Virginia Lottery Hits $914M Jackpot With Record Fiscal 2026 Sales

The Virginia Lottery has never sold more tickets than it did during the commonwealth’s 2026 fiscal year that ended June 30.

On Monday (Aug. 10), the Virginia Lottery presented Gov. Abigail Spanberger (D) with a $914 million check for K-12 public education.

“These are dollars that are going to public education. They are going to benefit our kids, our classrooms, and importantly, as we continue to invest in Virginia public schools, they will benefit Virginia’s future,” Spanberger said.

Since its formation through a statewide ballot referendum in 1987, proceeds generated by the Virginia Lottery have been dedicated to public schools. The lottery has now directed over $18 billion to public schools in Virginia.

Record Sales Resulted in Record Winnings

The Virginia Lottery reported record sales in FY26, with players purchasing $6.36 billion in gameplays. It marked the first time that annual sales topped $6 billion, and represented a year-on-year sales increase of more than 10%, or about $588 million.

While the lottery’s sales volume was unprecedented, its net profit wasn’t, as players were extraordinarily lucky, winning more than $5 billion for the first time. Higher operating expenses of $248.3 million also cut into the bottom line, which was officially $914.4 million.

The lottery check accepted by Spanberger was $914 million because, as the lottery noted, “not all proceeds earned in a fiscal year are appropriated in that year.”

The $914 million profit was the Virginia Lottery’s second-best year on record, behind only 2024 when net proceeds totaled $934.1 million.

Virginia benefits from being one of only nine states, plus Washington, DC, where lawmakers have authorized instant online lottery games. The slot-like digital games, along with the lottery’s online sales for traditional draws and scratch games, accounted for $4 billion of the FY26 sales.

State lawmakers in Richmond expanded the Virginia Lottery to the internet amid the pandemic in 2020. The decision quickly paid off, with sales volume surging from $2.14 billion in 2020 to more than $3.2 billion in 2021.

Lottery Flourishing Despite Competition

It was less than a decade ago that the Virginia Lottery was about the only game in town when it came to legal gambling. Until 2018, the lottery and parimutuel wagering on horse racing were the only permissible forms of gambling in the commonwealth.

That all changed beginning in April 2018 when state lawmakers authorized slot-like historical horse racing (HHR) machines in a bid to save Virginia’s dying horse racing industry. Two years later, the state expanded gaming to include land-based casinos and online sports betting.

In spite of the new gaming competition, the Virginia Lottery’s FY26 report shows it’s positioned well to compete for years to come.