News writer
Looking for even more convenience when buying your lottery tickets in the state of Michigan? Well, it's happening!
Michigan Lottery coming to Walmart
While the Michigan Lottery games are currently available for purchase at more than 10,500 retailers throughout the state, even more options are never a bad thing. The Michigan Lottery announced that players will be able to purchase Michigan Lottery tickets at select Walmart stores.
Beginning this morning and going through June, the lottery has placed lottery self-serve kiosks at 19 select Walmart stores across the state. However, the lottery didn't announce which of the 19 stores these kiosks would be at.
For the self-serve lottery machines, players are able to purchase draw and instant games and redeem any Michigan Lottery coupons.
Commissioner Suzanna Shkreli said:
We are very excited to begin offering Michigan Lottery games at select Walmart stores. The placement of self-serve lottery machines in Walmart stores will not only provide convenience to players, but it will also help us reach our goal of maximizing our contribution to the state's School Aid Fund.
Where does the Michigan Lottery money go?
With this new availability to purchase tickets in select Walmart stores, the Michigan Lottery could see an uptick in ticket sales. Where does the money from these ticket sales go?
In Michigan, each lottery purchase helps benefit K-12 education, local businesses, and companies that employ Michigan residents. During fiscal year 2023, the Michigan Lottery helped contribute more than $1.3 billion to the state of Michigan School Aid Fund.
To help get a better picture of where the money from these ticket sales goes, the Michigan Lottery said for every $1 spent on the lottery for FY23:
- 61 cents went to prizes.
- 27 cents went to the Michigan School Aid Fund.
- 9 cents went to commissions for retailers and vendors.
- 3 cents went to lottery operations.
As mentioned above, the Michigan Lottery has over 10,500 businesses throughout the state that earn commissions on the sale of lottery products as licensed retailers. In the last ten years, there have been more than $2.8 billion in sales commissions and bonuses paid out to these retailers.
Helping players too
Not only is the Michigan Lottery helping students and giving money to the Michigan School Aid Fund, but they are also helping players win some of the money they are spending on a daily basis.
For FY23, the Michigan Lottery paid out over $3 billion in prizes to players. During that time, the lottery had 53 millionaire prize winners. They also had almost 117 million winning tickets sold. During this past year, players won a statewide average of more than $8.2 million a day in prizes.
Since the lottery started in 1972, they have awarded more than $52 billion in prizes. That includes the largest jackpot ever won in the state, which was the $1.05 billion Mega Millions jackpot in January 2021.
Enjoy playing the Michigan Lottery, and please remember to play responsibly.
