South Dakota's lottery just crossed a $4 billion line

South Dakota has run a lottery for almost 39 years. In that time, it's paid off. The state just crossed a major revenue milestone, and this year's numbers are holding steady.

A 39-year track record

South Dakota sold its first lottery ticket on September 30th, 1987. Since then, the program has generated roughly $4.16 billion for the state's beneficiaries, according to South Dakota Lottery Executive Director Norm Lingle. Lingle stated:

Since 1987, the lottery has generated roughly $4.16 billion that has went [sic] to the beneficiaries of the lottery proceeds. It's a big shoutout to the team and all the employees at the lottery since 1987 to get to that position.

That $4.16 billion is not total revenue. It's the state's share alone. It excludes money paid to the retailers who sell tickets and operate video lottery terminals.

Lingle shared the figures at the South Dakota Lottery Commission's most recent meeting.

Fiscal Year 2026 came in strong

South Dakota closed Fiscal Year 2026, which ended in June, with total transfers of $187.5 million. That's up 4% from Fiscal Year 2025. Video lottery drove most of that growth, rising 2%.

Fiscal Year 2027 is off to a flat start

Two months into Fiscal Year 2027, which began in July, sales are tracking flat compared to last year. Instant ticket sales are down 1.7% over the same stretch. Lotto sales are up only about $10,000. Video lottery is up at least $1 million.

David Dahl, the lottery's Sales Director, presented this year's projections to the commission. He pointed to last year's unusual run of billion-dollar jackpots as the reason for the dip in lotto transfers.

"We took kind of like a $3 million hit in the lotto transfers this year compared to last year when we had all those billion-dollar runs all at the same time," Dahl said.

Combined, the lottery's projections for the full fiscal year show flat growth over Fiscal Year 2026.

How does South Dakota stack up against other states?

Compare South Dakota to Massachusetts, one of the most active state lotteries in the country. Massachusetts has about 7 million residents and has run its lottery since 1972, 15 years longer than South Dakota's.

Since its first ticket sale, the Massachusetts Lottery has generated more than $167 billion in revenue and awarded over $118 billion in prizes. It has returned more than $35 billion in net profit to the Commonwealth for local aid to cities and towns, and paid out over $9.5 billion in commissions and bonuses to retailers.

South Dakota, by contrast, has nearly 1 million residents. A closer population match is Rhode Island, which has a little more than 1 million residents.

Rhode Island voters approved a constitutional amendment creating a lottery in November 1973 by a margin of more than three to one. The state's first game, "The Lot," went on sale May 21, 1974, with the first drawing held at the State House on May 30th, 1974. Since then, Rhode Island's lottery has awarded more than $67 billion in prizes and generated more than $9.6 billion for the state.