A typical lottery commission's Income Statement
Virtually every one of the 44 lottery commissions in the United States are required to file an annual report to their respective legislatures detailing their operations for the year. Included in each report is an income statement outlining revenue and expenses.
For example, the following is a summary of the Arizona Lottery’s Fiscal Year 2004 operations:
Fiscal Year 2004
Total Sales: $366,497,800 100.0% Player Prizes: $200,302,400 54.6% Operations: 33,936,300 9.3% Paid to Retailers: 24,501,400 6.7% Funding for state Programs: 107,757,700 29.4% Net revenue for worthy causes: a justification?
According to the legislative mandates of most state lottery operations, net proceeds are earmarked for worthy causes, such as education, environmental improvement and combating social ills (e.g., spousal abuse). Because lottery operations are, essentially, regulated monopolies it is a certainty that virtually all state lottery operations generate a net profit each year. The worthy causes that the net proceeds from lottery operations benefit are proudly highlighted and showcased by proponents of legalized lotteries as if to say: see what good comes out of having lotteries.
LottoStocks contends that since the hidden and intangible costs of gambling are not included in the income statements of the nation's lottery commissions that they do not reflect the true costs of legalized lotteries.