Massachusetts Lottery: Who Pays the Bonus to the Agents Who Sell Big Prizes?

We know that when the Massachusetts State Lottery awards a prize to a lucky winner, that money comes from what people have wagered.

You may also know that when a store sells a grand prize, the store also gets a bonus – but who pays that bonus?

Does it come out of the winning jackpot, or is it something the Lottery itself pays out?

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Unable to find any information about it online, we reached out to Steve Martins, Chief Revenue Officer for the Massachusetts Lottery, to get the answer.

“Commissions and bonuses are not deducted from a prize, it’s built into the instant ticket overall payout,” he said.

Martins said a lottery agent gets a five percent commission for every product they sell, and a one percent commission on things cashed in.

They also get a one percent bonus for selling a grand prize.

So as an example, if a person wins $1 million on the new Jaws scratch ticket, the store that sold that ticket will get a $10,000 bonus.

Of course, the best part of the Massachusetts State Lottery – at least for those of us who don’t win – is that the Lottery “returns net profits to the Commonwealth for distribution of essential unrestricted local aid to all 351 cities and towns,” according to the Lottery website.

“Lottery funds are not earmarked for any specific programs, allowing cities and towns to choose how they would like to allocate their funds,” the site says.

In Fiscal Year 2023, the Lottery returned $1,193,902,136 to Commonwealth communities.

There is also some interesting Lottery trivia found on its website as well.

For example, did you know that 2024 marks 50 years of scratch tickets in Massachusetts? The first one, known as “The Instant Game,” was rolled out in 1974. Each ticket cost $1, with a top instant prize of $10,000.

Also, last year marked the 30th anniversary of Keno in Massachusetts – and it was also the first year in which someone claimed the $1 million grand prize in the game.