The countdown to the Texas Lottery’s 30th anniversary is underway! As it readies to reach the milestone in May 2022, the Texas Lottery will host a yearlong celebration to commemorate “30 Years of Winning.”
After the 72nd Texas Legislature approved and then-Gov. Ann Richards signed House Bill 54 into law, the majority of Texas voters approved the creation of the Texas Lottery on Nov. 5, 1991. At 6 a.m. on May 29, 1992, lottery sales in Texas commenced with Gov. Richards purchasing the first Texas Lottery® scratch ticket, Lone Star Millions, for $1 at Polk’s Feed Store in Oak Hill. Over the next 24 hours, Texans purchased 23.2 million more tickets – a world record for first-day lottery sales.
“There was tremendous excitement for the launch of the Texas Lottery, but there was no way at the time to predict the successes the lottery has seen over the past three decades,” said Gary Grief, executive director of the Texas Lottery. “Since May 1992, the Texas Lottery has achieved more than $113 billion in sales and distributed more than $69 billion in prizes to players. Most importantly, the Texas Lottery has generated more than $32 billion in revenue for the State of Texas, including more than $26 billion for public education and nearly $160 million for Texas veterans since the dedication of these funds by the Texas Legislature. We look forward to celebrating ‘30 Years of Winning’ with Texas Lottery players, retailers, vendor staff and Texas Lottery Commission employees, and we look forward to the many achievements yet to come.”
“We take our mission to generate revenue for the State of Texas through the responsible management and sale of entertaining lottery products very seriously. The 30-year mark at the Texas Lottery is a major milestone and indeed worthy of a celebration,” said Robert G. Rivera, Chairman of the Texas Lottery Commission. “On behalf of the entire Commission, we extend our congratulations to our players, retailers, vendors and agency staff for the sustained success of the Texas Lottery achieved over such a long period of time.”
In highlighting “30 Years of Winning” for the May 2021 kickoff, the Texas Lottery produced two videos for our social media platforms. “The first video went live on May 20 and gave our viewers a sneak peek of what is to come over the coming year. The second video went live on May 25 and featured our executive director, Gary Grief, officially announcing the 30th Anniversary celebration and sharing highlights of the Texas Lottery’s accomplishments to-date,” explained Lauren Callahan, Media Relations Director, Texas Lottery.
Over the next year, the Texas Lottery will celebrate its history with monthly content and giveaways on the agency’s social media pages. In addition, the Texas Lottery will return to in-person events – like the State Fair of Texas – and will debut a commemorative 30th Anniversary scratch ticket game at Texas Lottery retailers in April 2022.