The West Virginia Lottery finished the just-completed budget year with gross revenues of $1.136 billion, down more than $27 million from the previous year, according to a monthly revenue report by the state Lottery Commission.
Most of the decline was from video lottery at the state's four racetrack casinos, which dropped by more than $20 million from 2014-15, to $537.73 million for the 2015-16 budget year, which ended June 30. That's about a 3.5 percent decline.
The racetracks, which continue to struggle against competing casinos in Ohio, Pennsylvania and Maryland, also saw revenues from table games fall $3.4 million to $43.5 million, a decline of more than 7 percent.
Limited video lottery, offered in 1,355 bars, clubs and fraternal organizations around the state, fell $12.41 million, to $360.81 million for the year.
That's about a 3.5 percent decline for LVL, whose revenues had remained steady through much of the downturn of video lottery at the racetracks. However, LVL revenues also began falling in the summer of 2013, something then-Lottery Director John Musgrave blamed on a weak economy, particularly in the southern coalfields.
"People just don't have the money to spend," Musgrave said at the time.
There were two bright spots in the year-end numbers:
| Sales of traditional online and scratch-off increased by $8.2 million to $188.1 million, a 4.5 percent increase fueled by several large Powerball and MegaMillions jackpots during the year.
| Revenues from the casino at The Greenbrier resort increased nearly 5 percent, to $6.35 million. That included $4.49 from video lottery revenue and $1.86 million from table games.
Overall, the state's share of Lottery profits for 2015-16 of $528.84 million was down $14.49 million, or about 2.7 percent, from the prior year.
For June, gross revenues of $86.77 million were down $6.38 million, or nearly 7 percent, from June 2015. The state's share of Lottery profits, $41.58 million, was down $3.12 million from June 2015.
Lottery Commission members met in Bridgeport on Friday.
Reach Phil Kabler at philk@wvgazettemail, 304 348-1220, or follow @PhilKabler on Twitter.