TRENTON (December 22, 2025) – Fifth-five years ago this month, Gov. William Cahill purchased the first lottery ticket in the Garden State. With that 50-cent sale, New Jersey became the third state in the country to establish a lottery system, following New Hampshire and New York.

It is worth time to look at where the New Jersey Lottery has been, where it is and what is in store for the future.

Players First

Nearly two thirds of the New Jersey Lottery’s ticket sales revenue goes into players’ prizes.

The first million-dollar prize came in March, 1971. Essex County residents Edward and Kathleen Henry captured $1 million in a draw game (an $8 million value today). The prize was paid as an annuity, $50,000 a year for 20 years.

Fifty-five years later, in this calendar year, the New Jersey Lottery has handed out more than 800 prizes of at least $10,000. And life-changing prizes are common place: more than 60 players this year in New Jersey have won at least $1 million. The Lottery is also well known nationally for huge jackpots as there have been 10 Mega Million and Powerball winners in the Garden State over the last eight years alone.

Financial Growth

In its first fiscal year, the Lottery reported sales exceeding $137 million. Players received $62 million in prizes and $41 million was contributed to the State for education and institutions.

The Lottery is now a multi-billion dollar operation. Gross revenue in fiscal year 2025 was $3.51 billion, and $1.08 billion was contributed to the state’s pension program that supports teachers, police officers, firefighters and other public workers.

Indeed, if the New Jersey Lottery were a publicly traded company, it would rank at 845th in the Forbes’ list of top 1,000 companies. Among Garden State-based companies, the Lottery would be between the 22nd and 23rd ranked firms.

The financial success has helped propel the Lottery’s brand strength and reach. Market researchers have found that 83 percent of all state residents aged 18 and over, who were not morally opposed to the Lottery, played at least once in the past year.

Looking Ahead

As the New Jersey Lottery continues its journey into its second half century, it will continue to evolve to meet the needs of players, while supporting the traditional retail partners.

As the world evolves, the Lottery has adapted. Just this fall, the Lottery began allowing winners of certain prizes to claim and receive payment through its mobile app.

The Lottery’s continued success also helps small business. With more than 6,500 locations selling New Jersey Lottery tickets, lottery retailers are omnipresent throughout the state. The retailers, most of whom are small businesses vital to their local communities, earned $198 million in commissions and $2 million in bonuses connected to the selling of winning top-tier tickets.

More About the New Jersey Lottery

Since its inception in 1970, the Lottery has contributed nearly $34.7 billion to the State, helping to support many worthwhile programs and services. Lottery profits currently help bolster the public employee pension system under a 30-year agreement signed into law in 2017.