BOSTON (State House News Service) – It was an up-and-down month for the Massachusetts Lottery in March, where sales were down compared to a year ago but the agency’s profit — a crucial source of the state aid the Legislature distributes to cities and towns — was up and closing the gap with last year’s historic high.

Executive Director Mark William Bracken reported to the Lottery Commission on Tuesday that March sales of $507.1 million represented a decrease of $11.9 million or 2.3 percent compared to March 2023. He said the Lottery’s monthly estimated profit was $105.6 million last month compared to $102.7 million a year ago.

Bracken’s report said the month’s showing was due “primarily to a $43.1 million decrease in Instant Ticket sales, a combined $30.7 million increase in Mega Millions and Powerball sales, and a $13.4 million decrease in prize payouts compared to March of 2023.”

Thanks in part to jackpots that approached or exceeded $1 billion in March, Powerball sales were up $17.1 million or nearly 300 percent and Mega Millions sales were up $13.6 million or about 184 percent, according to Bracken’s report.

Sales of scratch tickets, which account for about two-thirds of all Lottery sales, were down $43.1 million or nearly 12 percent compared to March 2023. The Lottery sold $323.3 million worth of scratch-offs in March 2024, compared to $366.4 million a year earlier. The only other Lottery products that saw a sales dip in March were Wheel of Luck (down $1.5 million) and the Numbers Game (down $1.2 million).

Through nine months of fiscal year 2024, Lottery sales totaled $4.712 billion and are up $71.2 million or 1.5 percent over the same period in fiscal 2023. The Lottery’s year-to-date net profit of $882.3 million is tracking an estimated $24.2 million behind last year’s pace, according to Bracken’s report. The gap between the record-setting fiscal 2023 profit level and this year’s pace narrowed in March — through February the Lottery was behind last year’s pace by $28.4 million.

The Lottery has paid out 73.52 percent of its sales revenue as player winnings so far this budget year, compared to 72.75 percent for the same nine months of fiscal 2023, Bracken’s report said.