South Dakota lottery surpasses $4 billion in revenue since inception in 1987
A slide showing South Dakota's lottery revenue for FY 2027 flat at $187.43 million, the same as FY 2026
Since implementing the lottery, South Dakota has seen returns, and the state just surpassed a revenue milestone. The lottery commission also projects flat growth in total revenue this fiscal year.
The lottery has been around for about 39 years in South Dakota. The state sold its first South Dakota ticket Sept. 30, 1987. And according to South Dakota Lottery Executive Director Norm Lingle, it’s been a return on investment for the state.
“Since 1987, the lottery has generated roughly $4.16 billion that has went to the beneficiaries of the lottery proceeds," Lingle said. "[I'll] echo what the secretary said, it’s a big shoutout to the team and all the employees at the lottery since 1987 to get to that position.”
That figure is not total revenue. “That is just the state share,” Lingle said.
By that, he means it doesn’t include dollars given to businesses that sell tickets or have video lottery.
Lingle shared that information at the South Dakota Lottery Commission’s latest meeting.
He also shared updated numbers for the state’s Fiscal Year 2026 lotto sales. That state saw total transfers of $187.5 million, up 4% from Fiscal Year 2025. That was driven most by video lottery, which was up slightly,
Video Lottery through two months of Fiscal Year 2027, compared to the same period in FY 25 and FY 26.
2%. The fiscal year ended at the conclusion of June.
As for the current fiscal year, FY 27, sales are expected to be flat. Instant ticket sales are down 1.7% through two months last year. Fiscal Year 2027 began July this year.
Lotto sales are up about $10,000. Video lottery is up at least a million dollars.
David Dahl is the state's Lottery’s Sales Director. He reported this year’s projections to the commission.
“We took a 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.
All that said, combined lotto projections for the year show flat growth over last year.
https://www.sdpb.org/business-economics/2026-09-18/sd-lottery-surpasses-4-billion-in-revenue-since-inception-in-1987