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Massachusetts' long-awaited jump into online lottery sales has hit another speed bump. Despite securing $2.5 million for start-up costs and initial plans to launch in 2025, officials now say excited players will have to wait until summer 2026 for the iLottery debut.
While the state is gearing up to compete with casinos and sports betting, the shift to online ticket sales is expected to bring in big profits down the road — officials say about $360 million in annual profits within 10 years.
iLottery launch delayed again
Lawmakers in Massachusetts approved $2.5 million to cover start-up costs related to online lottery games. However, Treasurer Deborah Goldberg dropped the unfortunate news during a meeting on Monday, December 2, 2024.
During the meeting, Goldberg told a key committee that the launch of an online lottery platform in the state is going to take a little longer than she previously anticipated, WBUR reported.
Back in July, the Massachusetts Lottery announced that it finally got approval to sell products online. At the time, officials said they planned to launch their iLottery platform in late 2025.
However, Lottery Director Mark William Bracken announced in October that the lottery had updated its timeline, and they now expected to start online sales in April 2026. That timeline shifted again, as Goldberg said on Monday that it would be extended a couple more months.
Budgets and revenue projections
Before the hearing on Monday, legislators passed a supplemental budget, which gave the lottery $2.5 million for the start-up costs.
Referring to those funds, Goldberg said:
Assuming funding is received by January 1, the lottery hopes to go live with its full suite of online offerings in the summer of 2026. Based on this timeline, we do not currently anticipate any revenue from iLottery in fiscal year 2026.
During the hearing, the Joint Committee on Ways and Means was starting to forecast revenues for the fiscal year 2026, which runs from July 1, 2025, through June 30, 2026.
For years, lottery officials warned that the roughly $1 billion that the lottery gives for local aid each year would be in jeopardy unless lawmakers allowed the agency to sell its products online. This was because of increased competition from casinos and online sports betting.
While they have patiently been waiting for the launch of the iLottery platform, profits have remained steady. The agency brought in an estimated $1.16 billion in net profit for fiscal year 2024, which was returned to Massachusetts cities and towns.
And now for fiscal year 2025, Goldberg told lawmakers:
The lottery is currently on track to meet its projection of $1.05 billion in net profit for fiscal year 2025, despite economic headwinds and continuing impacts from the competitive marketplace. Looking forward to fiscal year 2026, the lottery projects flat sales at retail, and therefore a flat net profit of $1.05 billion.
In addition, Goldberg discussed the expectations for online lottery revenue in the state. She expects to have over $70 million in net profit from online sales in the first year. That should increase to more than $180 million by the third year and over $230 million by the fifth year. Goldberg expects to see almost $360 million in yearly net profit from online lottery sales in year 10.
Enjoy playing the Massachusetts Lottery, and please remember to play responsibly.
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