A Message from
Acting CEO Ken Brickman:

The Iowa Lottery reached new heights in fiscal year 2007! Players were excited to see new instant products and stuck by an old favorite in Hot Lotto to help the lottery achieve record sales.

Nearly an 18 percent increase in scratch-ticket sales showed that our players appreciate the variety of play styles and price points in that category. And, Hot Lotto sales were up 50 percent in FY 2007, due in large part to its record jackpot of nearly $20 million, which was won by Indianola's John Hall.

The total numbers are very exciting! Combined sales for scratch tickets, lotto games and pull-tab tickets reached a record $235 million in FY 2007. And, the Iowa Lottery raised more than $58.1 million for state programs this fiscal year—the second-highest profits total for these three products combined.

There were many reasons why the lottery was so successful in FY 2007:

• It was another successful year for jackpot-winning Iowans! Tim and Kellie Guderian of Fort Dodge were thrilled to win a $200.8 million Powerball jackpot in October 2006, and Indianola's John Hall won the record $19.97 million Hot Lotto jackpot in January.



• Sales of pull-tab tickets saw a double-digit increase in FY 2007. Players will notice some exciting changes in pull-tabs in the coming year when we begin to offer games with top prizes of more than $600.



• We're pleased to say players have embraced $5 and $10 instant tickets, which has spurred instant sales. We're confident they'll also like the new $20 scratch game called “Set For Life” introduced in June that has a $1 million top prize.



• More on the instant ticket side: To celebrate what would have been Academy award-winning actor and Winterset native John Wayne's 100th birthday, the lottery introduced “The Duke,” a $2 scratch ticket that sold out quickly after its debut in May. And another instant product, “Lucky 7's” - the lottery's double-play ticket that's half scratch game and half pull-tab ticket - won an industry award as “Product of the Year.”



• We received strong support in the past year from Ankeny-based Casey's General Stores Inc., which has more than 400 convenience stores in Iowa and is in the process of increasing the number of scratch games carried in each of its stores from 12 to 16. The Dahl's and Hy-Vee grocery store chains also added fuel locations to several of their stores this year, which increased the number of scratch tickets sold by these retailers.



• Players entered some exciting promotions this year as well. We gave away a beautiful Cyclone® Victory® motorcycle in September 2006 and Power Play 10X returned for another successful run this year.



• Iowans watched a live Powerball drawing on the Iowa State Fair's Grand Concourse on Aug. 12, 2006. The drawing at the State Fair was the first in Iowa held at a location other than the West Des Moines studio where it's usually held.



• For all Iowans' protection, the lottery released ads warning Iowans about counterfeit check lottery scams across the state in February. The Iowa Lottery and Attorney General's Office teamed up to produce the ads to alert consumers about scams that promise huge lottery winnings, but deceive people with bogus checks. The lottery also dedicated part of its Web site to information intended to provide Iowans with security reminders.

The lottery's success has been built by offering variety in our products and entertainment for our players. That will continue to be our focus to ensure strong lottery revenues for the programs that benefit all Iowans.