-off prizes were claimed by players during the year. From those victories, retailers received commissions totaling $425 million.

A benchmark for instant games

These numbers by the Florida Lottery place it among the world’s elite lotteries. According to  La Fleur's 2025 World Lottery Almanac, the Florida Lottery ranks among the top five globally in per-capita instant scratch-off game sales.

Scientific Games has been supplying these scratch-off games to the Florida Lottery since it first launched in 1988. They credit this milestone to their Enhanced Partnership program.

This program combines advanced game design, predictive logistics, analytics, and retail support. These tools are now being used by five of the world's six top-performing lotteries.

Some lessons for other state lotteries

This record year in Florida highlights several takeaways for other state lotteries:

  • Invest in data-driven planning.
  • Maintain a diverse mix of ticket price points.
  • Lean into game families that players already trust.

Many states are currently trying to figure out how to grow lottery revenue responsibly. This success by Florida offers a clear signal: instant games, when managed strategically, can deliver sustained growth, retailer stability, and meaningful public funding.

Enjoy playing the Florida Lottery, and please remember to play responsibly.

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