New York Lottery Mission Statement:

The New York Lottery’s sole mission is to earn revenue for education. Fundamentally, the Lottery is run as an entertainment business. A dedicated team of some 350 New York Lottery employees work with Business Partners and 16,000 retailers statewide to offer customers innovative, fun, and entertaining games. Games include Online Drawings like “Numbers,” “Mega Millions” and “Lotto,” some 35-50 new Instant Game scratch-off tickets and Video Lottery at eight Racinos statewide.

About the New York Lottery

The New York Lottery was enacted into the New York State Constitution by voters as a result of a ballot initiative in 1966. The Lottery contributed nearly $2.54 billion to help support education in New York State on incoming revenues of $7.66 billion in fiscal years 2008-09 - - a profit margin of 33.2%. The New York Lottery continues to be North America's largest and most profitable Lottery, earning over $36.7 billion in education support statewide since its founding over 40 years ago.

The State Department of Education distributes revenue earned by the New York Lottery for education based on a statuatory formula. The amount of funds disbursed by the education department, under the state budget process, is based upon estimated Lottery earnings at the time of budget passage. In the event Lottery earnings exceed budget estimates, those additional funds become part of the next year's Lottery aid distribution. Committed to maintaining the highest standards for financial integrity, the New York Lottery’s drawings and annual financial statements are monitored and audited by independent auditor KPMG LLP.